iPhone 5S comes with Touch ID fingerprint scanner
To crack down on rampant iPhone theft, Apple supercharges the home button on the iPhone 5S with a built-in fingerprint sensor called Touch ID.
Home is where you're safest, both in the real world and on the iPhone 5S.
The new iPhone model comes with a capacitive home button that can read your fingerprint, Apple Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller announced Tuesday at the company's iPhone event at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
The Touch ID sensor (read CNET's FAQ) is capacitive and 170 microns thin, Schiller said. It has 500 ppi resolution, and can scan in 360 degrees. That means that the sensor doesn't have to be oriented in a particular manner in relation to your finger. It also can learn multiple fingers, so it's not limited to just your thumbprint.
An iPhone fingerprint reader has been expected since Apple purchased fingerprint reader and identification management software company AuthenTec for $365 million in July 2012.
The familiar square graphic on all iPhone home buttons since the phones launched in 2007 has been removed as well.
