Future Apple Watch may feature a fingerprint scanner – Times of India

Apple isn’t hyperactive when it comes to updating the hardware of the Apple Watch. However, it seems that the company is planning to add a fingerprint scanner in future smartwatches.
Patently Apple has reported that the company has secured a new patent for a fingerprint scanner on the future Apple Watch. Considering now many smartwatches come with a fingerprint scanner or any form of biometric authentication feature, adding it will give Apple an edge over other smartwatches.
According to the images from the patent application, the fingerprint will be placed next to the crown. Basically, Apple will likely replace the regular button that the ongoing Apple Watch models feature with a fingerprint scanner. Also, it won’t make any sense to add two buttons on a device of this size. Plus, it won’t bring any functional advantage.
While, this certainly seems to be a nice addition, going with a physical fingerprint scanner instead of an in-display option is actually a smart choice by Apple as watch users are already accustomed to using that extra side-mounted button. Also, a physical fingerprint scanner will also be more convenient compared to the in-display fingerprint scanner on a watch.
At the moment, it is not clear what Apple has in mind behind adding a fingerprint scanner to the watch. One we can think of is authentication. However, only time will reveal more details about it. It is also possible that Apple might ditch the entire idea altogether.