I've been using Face ID on the iPhone X for more than 24 hours, and I don't need a stopwatch to tell you that it unlocks my phone slower than when I was using Touch ID on my older iPhone 7 Plus.

The iPhone 7, not yet scheduled for release until a year from now, is already the subject of speculations and predictions. One analyst thinks the next Apple flagship phone will not have a home button.

If you use Touch ID with this setting turned off (which I believe is the default), unlocking your iPhone requires an extra click so a lot of users will already have slower unlock times from that.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus both have the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which is used to unlock the phone and authenticate Apple Pay purchases. It's also used to sign into some apps.

I'm fine with a 7 Plus for another year; a rear Touch ID is an aberration, and would mean a "no sale" to me. Then again, I'm skeptical of just about every rumor at this point in time. There's just ...