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Do we really need a fingerprint sensor in the new iPhone?

Whether or not you believe the new iPhone(s) to be announced this week will actually have a fingerprint sensor is immaterial to this question. That decision has already been made at Apple HQ in Cupertino. My point is, what would we really use it for?

I have often thought about this, since the early rumours suggested the upcoming model would have this feature. Would a device with this type of technology really be more helpful, secure or efficient than one without?

Beyond the obvious secure unlocking of a device, where I do believe this would be extremely beneficial would be in some sort of partitioning of user accounts on an iPhone, or to secure certain applications that may contain sensitive information, whilst leaving the remainder of the device “open” as it were. I’m still not convinced how this would really work, however Craig Hockenberry has some thoughts on his blog, which provide a nice summary of what could occur should this feature be implemented on our iPhones, particularly with some form of iCloud integration. The article is worth reading if you are at all interested in this sort of thing.

I myself am not due for a phone upgrade this year, however my wife is, and I will be looking closely at whatever features appear on this new device once it is in our…ahem, her hands.

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• Rumored iPhone 5S packaging shows silver ring ‘fingerprint sensor’ around home button (theverge.com)
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