iPhone 6: Apple job advert fuels fingerprint technology rumours

Bar-room chatter that the next-gen iPhone will feature a fingerprint scanner got a new layer of credence today, in the wake of a tell-tale job notice from Apple.

Spotted by Apple Insider, the ad seeks a software engineer to form part of a team based at Melbourne Design Centre on the Space Coast in Florida.

Noting that this is the location of fingerprint technology dons AuthenTech, which Apple acquired last year, the site has surmised that Apple is looking to step up development of a fingerprint scanner with a view to incorporating it in the next iPhone.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given Apple’s penchant for secrecy, the vaguely worded job description doesn’t make any mention fingerprint sensors.

However, the fact that it is seeking an applicant who can write "low-level code to configure and control hardware" suggests that this is exactly what the purveyor of high-end kit is after.

Last week, Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets surfaced in the tech press claiming to have held meetings with supply-chain insiders who informed him that a fingerprint scanner is in development and could feature on the much-rumoured iWatch and the seventh-gen iPhone.

The tech is purportedly earmarked for “essential security purposes” and as an extra layer of security on credit card payments.

Source:

Apple Insider