Apple is said to be considering adding Face ID to its refreshed 24-inch iMac but is more likely to add biometric security to desktop Mac displays before the new MacBook Pro hits the streets.
Apple introduced the display notch in the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro last year, opening up the possibility for Apple to bring Face ID from the iPhone to the Mac.
While the bangs strongly point to it as an integral part of the future, Apple appears to be looking in another direction for the transition period.
According to Mark Gurman in his Bloomberg “Power On” newsletter, the first time Apple really considered bringing Face ID to the Mac was the 24-inch M1 iMac rather than the MacBook Pro, but later There have been some changes in the arrangement of products.
But the iMac apparently had little technical resistance to making it happen, as its display was thick enough to easily fit components. The MacBook line by comparison has fairly thin bezels and is able to accommodate the FaceTime HD camera, but doesn’t have enough depth for Face ID to work.
Due to the limited thickness of MacBooks, Gurman believes that if Face ID does come to Macs, it will “come to iMacs or external displays first.” Apparently, Apple “definitely has been working on this, but time will tell if they roll it out”.
Gurman’s comments echo previous reports on the issue, including a January 2021 report that Apple has been working on the feature, but it’s simply unlikely to arrive in 2021. By July of the same year, it was estimated that Face ID would migrate to Mac desktop products within a few years.