Gurman: Face ID on the Mac Coming Within a 'Couple of Years'

[macintoshmac]

Ideally, it should have been in the next Mac refresh from when Face ID technology was introduced in the iPhone.

It is already 4 years and counting, and 'in a couple years' is just ...

 

[Pakaku]

Don’t understand why this is taking Apple so long. The Mac is arguably the strongest use case for FaceID.

Took them years to upgrade the camera from 720p to 1080p. I suppose a big old FaceID camera is just too monumental of an upgrade for a trillion dollar hobbyist computer company to handle.

 

[-BigMac-]

"Unlike iPhones and iPads, Mac laptop screens are significantly thinner, making it harder to fit the necessary depth sensors for Face ID, Gurman notes."

Yea cool.. Apple also has desktops, like the iMac which noone really cares how thin they are. they're planted onto a desk, and are hardly seen from the side..

I love how Apple always has a reason for not doing something which increases the end user functionality, but more importantly... decreases their profit margin xD

 

[Realityck]

Apple is patiently waiting for the people who grew up with real computers to die off and their new generation of phone people will all gladly accept a "more safe and secure empire" with macs that that will only run the software that apple allows you to run.

This is the time to remind you that young people are just as into computers as you were. So fat chance with that.

 

[poematik13]

Don’t understand why this is taking Apple so long. The Mac is arguably the strongest use case for FaceID.

They’re gonna completely lock down the OS first. Enjoy your app store subscription only method of getting new software, hope the faceID was worth it

 

[Mescagnus]

Plenty of room in the bezel of the 24" iMac – but they had to make the bezel white, making it impossible to hide the FaceID components I want the black bezel back! With faceID!

 

[Stenik]

need 1080p camera 🤣

Anything less than 4K is a disappointment.

 

[MrFootery]

I don't think Apple could stand themselves allowing the 2D implementation like Microsoft Hello, otherwise they could have done it as early as iPhone 4. Apple is still too slow to put Face ID on the Mac though, but they're not playing catch-up. It's a different tech altogether.

Agreed. Windows Hello has been around for years, but is a completely different technology & much less secure. Apple could have easily implemented a similar camera-based unlocking feature in the mid 2010s, but it’s the security aspect of FaceID that’s its strength.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Folks, you heard it from me first:
- new Mac will keep coming in the next couple of years
- they will have thinner bazels and newer screen tech
- As they will be launched, they will be the best Mac to date

Butterfly keyboards disagree with your theory.

 

[4743913]

This is the time to remind you that young people are just as into computers as you were.

I believe you, I think they are all on Windows or Linux machines tho.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Are masks required at workplaces and in open spaces?

Right now? There's a very good chance that's a yes. Especially airports and airplanes.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Apple plans to bring Face ID to the Mac within the next "couple of years," respected Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman said today in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter.

In the newsletter, Gurman says that he believes Apple's ultimate goal is to shift all of its products to Face ID, including the lower-end iPhones such as the iPhone SE and the iPad Air, which feature Touch ID. Gurman says Touch ID remains an important part of Apple's product lineup, especially for lower-end models, thanks to it being a "cheaper alternative" to Face ID while continuing to provide security to users.
Gurman had previously reported that as Apple was planning its recently launched redesigned 24-inch iMac, it had initially planned to include Face ID, but that Face ID implementation has been delayed to an upcoming iMac redesign instead. Unlike iPhones and iPads, Mac laptop screens are significantly thinner, making it harder to fit the necessary depth sensors for Face ID, Gurman notes.

Further down the line, Gurman says Apple will eventually embed Face ID into the screens themselves, abandoning the need for a notch on the iPhone. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes such an iPhone may debut as early as 2023. As for the Mac desktop, Apple is continuing to develop a replacement for the 27-inch iMac which may feature a larger screen and a more powerful "M2X" chip. Apple earlier this year paused work on the larger iMac to focus on the 24-inch iMac, which was released this past April.

Article Link: Gurman: Face ID on the Mac Coming Within a 'Couple of Years'

 

[Morgenland]

The cases that contain the screen on desktop and laptop Macs are thinner than an iPhone or iPad and this makes it difficult to fit the components for a current-generation 1080p webcam or FaceID as there is a minimum depth they need for the optics to work.

So we need thicker cases or thinner optics that can fit and work. And for a laptop, a thicker case adds weight and bulk and those are two things a significant percentage of laptop customers do not appreciate.

The new 24-iMac has a 1080p FaceTime camera integrated, so I didn't understand why Face ID wasn't integrated into the frame as well. It is not due to the case geometry (11.5 mm vs. 7.4mm iPhone).
The modules have been manufactured in large numbers for a long time now, so costs can't be the reason either.
A deliberate price differentiation (keyboard touch ID missing in the lowest price range), which would be nonsensical for the monitor from a manufacturing point of view, is hopefully not the reason either.

Of course, the working distance to the monitor can be longer than to the iPhone, but then I wouldn't have a problem moving my face closer for a moment.

'Eventually, a camera embedded in the screen would help differentiate Apple’s pricier devices by eliminating the notch at the top'
I don't know how Gurman comes up with such statement.



˙

 

[icwhatudidthere]

They’re gonna completely lock down the OS first. Enjoy your app store subscription only method of getting new software, hope the faceID was worth it

Apple added Touch ID to Macs. What's different about Face ID to require a locked down OS while Touch ID doesn't.

 

[_Spinn_]

This makes a lot of sense - especially with everything moving to Apple Silicon.

 

[TVreporter]

iMac with notch for a few years then finally no notch!

 

[bushman4]

Gurman doesn’t have a great success rate of predicting Apple features.
His sources aren’t that good

 

[Morgenland]

Plenty of room in the bezel of the 24" iMac – but they had to make the bezel white, making it impossible to hide the FaceID components I want the black bezel back! With faceID!

That's right, I didn't even think of that. Maybe that's exactly why they didn't integrate their standard Face ID module.
On the other hand, you can also see the camera.

And I don't think customers would be seriously outraged by 2 black optics. At least not customers like you and me.

 

[TVreporter]

Seanm87 has leaked today that Apple is planning on making the new iPhones faster with better cameras and better battery life in the next couple of years

Source?

 

[johnalan]

I predict this will go hand in hand with the "iOS Style" lockdown of macOS which apple has been building toward.

Hazel, Little Snitch, Rogue Ameoba will all be in jeopardy but the ovis aries will be happy. 😀

Not sure who to believe here, you, or the guy actually running macOS development.

 

[ignatius345]

I use two different user accounts (work/personal) and am really loving the setting to use TouchID to switch accounts. I just registered my index ("main") finger for my personal account and my middle finger for my work account. At any given point, I just press the TouchID sensor down with the appropriate finger and accounts switch in a jif.

 

[JosephAW]

Once the dumb down macOS to equal iPadOS then they can roll it out.

 

[wigby]

Interesting to see how Apple is desperately playing catch-up to Microsoft who has had Face ID for 2+ years.

Interesting that you see "catch-up" while everyone else sees "taking their time."

 

[The Game 161]

Gurman doesn’t have a great success rate of predictor Apple features.
His sources aren’t that good

90% accuracy is not great?

 

[wigby]

sorry I hurt your feelings but it is accurate when it concerns locking down a computer like a phone. we already have s "computer" with diapers, its called an iPad.

That's like calling a socket wrench an s "tool" with diapers because it's not an adjustable wrench. Different tools for different uses.