Apple has a foldable iPhone in the making, and it could launch next year if all goes according to plan. Rumors suggest that it may not have a Face ID, as it is a complex component, and the basic foldable design isn’t stable enough to accommodate all the sensors that come with it.
Face ID is made of three main components, and each one has to be mounted inside its own display cutout. Think Dynamic Island, which has a dual cutout: one for the selfie camera and the other for an IR Emitter plus Depth Mapper. Face ID is one of the few reasons why iPhones are so expensive.
A leak from Instant Digital on Weibo alleges that Apple wants to drop the Face ID from its folding phone simply because it could make the device too expensive, even more so than Samsung or Huawei’s foldable phones. In the comment section of this post, he continues to explain why this feature is missing on the iPhone Fold.
From what we gather from the leaker’s comment (rough translation), Face ID wouldn’t make sense unless it’s mounted on both the inner screen and the outer one. You can’t have it on the inside because it will be too expensive. If you can’t have one on the inside, there’s no point having one on the cover panel. So, a fingerprint ID is the best possible solution for this iPhone's latest Fold model.
We are still trying to assess the credibility of this leak, but the way it’s being cited by publications certainly adds some weight to it. We do advise caution though. You should take this news with a grain of salt until some more credible sources confirm the report.
Apple is incredibly late to the foldable wars, and the reason is the company’s usual inclination toward perfecting a product. There’s still a visible crease on most foldable devices, and the Cupertino giant is trying to combat that weakness, even if it means delaying its iPhone Fold by a few years.
For iPhone users, though, the missing Face ID takes away a crucial part of the user experience. Apple is bound to face slight pushback from users, which could inevitably damage sales for the folding iPhone. But these are mere speculations. We are still waiting for more details to come out, so stay tuned and keep watching the news.
