iPhone 8 said to lack Touch ID fingerprint reader

We’re now less than one week away from Apple’s big event and the expected reveal of new iPhone hardware, and reports with information about the new iPhones continue to surface.

The iPhone 8 will not have a Touch ID fingerprint reader, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. It’s said that Apple abandoned the feature after trying to embed the fingerprint reader below the display of the iPhone 8, which is expected to have an all-screen design on its front.

Since there will be no Touch ID fingerprint reader, it’s said that iPhone 8 owners will unlock their phone using a passcode or a new facial recognition feature. Past leaks have hinted that the iPhone 8 will include an infrared face detection feature.

Today’s report also suggests that the iPhone 8’s base price could be near $1,000 and that it’ll launch on September 22nd. It’s said that supply of the iPhone 8 could be constrained at launch due to “production glitches” early in the manufacturing process.

Touch ID has been a major feature of the iPhone since the iPhone 5s, so the news that it may not appear on the iPhone 8 is a big deal. Apple has fine-tuned Touch ID over the past few years, and so if the company is indeed abandoning it, you’d think that they’re also comfortable with the performance of the iPhone 8’s facial recognition feature.