Apple is working on a feature that will let you unlock your iPhone using your face instead of a fingerprint.

For its redesigned iPhone, set to go on sale later this year for the device's tenth anniversary, Apple is testing an improved security system that allows users to log in, authenticate payments, and launch secure apps by scanning their face, according to people familiar with the product. This is powered by a new 3D sensor, added the people, who asked not to be identified discussing technology that's still in development. The company is also reportedly testing eye scanning to augment the system.

The sensor's speed and accuracy are focal points of the feature. It can scan a user's face and unlock the iPhone within a few hundred milliseconds. It is designed to work even if the device is laying flat on a table, rather than just close up to the face. The feature is still being tested and may not appear with the new device. However, the intent is for it to replace the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

In testing, the face unlock feature apparently takes in more data points than a fingerprint scan, making it more secure than the Touch ID system. Apple introduced Touch ID in 2013 with the iPhone 5s for unlocking the phone and it added support for authenticating payments and logging into apps a year later.

Apple is not the first to use different forms of biometric authentication. In its latest phones, Samsung included iris scanners that let users unlock their phones and make payments by scanning their eyes. Samsung's feature on its Galaxy S8 smartphone launched to poor reviews as users were able to trick the sensor with printed photo copies of a person's eyes. Apple's sensor has 3-D depth perception, which means the system is less likely to be duped by 2D pictures.

For the iPhone's decade anniversary, Apple is also testing a new glass casing, steel edges, and a larger display that fits into a smaller overall body, according to reports.

The redesigned iPhone will use an OLED screen, which reproduces colours more crisply, while the company is also planning updates to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that still include standard LCD screens. The new 3D sensor is being tested for the OLED version.

Bloomberg