Power Button Touch ID ‘Incredible Feat’ on iPad Air 4

Apple has unveiled its iPad Air 4 September 15, Complete with an updated A14 bionic chip, design inspired by the iPad Pro line, and a 10.9-inch larger display. The biggest departure for the iPad Air was its biometric changes, with Touch ID now being moved from the lost home button to the power button at the top.

Speaking of Justin and Jenna Ezarik Podcast The same brain Published on Saturday, John Turns, Apple VP of Hardware Engineering and Bob Borchers of Product Marketing spoke about the changes made to the iPad lineup at the Apple VP September event.

On the Touch ID issue on the tablet, Borchers described the change as “an amazing feat of engineering to bring that fingerprint sensor into that form factor with all capabilities and all security”.

When asked if the Power Button Touch ID uses the original technology, in short, Ternus indicated that it was a “technological evolution” used by the system. “We wanted to get a full-screen design and get rid of the home button on the chin, so we had to come up with another place for the touch ID sensor.”

“It was very challenging, it had a really narrow aspect ratio,” Ternus offered due to being above a slimline button. “If you think about it, traditionally, it only looks at a tiny piece of your fingerprint more than you know what our old sensor can do.”

Ternus continued, “It has to be very sensitive and you have to hold it as you go through the registration process, and as it continues to adapt over time, there’s a wide view of the fingerprints. So no matter how you touch it with your finger, it can capture a specific part and match it.”

“Very small algorithm work, very hardcore silicon” was put into practice to create “such a capable sensor in such a small space”, but Borchers points out that “really advanced space” is the area to be maintained when introducing a new sensor due to other objects.

“On cellular iPads, the antenna is the upper part of the enclosure,” Ternus explained, meaning that they “had to put this incredibly sensitive Touch ID sensor inside a very sensitive antenna and figure out how to make sure they were not talking to each other and interfering with each other.”

“As these products become more feature rich, apparently more compact and condensed, our teams are really becoming more critical to collaborate, really tightly together,” he said, “because the Touch ID team and the antenna team have to be on the lockstep through the whole engineering process.”

Apple’s design for the power button Touch ID sensor will enter more products in the future. A day before the launch of the iPad Air 4, analyst Ming-chi Kuo Guess that More iPad models Lack of Face ID will adapt to change in 2021.