Apple first introduced the Touch ID fingerprint sensor with the iPhone. The sensor was initially only used for access control on the smartphone. Over time it was opened up and expanded to other products as well, like the iPad, and now it is the integral part of Apple Pay. A rumor out of Taiwan suggests that Apple could bring Touch ID to its 12-inch MacBook Air.
Since last year there have been rumors that a 12-inch MacBook Air will be released in the near future. This notebook is expected to bring a Retina display housed in a very slim profile made possible by a fanless design.
A Taiwanese publication claims that the 12-inch MacBook Air is going to have the Touch ID fingerprint sensor above the trackpad, citing sources in the supply chain, and also says that the biometric technology will be added to Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad.
Apparently this is a step that Apple will take before allowing Apple Pay users to use the company’s relatively new payments service to make payments online. Currently Apple Pay can only be used to make payments either on the App Store or in-stores at NFC terminals.
The rumor isn’t outrageous at all. Apple Pay is a serious effort on the company’s part to shake up the payments industry and the next logical step for this service would be online payments, a move that will put it in direct competition with the likes of Amazon Payments and the eBay-owned behemoth PayPal.
If we know anything about Apple, its that the company isn’t afraid of competition.
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