Touch ID: Apple's 500ppi fingerprint scanner » YugaTech

Touch ID: Apple’s 500ppi fingerprint scanner

Apple has just officially announced the iPhone 5S earlier and one of its key features is its built-in fingerprint scanning technology called Touch ID. Read on to find out how it works.

touchID

Starting with the hardware, the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5S is actually made of four main parts:

Laser-cut sapphire crystal – acts as a cover and lens for the Touch ID sensor
stainless steel detection ring – detects if your finger is on the home button
Touch ID sensor – the sensor that captures your fingerprint
Tactile switch

touchid_1

All of that is built right into the home button.

How does it work?

It all starts with the stainless steel detection ring which makes sure that your finger is on the home button. Without having to press, the 170 microns thin Touch ID sensor accurately (hopefully 100% all the time) scans the sub-epidermal skin layers of your finger with 360-degree readability at 500ppi resolution.

It is capable of reading multiple fingerprints which is then stored encrypted on the device and not on Apple’s servers or the iCloud.

What is it for?

Like most biometric technologies, the Touch ID is used for authentication purposes. Instead of using passcodes, the iPhone 5S can utilize the Touch ID and just scan your fingerprint which we all know is unique to yours. So in essence, Touch ID adds another layer of easy-to-use security to the iPhone which eliminates the cumbersome need to type a password whenever you need to unlock your device or make purchases on iTunes.

touchid_2

To sum it up, with the help of Touch ID, all you need is a finger… That is, if it works perfectly and you don’t lose your finger.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t the first smartphone to have a fingerprint scanner. In 2011, Motorola launched the Atrix 4G with the same fingerprint scanner. It never took off.

{sources: 1, 2}

Diangson Louie

This article was written by Louie Diangson, Managing Editor of YugaTech. You can follow him at @John_Louie.

https://www.yugatech.com

26 Comments

Ernesto says:

11 years ago

Motorola atrix was the firat phone to operate with fingerprint sensor but then again Apple is the one who revolutionoze it. Groundbreaking!
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Ernesto says:

11 years ago

Motorola atrix was the firat phone to operate with fingerprint sensor but then again Apple is the one who revolutionoze it. Groundbreaking!!
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John Pistolero says:

11 years ago

Clever! Fingering your way into your phone works the same with…you what I mean.
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zarne says:

11 years ago

Bye bye ! snatchers of Iphone 5S.
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Mr. Curious says:

11 years ago

sooo….. what’s new?
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airmike says:

11 years ago

Just perfect for hackers or “bad elements” to steal critical biometric info from you…. :-( dont know if its a good thing….
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Iyan Sommerset says:

11 years ago

I don’t get it. We’ve had fingerprint sensors on laptops for years. I bet some of the old Windows Mobile devices had some too.
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ewe says:

11 years ago

may kokopyahin na naman sina Samsung at ang entire lagdroid oems.. hahaha!
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Ernesto says:

11 years ago

Sana naman na link man lang ako dun sa tip hat. Wala man pang recognition dito. I’ve been a loyal reader. Ugh!
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Dwvrgrffdd says:

11 years ago

Hahaha ang daming squatters dito na can’t afford ang nagrereklamo sa presyo ng iPhone! This is not meant for you, cheap bastards! You can hate all you want but the fact is you can’t afford this luxury phone.
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Markyb says:

11 years ago

Nope, Apple didn’t copy anything.
They just innovate things :)
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jm says:

11 years ago

anung kwenta nung fingerprint scanner kung kaya naman ijailbreak oh i bypass ng mga technician, walang kwenta, payabang lang..
- Reply