Face ID

Face ID

Developer(s)	Apple Inc.
Initial release	November 2017; 6 years ago (2017-11)
Operating system	iOS 13 or later iPadOS 13 or later
License	Proprietary license
Website	support.apple.com/en-us/HT208108

Face ID is a facial recognition system designed and developed by Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad Pro. The system allows biometric authentication for unlocking a device,^[1] making payments, accessing sensitive data, providing detailed facial expression tracking for Animoji, as well as six degrees of freedom (6DOF) head-tracking, eye-tracking, and other features. Initially released in November 2017 with the iPhone X, it has since been updated and introduced to several new iPhone models, and Many iPad Pro models. (2018 iPad Pros and later) ^[2]

The Face ID hardware consists of a sensor with three modules; a laser^[3] dot projector that projects a grid of small infrared dots onto a user's face, a module called the flood illuminator that shines infrared light at the face, and an infrared camera which takes an infrared picture of the user, reads the resulting pattern and generates a 3D facial map. This map is compared with the registered face using a secure subsystem, and the user is authenticated if the two faces match sufficiently. The system can recognize faces with glasses, clothing, makeup, and facial hair, and adapts to changes in appearance over time.

Face ID has sparked a number of debates about security and privacy. Apple claims that Face ID is statistically more advanced than Touch ID fingerprint scanning.^[4] It exhibits significantly fewer false positives. Multiple security features largely limit the risk of the system being bypassed using photos or masks, and only one proof-of-concept attempt using detailed scans has succeeded. Debate continues over the lack of legal protections offered by biometric systems as compared to passcode authentication in the United States. Privacy advocates have also expressed concern about third-party app developers' access to "rough maps" of user facial data, despite rigid requirements by Apple of how developers handle facial data.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was noted that Face ID was unable to recognize users wearing face coverings on some devices.^[5][6] Apple responded to criticism by offering faster fallback to passcode input, and the option for Apple Watch users to confirm whether they intended to unlock their iPhone.^[7] In March 2022, Apple released iOS 15.4 which adds mask-compatible Face ID for iPhone 12 and later devices.^[8]