Apple is testing iPhone Duo 2 prototypes that include an under-display version of Face ID, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on his latest PowerOn podcast. The disclosure comes as the original iPhone Duo begins reaching customers who placed pre-orders last week and early reviews are already circulating.
Reviewers have pointed to familiar first generation shortcomings, and the phone's Touch ID sensor has drawn particular criticism. Depending on how the device is held, the sensor can be hard to reach, and it requires the user to keep a finger pressed on the sensor to fully unlock the phone.
Under-display Face ID and engineering trade-offs
Face ID has been a frequent request for a successor to the Duo, and Gurman said Apple is actively testing units with the facial recognition system tucked beneath the display. Whether the company can ship that feature in the Duo 2 as soon as next year is uncertain. According to Gurman, inclusion will depend on Apple's ability to slim down key components such as the dot projector and the infrared camera so they can work reliably beneath the screen.
That is a nontrivial engineering challenge. Packing the dot projector and IR camera into a thinner, less exposed assembly while preserving Face ID performance is one of the constraints that will determine a timeline. Apple is testing but has not confirmed a production decision.
The PowerOn update also flagged another hardware change Gurman expects: the return of an Action button, an omission on the current Duo model that Apple may address on the next version.
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