Apple’s upcoming iPhone offering is said to have a major security enhancement, utilising the latest fingerprint scanner technology.

The latest operating system, iOS7 beta 4 was released last week and there’s definitely more than a hint of the new fingerprint technology being an important feature in Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5S.

Recently Apple acquired AuthenTec which is a company that specialises in fingerprint-scanning technology. They bought the company for $A392 million last July, which started the rumors last year about the new security advancement being used in their latest smartphone offering.

To fuel speculation ever more, only a few weeks ago Apple also decided to file a patent for a fingerprint sensor embedded within the touchscreen display.

It’s likely that the new technology, embedded in the home button or inside the touch screen will allow for greater security when locking and unlocking the smartphone.

It’s not only security that could benefit from fingerprint sensoring either. There’s also the possibility that you could do different functions on your phone simply by using different fingers.