The next iPhone (the iPhone 7S, iPhone 8?), which is due to be released in September, might replace the TouchID fingerprint sensor with whole-face 3D scanning.

According to Bloomberg, which is usually quite reliable when it comes to Apple rumours, the face-scanning tech will allow iPhone users to log in, authenticate payments, and unlock secure apps. This will be powered by a new 3D sensor. Apple is also testing eye scanning tech, which would provide additional security and redundancy alongside the face scanner. The tech might be ready for the next iPhone, or it might not be, according to people familiar with the product.

The same people said the new 3D face-scanning chip is incredibly fast and accurate: it can scan and authenticate the user's face within "a few hundred milliseconds." It apparently doesn't require a close-up of your face, either, which is good news: holding an iPhone up to your face is hardly more ergonomic or convenient than a fingerprint scanner.

It would appear that the TouchID sensor, which was first introduced in 2013 on the iPhone 5S, is on its way out. Fingerprint scanning has never been the most secure way of unlocking a device or authenticating payments, and there are a number of scenarios where TouchID just isn't very convenient. Face-scanning tech would allow you to unlock an iPhone on the kitchen worktop just by peering down, or to unlock your iPhone on the beach with wet and sandy hands.

As for how Apple's 3D face-scanning tech works, we can make a few educated guesses. Unlocking a device with your face is nothing new: see Windows Hello, which has been around since 2015. The notable bit is that the iPhone will apparently squeeze a 3D scanner into a mobile phone, rather than using dumb 2D image analysis like the recent Galaxy S8. This would presumably prevent the iPhone from being unlocked with just a printed photo of the user's face—though maybe a high-resolution 3D-printed model of the user's face would work...

Intel's RealSense tech, which provides 3D scanning in a fairly small package, consists of three components: a conventional camera, an infrared camera, and an infrared laser projector. It's fairly safe to assume that the iPhone's 3D face scanner would use a similar setup, if there's enough space around the bezel of the new iPhone (which will apparently undergo a major design overhaul). Intel attempted to put RealSense in a smartphone form factor in 2016, but it didn't really go anywhere.

A forward-facing 3D scanner would also allow for other interesting things, such as gesture recognition (waving your hands over an iPhone while it lays on the table), or smarter face-changing filters in Snapchat and Instagram.

We recently published a feature on inexpensive at-home 3D scanning tools: check it out if you want to learn more!