In a significant development at Apple, one of the company’s key executives Steve Hotelling, known for his pivotal role in shaping cutting-edge technologies like Touch ID and Face ID, is leaving the company.
As per Bloomberg report, Hotelling reported to Johny Srouji, who was in charge of making Apple’s hardware. Hotelling’s job was to look after things like touchscreens, health sensors, and Face ID, the face recognition feature in iPhones.
During his time at Apple, Hotelling introduced some noteworthy features to the phones that were later imitated by various other phone companies. He helped create Touch ID, the fingerprint unlocking feature, and made big improvements in iPhone cameras and screens. He even played a role in making the first iPhone and iPad touchscreens work with multiple fingers.
Hotelling also managed the team responsible for making iPhone cameras better and worked on creating special sensors. Apple loves to show off its cameras, and Hotelling’s team made them even more efficient. He also worked on making your iPhone sense depth for cool things like augmented reality. Additionally, he helped make your phone’s screen feel special when you touch it and made the display look smoother and nicer.
Notably, the iPhone 5S was the first phone to feature Touch ID, it allowed users to unlock the phone with a simple tap of the home button. Touch ID felt easy and natural, from where the fingerprint sensor was located to how quickly it unlocked the phone.
Users for the longest time talked about the missing Touch ID in newer generation iPhones. The last iPhone SE to get the Touch ID was the iPhone SE 3rd generation, post which there were multiple rumours about Apple launching the iPhone 15 series with Touch ID, but that never happened.
There aren’t many rumors saying that the new iPhone 16 will have Touch ID. It seems like Apple might not put Touch ID in future phones. The reports say the next iPhone SE will also use Face ID, replacing the last iPhone with Touch ID.
People think Apple might be looking into putting fingerprint sensors under the screen, but this might happen around 2026. They might also put Face ID under the screen around the same time.The vacancy left by Hotelling’s departure prompts questions about the trajectory of future iPhone innovations. Will Apple revisit Touch ID, integrating it alongside Face ID in upcoming models? Or will the company continue down the path of exclusive facial recognition technology?