iPhone 5S Fingerprint Scanner: 5 Fast Facts About the Touch ID Sensor

Apple takes security with the iPhone 5S to the next level by adding Touch ID, a fingerprint reader featured directly onto the device's home button. Youtube.com/Screenshot

Remember when the world was abuzz with the possibility of the iPhone 5S having a fingerprint scanner, and then everyone crushed our dreams? Well it’s real, it’s here and it’s awesome! Apple has just confirmed that the iPhone 5S will feature a 500ppi fingerprint sensor right in the 5S’ home button. And while everyone was doubting Apple’s ability not only to execute the fingerprint scanner, but having the necessary resources to pull off such a feature, Tim Cook was in Cupertino sitting on the "most forward-thinking phone we have ever created," also known as the iPhone 5S with Touch ID. According to Apple, the Touch ID is a 170-micron thin scanning sensor sits under a laser-cut sapphire crystal and is surrounded by the steel detection ring, which can capture 550 pixels per inch of resolution in a user’s fingerprint.

So what does the finger print actually do? Other than make you feel like a spy. Users will be able to simply touch their home buttons (rather than swipe the screen) to unlock their device, but more importantly, Touch ID can be used to authenticate your iTunes purchases. However, critics were immediately quick to claim the security issues with providing your fingerprint to Apple, which with the recent NSA news, is completely understandable. Apple says that user's fingerprints will be encrypted and will not be available to third parties. In addition, Apple stated that the fingerprint will be stored in your personal device, the Touch ID sensor fingerprint “won’t be stored on iCloud or apples servers, your fingerprint is stored only on the chip in your iPhone."

Apple achieved this new feat of security and technology by creating a home button made entirely of sapphire glass. The specialized glass reduces the potential for damaging one of the iPhone 5S’s most notable features, and it’s bounded by a steel “detection ring” that determines when your finger is on the home button thus engaging the Touch ID sensor. Another notable feature of the Touch ID is its ability to store multiple fingerprints which thus create multiple profiles on your iPhone 5S.

Check out a video of Apple’s brand new Touch ID fingerprint scanner: