Looking Back at Rumors of iPhone X Design With Rear Touch ID That Never Emerged
Leaker Ben Geskin today resurfaced the rumored iPhone X design featuring Touch ID on the back of the device from 2017 that never emerged.
Around five years ago, when it was rumored that Apple was moving from the long-standing iPhone design with a round Home Button and thick top and bottom bezels to an all-screen design, there were significant questions around how Apple would implement user biometric authentication. Apple ultimately unveiled Face ID, but initial rumors suggested that the company would stick with Touch ID and implement it under the display or place it on the rear of the device.
Lining up with this, a fairly consistent series of leaks at the time depicted an iPhone X design with larger top and bottom bezels, a display with unrounded corners, an aluminum rear, and a round Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the back.
Retrospectively, the widespread and detailed nature of the alleged iPhone chassis has aroused suspicion that Apple itself was behind the rumor, seeking to lower customer expectations and flood the rumor mill with false information. It is also possible that the chassis were used internally at Apple for an early iPhone X prototype.
Whether Apple was behind the wave of false leaks that briefly captivated the rumor community five years ago remains unknown, but the mysterious iPhone design continues to arouse discussion.
Flagship iPhones will have been lacking Touch ID for five years as of this fall, but rumors persist about Apple reviving the technology for the iPhone. Apple reportedly tested an under-screen fingerprint scanner for at least some iPhone 13 models, according to The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, but Apple apparently decided not to move forward with the idea.
In a September 2021 research note, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted that Apple will launch at least one new iPhone model with an under-display fingerprint scanner in the second half of 2023. There have also been rumors of a larger iPhone SE model with Touch ID built into the Power Button, much like the latest iPad Air and iPad mini.
Popular Stories
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall.
Design
There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out.
That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook.
Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China.
Our original article follows below.
Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device.
According...
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works.
iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week.
To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
