iOS 7 beta 4 hints at upcoming iPhone fingerprint sensor

Ever since Apple's purchase of biometric sensor company AuthenTec last year the rumor mill has been abuzz with predictions that a future iteration of the iPhone would employ built-in fingerprint authorization. Now, as 9to5Mac reports, Twitter user Hamza Sood has discovered a folder in the newly released iOS 7 beta 4 that references a biometric user interface, complete with descriptions of a setup process that includes images of a color-changing fingerprint and a person holding an iPhone with their thumb on the Home button.

Earlier this month Apple was granted a patent for an in-display fingerprint sensor which would allow for biometric functionality while negating the need for a separate sensor panel.

This new evidence certainly isn't a confirmation of such a feature being included in the next iPhone -- rumored to be called the iPhone 5S -- but it's definitely more validation than we normally see regarding rumors of this magnitude.

[Image credit: Hamza Sood]