Apple may be bringing Face ID to Macs in the coming years. In time, the company could also provide all iPhone and iPad models with Face ID. With that, future iPhone SE phones and non-Pro iPads would also get the facial recognition function.
Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman expects implementing Face ID across all of its devices to be Apple’s ultimate goal. The journalist reports this in his Power On newsletter, MacRumors also notes. Gurman regularly shares information about unannounced Apple products and is known for his good resources within the company.
“If it were possible, Apple would have abolished Touch ID long ago. But it persisted for a few reasons,” the journalist writes. “On the iPhone SE and non-Pro iPads, Touch ID is a cheaper alternative, allowing Apple to cut costs while still providing security. On Macbooks, the screens are too thin to implement the necessary depth sensor.”
Gurman doesn’t expect the first Macs with Face ID to appear this year. “It won’t happen this year, but I’m betting that Face ID on the Mac will arrive in a few years. I expect all iPhones and iPads to transition to Face ID within that same time frame.”
Gurman reports that a punch-hole camera would help distinguish Apple’s more expensive iPhone devices, by removing the notch in the screen. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously stated that some iPhone models that will be released in 2022 will get a punch-hole camera, MacRumors writes. The company would introduce iPhones with Face ID sensors under the screen a year later.
Bloomberg reported in January that the recently released 24″ iMac would initially receive Face ID, but that Apple decided to replace it with an optional keyboard with Touch ID before release. The company is now working on a new 27″ model, which among other things, would get a more powerful Apple Silicon soc. It is not known whether that upcoming iMac will get a Face ID sensor.
The iMac 24″ from 2021. Source: Apple