All three of Apple’s 2018 iPhones may have Face ID

Fingerprint, scmingerprint. Apple’s new favorite way to unlock a device is with your face.

A key supplier of Apple Face ID components has seen an increase in orders and revenue ahead of Apple’s expected fall product launches, according to Loup Ventures (via Cult of Mac). The news strengthens the rumors that all three of Apple’s new iPhone models will come equipped with Face ID.

Lumentum makes vertical-cavity-surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL), which allow for 3D sensing. Lumentum made $301M at the end of Q2, more than the expected $287M. A higher volume of VCSEL orders from Apple apparently drove the increase. 

“Apple’s key iPhone X augmented reality component supplier, Lumentum (LITE), reported better than expected Jun-18 quarter results,” Loup Ventures writes. “Given the expected ramp in VCSEL arrays, we believe this fall, Apple will offer 3 iPhone models (up from 1 today) that include AR/3D sensing.”

This fall, Apple is expected to release three new iPhones: a spiffed-up iPhone X, a larger iPhone X Plus, and a lower-cost model, perhaps called the iPhone 9. In the current lineup, only the iPhone X has Face ID. But there have been previous reports that the “iPhone 9” will have the same TrueDepth camera system as iPhone X — meaning that Face ID, Animoji, and Memoji may come to all the new iPhones, not just the “high-end” ones.

These latest figures from Lumentum strengthen that possibility. So while nothing is certain until Apple’s big fall rol-out, you might want to start thinking about what your go-to Animoji will be. We’re thinking… lion.