The company first applied for the patent in 2015. Embedding the reader into the screen can perform authentication, particularly while performing another task or an application on the electronic device. In in some instances it may be undesirable to have a user perform an authentication in a separate authentication step, for example switching between tasks to perform the authentication.
If a fingerprint is required to authenticate something like an App Store purchase or Apple Pay transaction, there would be no need for the user to be explicitly asked to authenticate, as the device could read the fingerprint already on the touchscreen.
In addition, according to 9to5Mac, there have been reports that the company may introduce facial recognition, but it would seem unlikely that this would completely replace fingerprint authentication.
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