“With the iPhone 5s, Apple has introduced the first, functional, mainstream fingerprint ID sensor – Touch ID. With it, the touch of your finger activates a scanner that reads the living, sub-dermal layer for ridges, arches, and whorls, transfers the data to a secure enclave on the brand new Apple A7 processor, and then returns a simple yes/know response to unlock the phone or authorize an iTunes transaction,” Rene Ritchie writes for iMore. “Once you get used to how easy and utterly transparent it is, you start to want it everywhere, and you don’t stop. How about the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2, rumored to be coming this October? How about the Mac?”
“So far, based on all of our tests with multiple people on multiple devices, Touch ID just works,” Ritchie writes. “It works so well when you try a device without Touch ID, you become instantly annoyed it doesn’t have it. It works so well even Mobile Nations luminaries from other platforms, like Kevin Michaluk want it on all things, immediately.”
“The iPad 5 is the easiest to imagine… The iPad mini is a little tougher to figure out. Last year’s iPad mini didn’t get the Apple A6 processor, instead it got the year-old Apple A5. That was fine, since it was the same chip as the iPad 2 and the iPad mini was essentially a variant of the iPad 2 line. It wasn’t Retina like the iPad 4. If Apple brings Retina to the next iPad mini, would they try and do it with an Apple A6 or A6X, or would they go all out with an Apple A7 series chip?” Ritchie writes. “The Mac is a whole other kettle of fish. Literally. It doesn’t – yet – run on Apple’s A-series processor line, but on Intel’s hardware, and it doesn’t have a Home button. It’s conceivable Apple could create a custom Touch ID chip for Macs that replicates just that functionality from the Apple A7.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Great. More letters for Tim Cook from Senator Smiley.
Related article:
U.S. Senate Democrat Al Franken demands answers from Apple CEO Tim Cook over iPhone 5s’ Touch ID – September 20, 2013
And what’s ‘hard to figure out’ about the iPad mini? I’m sure I don’t want to enter a PIN there as much as I don’t on my iPhone.
Can’t say about macs but iPads are great candidates for the touch ID
We already have a trackpad. Use it for passwords and buying stuff, etc. hopefully they can make it almost invisible.
I believe it will be in both, as will the A7. The 64 bit advantage with Touch ID will leave the competition far behind. I also think in early 2014 we will see the mini c. A lower cost, formed plastic, no rear camera mini in several colors for $259. It may be retina, however.
good points, i can see where you are coming from regarding the plastic iPad retina
iPad 5C and iPad 5S
No you are forgetting something. They will be “The New iPadS” and “The New iPadC” 🙂
“The Mac is a whole other kettle of fish. Literally.”
Gosh! What will they think of next? “Samsung’s new Galaxy XXX is a literal dog’s dinner” . . . “The iPad mini 2 is literally the cat’s pyjamas”–and the “dog’s bollocks” as well, no doubt!
Yeah, it’s actually not literally a kettle of fish because that would be… Well… Literally… A kettle of fish. So tired of this idiotic abuse of language.
I’d give the iPads ’til October (christ, @MDN, I thought you followed this shit?!?)
A yes/know response? Dictation error perhaps?
Would love automatic user switching.
I’m think the new iPhone paradigms are a good hint at what we’ll see in the new iPad’s debuting in October. We’ll see a high end model of the 10″ and mini models with fingerprint scanners and a lower cost mini in plastic multiple colors without the biometric scanner aimed at kids. The high end models will also have the retina display with the A7 processor while the cheaper models will use the A6 at 1024 x 767 resolution. Seems logical!
TouchID on the iPad is obvious, but on the Mac? Actually, yes, I can see that, especially in an office environment; I can see TouchID allowing multiple users, with different levels of access, pre-determined from Admin level.
For home use, just for fast iTunes and Store access and authorisation it would be ideal, locking kids out and stopping the little devils from cribbing passwords and running up huge bills.
Back in 2003, Sony made a fingerprint reader called “The Sony Puppy” (I know, what marketing droid thought that name would work?) for OS X. (It required 10.2.) So the capacity has been around for a decade. Literally. (Ritchie needs a dictionary to look up the meaning of literally. And I mean that literally… :lol:)
I am planning to upgrade my iPad 3rd gen to either a 5 or mini. Right now, I’m leaning towards mini retina.
If the bigger iPad will get more tech on it, I’ll might get that. But if both of them get the same thing, mini it is😁
Getting the 5S gold as my gift to myself on Christmas LOL
Just replace the power button with the TID scanner. Easy, no pwd needed, optional if wanted.
Both will have TouchID but Ipad 5 will have A7 and iPad Mini 2 will have A6.
I find that the transparent overlay on the camera app hides so much of the screen that it makes the app usless. Is there any way to get rid of the overlay?
Hopefully never. This technology is s privacy abomination.
What are you talking about? How is a hash, usable only on a specific device, a privacy issue?
Ha a “hash” that is done with closed software and that is so safe it needs a “secure enclave”. With all the news, people are naive and stupid to think this information won’t be compromised by the nsa. By that time it will be too late to do anything about it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Please explain. The internet is really great for making wild allegations without supporting one’s assertion but it is still just that… A wild allegation.
You’re not thinking outside the box. The an iMac, Macbook, MacBook Pro, iMac Mini or MacPro don’t have to have the touchID scanner button to work….
With the installation of that new M7 chip and low level bluetooth, it should be able to pinpoint where you are in proximity to your iPhone. So if you unlock your iPhone with TouchID why couldn’t it recognize you as the person in front of your computer and unlock the computer too?
My guess is about as soon as Oct 15th or so for the iPad
how soon is
retina and true telephone capability
to appear on iPad mini?
add in finger ID too
because, i want a bigger iPhone still
Why do you ask me?