A new video that explores the possibility of a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the fifth-generation iPad has been released on YouTube channel Unbox Therapy.
In the video, the purported front panel of the fifth-generation iPad is compared to a home button with a fingerprint sensor removed from the iPhone 5s and a home button removed from a standard iPhone.
The standard home button does not appear to fit inside the casing of the iPad 5, while the smaller home button equipped with a fingerprint sensor does indeed fit. While this is not concrete evidence by any means, it does suggest that the fifth-generation iPad is potentially able to support the Touch ID hardware.
A major caveat, however, is that Apple’s fifth-generation iPad is expected to take design cues from the iPad mini. The current iPad mini has a home button that is smaller than the home button found in the iPhone 5, which could also explain the home button sizing differences found in the fourth-generation iPad and the shell of the iPad 5. Apple has implemented home button changes in the past, slightly shrinking the home button size of the iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone 4s.
There has been some prior evidence that the next generation iPads could come equipped with the same fingerprint sensor found in the iPhone 5s. Last week, an image leaked that appeared to show a fully-assembled next generation iPad mini in gold with a fingerprint sensor, though it was unclear whether the image was real or rendered.
Apple is expected to unveil the fifth-generation iPad alongside the second-generation iPad mini at an upcoming media event that could take place in late October. The second-generation iPad mini, which could be in short supply, will come equipped with a Retina screen while the fifth-generation iPad will take on a slimmer iPad mini-style design.
