Next iPad Could Arrive with Touch ID Support, Shows iOS 7.1 Code

By Prarthito

| Published: Saturday, April 26, 2014, 16:07 [IST]

More new Apple-related news to follow up on, and this time it points at the next iPad that's set to come from the company. According to reports, there are signs that the next iPad could arrive with Touch ID support, as revealed via the iOS 7.1 internal codes.

Apparently, an existence of iPad Touch ID support has been discovered by French iOS developer Pierre Blazquez, as noted by iDownloadBlog.

Next iPad Could Arrive with Touch ID Support, Shows iOS 7.1 Code

The new evidence related to the same comes in the form of a BiometricKit bundle in iOS that comes as the basic framework for the Touch ID functionality. The bundle, interestingly, has been listed as being compatible with both iPhone/iPod and iPad families.

"Notable mentions of Touch ID for the iPad have been discovered in the iOS code, indicating an upcoming iPad hardware refresh might include the fingerprint sensor," the iDownloadblog reports reads.

"It's worth pointing out that iOS code frequently contains placeholders and hooks for unreleased features that never see the light of day."

As of now, A text string accompanying the ‘BiometricKitUI.axbundle' folder describes an image showing a person "holding an iPhone with their right hand while touching the Home button with their thumb."

The BiometricKit, although later removed from the iOS 7 Beta 5 SDK, still presents itself via smaller traces of it appearing in subsequent SDK releases.

However, it's hard to tell if Apple is planning to launch a new tablet this spring, since tablet sales haven't been up to the mark in recent times. But it will be interesting to see of the company indeed introduces the feature in the new tablet. Only time will tell.