Touch ID found to fit snugly in iPad 5, iPad Mini 2 parts
Apple's latest touch security technology may be headed to its next round of iPads, a new video suggests.
One big question in the lead-up to Apple's next iPad refresh, expected later this month, is whether Apple will include the new Touch ID technology found in the iPhone 5S.
In a new video, Unbox Therapy explores that possibility, pointing to the fact that the home button Apple's used in previous iPad models (including last year's) does not fit in some of the purported front glass panels making the rounds.
The video maker, which has posted a handful of other leaked parts believed to belong to Apple's next tablet models, shows a Touch ID sensor from an iPhone 5S fitting perfectly inside the openings on panels for both the next iPad and iPad Mini. That would seemingly suggest Apple plans to include the hardware feature on those devices.
Touch ID scans a user's fingerprint to unlock the device, and replaces the home button that's been on every iOS device since the first iPhone. The technology is used in conjunction with a passcode, which Apple last month said that only about half of users have enabled on their devices, and that's become a problem in cases of loss or theft, when data can be compromised. With Touch ID enabled, users can bypass having to type in a password if the system can properly pick up prints that have been stored on the phone's processor.
One of the main reservations behind Apple not including the technology in its upcoming iPad models is difficulty producing mass quantities of the sensor, something that has been said to be slowing iPhone 5S production and leading to shortages.
Apple is expected to debut both models at an event later this month. A report earlier Wednesday by Reuters claimed Apple was racing to get a model of the iPad Mini with a Retina Display ready in time for the holidays, but that supply would be short. With last year's model it took approximately four months for the company to get ship times down to just a few days, down from a high of more than two weeks for some models.
Here's the clip: