New iPhone 8 images show fingerprint scanner will be built into the screen

Some years Apple does a decent job of keeping its upcoming handsets secret, but this year isn’t one of them. We’ve had a steady stream of leaks and today there’s both a CAD image and shots of the iPhone 8 in a case, revealing that – as has been rumored – the fingerprint scanner will seemingly be built into the screen.

That’s worth emphasising, as some earlier leaks suggested the scanner might find its home on the back of the phone, and while leaked dummy units of the iPhone 8 show an absence of visible scanners, they were made based on diagrams which may not have had every marking in place, so left the possibility of a rear-mounted scanner open.

These leaks though leave less in doubt. The CAD image was shared by Benjamin Geskin, who’s been leaking a lot of iPhone 8 stuff. The design here shows an all-screen front, albeit with a cut-out at the top for the front-facing camera, while on the back there’s that vertically aligned dual-lens camera that we’ve seen so much of.

Circles aren't scanners

There’s also a circle, which you might reasonably think is the fingerprint scanner, but according to Geskin it’s simply the location of the Apple logo.

And backing that up, Slashleaks has posted images of a dummy iPhone 8 unit in a case – with no fingerprint scanner cut-out on the back.

Of course, there’s no guarantee any of this is accurate, but case manufacturers may have got an early look at the phone and are likely to be at least reasonably confident in the design before building cases for it.

For now, we still can’t totally rule out the possibility of a rear-mounted scanner, or a return of the home button below the screen. But, while an under-screen scanner once seemed unlikely, it’s now looking like the most probable outcome.