Apple has been working on under-display Touch ID technology since at least 2013 with a great number of patent applications and granted patents related to this future feature.
Jack Purcher for Patently Apple:
Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published yet another patent application from Apple that relates to sensor technology and, more particularly, to an enhanced under-display fingerprint sensing based on off-axis angular light.
Apple’s invention covers an under-display fingerprint-sending system wherein the display consists of active red-green-blue (RGB) pixels that emit light and illuminate the finger placed on top of the display. The light reflected from the finger passes through the openings between the display pixels and is captured by the sensor beneath the display.
Apple’s invention provides a method to capture the off-axis angular light from the finger by insertion of angle-dependent filtering options between the display and the sensor. This method can improve the contrast of fingerprint impressions and maintain the compactness of the entire sensing system.
MacDailyNews Take: When Apple’s under-display Touch ID debuts, likely this year, it will set the standard for under-display fingerprint recognition precision and security, just as Face ID has done for facial recognition.