Wash Your Hands, Kids: Apple Unveils Touch ID Sensor for One-Step iPhone Authentication

At today’s Apple event in Cupertino, Calif., the company unveiled a widely expected “Touch ID” sensor that allows users to unlock their iPhones by tapping on the home button of the smartphone. It’s a super-high-resolution sensor — 500 pixels per inch — that uses advanced capacitive touch technology to analyze users’ unique fingerprints. It can also be used to authenticate before purchasing items from the iTunes Store and App Store. “About half of our customers do not set up a pass code on their device,” Apple’s senior vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller, said onstage.