The Early iPhone 13 Leaks May Have Been A Bit Too Touchy

Revelations this week suggest we're going to see an iPhone 13 this year without features reported in the earliest of smartphone leaks. The iPhone 13, as it's still unofficially called since Apple hasn't officially confirmed its existence, will likely appear at the same time as the iPhone 12, in or around October of the year 2021. At that time, it no longer seems likely that the device will have any finger-based login system – no Touch ID as such.

It'd be great if Apple went with an alternate means of logging in with Touch ID. Through the power button, for example – or anywhere along the edge or back of the phone. But that does not seem to be the situation here in the year 2021. Instead, as reported by Mark Gurman and Debby Wu with Bloomberg this week, Apple is said to have tested in-display Touch ID with the iPhone 13, but scrapped the idea at some point between early testing and now.

The iPhone 13 will instead most likely appear with Face ID, using the sensors and camera at the front of the device, for login security. Users can also – as always – continue to use alternate means – like pin codes or pattern unlock. It's still too early to say whether Apple will scrap the in-display Touch ID system for the iPhone that'll arrive in 2022 – we shall see!

The iPhone 13 will more than likely appear in four iterations, two with the same size display called iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, another smaller device called iPhone 13 Mini, and a larger device called iPhone 13 Pro Max. This week another leak suggested that the "Pro" models will appear in around four different colors, each of them likely metallic, while earlier leaks say the iPhone 13 (non-pro) will appear in a wider variety of colors, not unlike those of the most recent iMac.