Apple's New Face ID Biometric System Works in the Dark and When Your Face is Obscured by Hats and Beards

[justperry]

Face ID is really intriguing but touch ID was so easy and convenient. I was a little shocked at how they said 1-50,000 could beat a fingerprint ID vs 1-1,000,000 with face recognition. I thought we all had unique fingerprints? Like snowflakes.

Exactly this, I thought 1-50.000 was actually a fairly bad number, expected TouchiD to be much better.

 

[OS X Dude]

I remember the moaning about Touch ID at launch, so I'll take everyone's comments with a pinch of salt. Usability is key to what Apple does, they even stress this to us in service documentation that no customer ever sees.

What has me slightly concerned is Touch ID's nascent adoption on macOS. Some people went for Touch Bar MacBook Pro models specifically for the feature, and others (like me) want it on a Magic Keyboard for use on the iMac/Mac Pro. Apple sending out messages of its replacement with Face ID is going to surely lead to developers questioning whether to support it in their Mac software in anticipation of Face ID coming to Mac in due course. iOS 11 code mentioned iPads and iPods having Face ID, so it stands to reason Apple would homogenise it as an overall product feature.

The only saving grace it may have is that no current Mac could use Face ID, and replacing a flagship feature barely a year after its debut would p*ss off a lot of people and rub the wider savvy Mac community the wrong way for sure.

 

[Rocco83]

That’s great but most people prefer will prefer Touch ID.

You know this how? Personally, I hate Touch ID. Depending on what work I'm doing my fingerprints rarely register because of either debris on my hands, or just my fingerprints bring altered. Face ID will work better for me. I know other people who feel the same way. I just want to know what methods you used to come to your arbitrary quantifier of "most"

 

[69Mustang]

I disagree. That would made it a lot more difficult to reach, especially for the Plus models. Which means you have to use your thumb in most cases. One handed use to reach the power button would not be easily accessible, and Apple is about accessibility. Even trying that on my iPhone right now, is not an easy thing to do one-handed.

Touch ID on the back in the logo. Solves the reachability issue. Gives users a choice. Choice really isn't Apple's style when it comes to adding and removing features, but I'd like to think they could have done it.

 

[JCCL]

Yeah it works in the dark, with beard or glasses........just as Windows Hello on a Surface Device or Kinect, or any device with infrared camera used for recognition launched in the last years....Nothing new here.

 

[Rob_2811]

Yet another poster who clearly didn't watch the keynote.

Another poster who clearly hasnt read the thread. At least two members of the tech press said it failed several times in the hands on area. Links have been posted in this thread.

 

[SpectatorHere]

I think this may be another Siri, which had to be released in beta since it was their big feature to sell. Or maybe an Apple Maps-like issue.

One thing we know, is that it's delayed and they're not even certain it will ship November. If they were sure, they'd take orders now. They've run into major problems. This is why I'm so curious about touchID, wondering how late in the process they dropped it (assuming they intended it to coexist with FaceID, which may not be the case).

 

[Telomar]

I didn’t expect it but the lack of support for multiple faces might be the killer for me. My wife uses my phone all the time, particularly if I am driving. I don’t really want to look away from the road to unlock my phone. It looked ok for speed but slower than gen 1 Touch ID.

 

[mdelvecchio]

I doubt this is a big issue, but in some of the demo videos after the show, they showed someone pointing the phone at the face of the owner and unlocking the phone. I guess a thief could steal your phone, point it at your face for a fraction of a second and take off with your unlocked phone.

Yes and a mugger could force you to unlock your phone. So what? I never heard of it happening with Touch ID and I doubt I will with Face ID either.

You guys try so hard.

 

[Mefisto]

So you mean to tell me the folks at Apple thought of all of that all on their own? Without consulting MacRumors readers?

Well now I just don't know what to believe anymore.

 

[MR.Raul]

When picking up my iPhone with my thumb on my home buiten, I'm there. No swipe, no looking into the camera.

Why mention looking into the camera, you'll do that with touch ID as well, why would you unlock your phone and not look at it, and it's easier to swipe on a big surface then push a small button.

 

[unobtainium]

I'm sure people would be excited about this, if that phone was $799.

It's like dating a hot woman, ignoring the wart on her face and the notch on her neck, but then realising, that she already has 4 Kids and no job...

- Comparing a woman to an electronics product? Check.
- Shallow expectations of female appearances? Check.

Please, why don't you tell us about all your own physical flaws, and provide an assessment of how much you're worth?

 

[mdelvecchio]

I didn’t expect it but the lack of support for multiple faces might be the killer for me. My wife uses my phone all the time, particularly if I am driving. I don’t really want to look away from the road to unlock my phone. It looked ok for speed but slower than gen 1 Touch ID.

Just tell her you passcode, then. Problem solved.

 

[69Mustang]

I thought it was suppose to work with multiple faces. Just like adding another fingerprint.

Not according to the article. One facial only. If accurate, that's pretty dumb.

 

[RickInHouston]

This is apple putting out an all out assault to reverse the epic fail during the demo.

 

[iKrivetko]

Face ID is really intriguing but touch ID was so easy and convenient. I was a little shocked at how they said 1-50,000 could beat a fingerprint ID vs 1-1,000,000 with face recognition. I thought we all had unique fingerprints? Like snowflakes.

The probability of two fingerprints being the same is one in a few dozen million. Since fingerprint sensors don't store every little detail, the final number ends up being in the tens of thousands region.

 

[JamesPDX]

I remember the moaning about Touch ID at launch, so I'll take everyone's comments with a pinch of salt. Usability is key to what Apple does, they even stress this to us in service documentation that no customer ever sees.

What has me slightly concerned is Touch ID's nascent adoption on macOS. Some people went for Touch Bar MacBook Pro models specifically for the feature, and others (like me) want it on a Magic Keyboard for use on the iMac/Mac Pro. Apple sending out messages of its replacement with Face ID is going to surely lead to developers questioning whether to support it in their Mac software in anticipation of Face ID coming to Mac in due course. iOS 11 code mentioned iPads and iPods having Face ID, so it stands to reason Apple would homogenise it as an overall product feature.

The only saving grace it may have is that no current Mac could use Face ID, and replacing a flagship feature barely a year after its debut would p*ss off a lot of people and rub the wider savvy Mac community the wrong way for sure.

Well, how else could EOL/EOS a 2016 MBP and a 2017 iMac? I'm sure they would never place a secret "brick date" via a firmware update when the HS GS is released.

 

[MrGimper]

I hope it works well, but this feels like the first time ever that Apple have implemented a feature to “keep up with the Joneses”

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Great data here Mac Rumors, thank you for compiling it. And the two attempt lock probably does explain the demo failure in the keynote being Face ID registering a mismatch.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Sounds like Apple was a bit more focused on the 'could' and not enough on the 'should' part of the equation.

Please give us both in the future. There are use cases where one type can excel over the other and vice versa.

Sounds like you dont get it, to me. I wasnt fast biometric auth, and if face auth is faster that's what I want.

 

[SgtPepper12]

Why mention looking into the camera, you'll do that with touch ID as well, why would you unlock your phone and not look at it, and it's easier to swipe on a big surface then push a small button.

The point is that the unlocking process starts when you have the phone out in front of you, looking at it. With Touch ID you could basically unlock the phone while taking out the phone, so you don't have to wait, not even a second, usually. How it is supposedly easier to swipe the screen than to touch a physical button is beyond me.

 

[eatrains]

You'd think by now people would've learned to give Apple the benefit of the doubt.

 

[MrGuder]

Ok so how do you test this out at the Apple Store demo phones. Lol won't everyone be trying this? Lol

 

[44267547]

Touch ID on the back in the logo. Solves the reachability issue. Gives users a choice. Choice really isn't Apple's style when it comes to adding and removing features, but I'd like to think they could have done it.

I don't disagree, They could have implemented it on the back as Other manufacturers have. But Apple is about changing the course away from what the consumer finds convenient versus what Apple believes is reality. A fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone some appreciate and some have stated its cumbersome. It's hard to say how Face ID will Course Over the next year, but there certainly will be an adaptation phase.

 

[Rob_2811]

I think this may be another Siri, which had to be released in beta since it was their big feature to sell. Or maybe an Apple Maps-like issue.

One thing we know, is that it's delayed and they're not even certain it will ship November. If they were sure, they'd take orders now. They've run into major problems. This is why I'm so curious about touchID, wondering how late in the process they dropped it (assuming they intended it to coexist with FaceID, which may not be the case).

WSJ claimed Apple was desperate to include Touch ID that their failure to integrate it was the main reason behind the delayed launch.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

I doubt this is a big issue, but in some of the demo videos after the show, they showed someone pointing the phone at the face of the owner and unlocking the phone. I guess a thief could steal your phone, point it at your face for a fraction of a second and take off with your unlocked phone.

The phone would lock again at some point. There's no way you can add a new fingerprint to the TouchID settings, or change the passcode, without knowing the existing passcode. I would imagine this to be the same for FaceID.