Report: This year’s iPhones may have in-screen Touch ID - Ars Technica

According to "a person familiar with" Apple's work, the 2021 iPhone will be a small, iterative update and may carry the "S" label, which Apple has used to denote smaller upgrades to the iPhone in the past (for example, iPhone 6S or iPhone XS).

This is in part because the iPhone 12 lineup introduced last fall was particularly loaded with new features and design changes, but it was also because COVID-19 restrictions have slowed Apple's engineers down, according to the report.

While the iPhone 13 wouldn't have a radically new design, the report does describe one potential change of note that Apple is testing internally: the addition of an in-screen fingerprint reader.

Touch ID itself was introduced in an "S" update: the iPhone 5S was the first to include the technology.

Bloomberg's sources also say that Apple is "discussing" the removal of the iPhone's physical charging port, since last year's iPhones introduced MagSafe wireless chargers.

Also to that effect, the report claims that Apple is actively testing folding iPhone designs, though these are not sure to come to market, and if they do, it will likely be a few years in the future.

Don't be surprised that Apple is at least testing foldables; the Android smartphone market has seen a few foldable phones, though we have generally found them to be compromised or poor user experiences. As with the removal of the charging port, the fact that Apple is testing this feature does not mean it will actually happen.