What happened to the iPhone’s fingerprint scanner, and what will replace it?

[Guest Nicole]

We’re entering a new age of digital security: Either you use a password, or you are the password.

Apple has killed its TouchID fingerprint scanner in favor of a 3D facial scanning technology called FaceID, which the company says can unlock your phone by scanning your face and provides better security than a fingerprint. Apple claims that 1 in 50,000 people are able to unlock an iPhone by having a similar fingerprint, but only 1 in 1,000,000 would have a face similar enough to trick the new system.

Otherwise, FaceID will work similarly to TouchID in enabling ApplePay payments and unlocking apps.

FaceID differs from other smartphone technology in that it takes three-dimensional measurements of a person’s face. Facial recognition in phones like the Galaxy S8 and Note8 relies on two-dimensional images, meaning those devices can be unlocked using just an image of the person’s face. (Apple first filed a a patent for 3D-scanning technology in 2015, but it wasn’t granted until earlier this year.)

https://qz.com/1073209/what-is-apples-new-faceid-and-why-is-it-replacing-the-fingerprint/