If you’re unaware, Apple reintroduced its fingerprint identification system, Touch ID, with the launch of the new, redesigned iPad Air. The Touch ID sensor into the power button of the iPad due to the lack of a home button. Now, in a recent interview, two Apple executives explained how the team worked to achieve this feat of engineering.
Bob Borchers, Apple’s VP of Product Marketing, and John Ternus, VP of Hardware Engineering recently came on the podcast show of popular YouTubers, Justine and Jenna Ezarik. In the show, called the Same Brain, the Apple execs talked about how the team was able to fit the Touch ID sensor in that tiny form factor of the power button.
According to Borchers, fitting a Touch ID sensor in that area was “an incredible feat of engineering” as it was pretty difficult to implement the sensor in that narrow space. He further added that the sensor needed to be “incredibly sensitive” as it is now supposed to capture a wider view of the fingerprint and provide the same level of security as its predecessors.
Moreover, in the cellular version, Ternus added that the team had to also include the antennas on the top portion of the iPad Air, alongside the new Touch ID sensor. Now, as both the components are very sensitive, the engineers had to make sure that they did not interfere with each other.
Apart from these discussions, the duo talked about a lot of Apple-related things in the podcast. You can check out the full 37-min interview right here:
