Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 31, 2007
8,387
18,810
Florida, USA
For a couple years now I've pissed and moaned about the home button going away. I've held off upgrading because of my beloved TouchID and how much I thought FaceID was ridiculous.

But this year I decided it was finally time and got my iPhone 11 Pro Max. After using it for two minutes I was hooked. FaceID is incredible. It's so nice not to have to TouchID constantly to log into sites, autofill passwords, and so on. It's so fast and reliable that sometimes it recognizes my face unintentionally when I'm just checking the time real quick at an odd angle.

It's awesome and I'm not sure I ever want to go back to TouchID.

I'm sorry for being such a doubting mustafa. I should be more open minded about this stuff from now on.

(I could write a similar post about OLED too but I'll save ya'll the spam. All I can say is "WHOAH!" about the display.)
 
I expect (hope for) a lot of “me too” responses on this thread. Touch ID is great and all but Face ID is just seamless.

What really blows me away is how well it works across all kinds of conditions. New sunglasses? Fine. Growing a beard? It learns as you change. No need to reprogram. Got a hand over the lower half of your face while brushing your teeth? No problem.

What really makes me laugh is the nay-sayers throwing their fits because it won’t unlock at an extreme angle while it’s lying on a table far enough away that they can barely see what’s on the screen anyway.

I was impressed the day I bought my X at how well it worked and it’s only gotten faster and more accurate since. Touch ID is dead folks.
 
It's a bit worse in the car, but you shouldn't use your phone there anyways so no real loss there. Outside of that I'm loving it so far, flawless in normal usage for me and feels super intuitive. I wouldn't say no to both an under display fingerprint reader and faceID combo though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bethanie21
It's a bit worse in the car, but you shouldn't use your phone there anyways so no real loss there. Outside of that I'm loving it so far, flawless in normal usage for me and feels super intuitive. I wouldn't say no to both an under display fingerprint reader and faceID combo though.
Why is it worse in the car? If you have it mounted it should be facing you anyway. If not, you can disable the attention aware feature and not even have to look at the phone for it to unlock and balancing the phone to place your thumb just right for Touch ID takes more concentration than just pointing the screen at your face. So really, it’s better than Touch ID in that scenario.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SisterBlue22
Why is it worse in the car? If you have it mounted it should be facing you anyway. If not, you can disable the attention aware feature and not even have to look at the phone for it to unlock and balancing the phone to place your thumb just right for Touch ID takes more concentration than just pointing the screen at your face. So really, it’s better than Touch ID in that scenario.

I put it in one of my cupholders and it's at an angle where FaceID doesn't pick it up while I can put my thumb there without too much hassle. It's not something I'm really worried about to be honest.
 
I put it in one of my cupholders and it's at an angle where FaceID doesn't pick it up while I can put my thumb there without too much hassle. It's not something I'm really worried about to be honest.
Well in that case I recommend a cheap dashboard or windshield mount. They can be had for less than $10 on Amazon.
 
  • Like
Reactions: co.ag.2005
Next year it’s rumored they’ll have touch ID under screen and Face ID as well because of the people who keep complaining so hard about Face ID. Most of those complainers are actually people who never had Face ID or used it. :rolleyes:

Thank you OP for sharing your experience.
 
Welcome to the dark side! I can't even imagine going back to a Touch ID device as a primary device. I still have my 9.7 IPP and it feels so clunky compared to my 11 IPP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Arndroid
For a couple years now I've pissed and moaned about the home button going away. I've held off upgrading because of my beloved TouchID and how much I thought FaceID was ridiculous.

But this year I decided it was finally time and got my iPhone 11 Pro Max. After using it for two minutes I was hooked. FaceID is incredible. It's so nice not to have to TouchID constantly to log into sites, autofill passwords, and so on. It's so fast and reliable that sometimes it recognizes my face unintentionally when I'm just checking the time real quick at an odd angle.

It's awesome and I'm not sure I ever want to go back to TouchID.

I'm sorry for being such a doubting mustafa. I should be more open minded about this stuff from now on.

(I could write a similar post about OLED too but I'll save ya'll the spam. All I can say is "WHOAH!" about the display.)
To be fair it didn’t work well for some people like me. Still not sure why. On the XS it improved somewhat from the X and on iOS 13 it seems to be working a lot faster for me. With the iPhone 11 Pro they said they improved the sensors so it should be better anyway. I still prefer Touch ID for certain situations like checking it on a desk, but I do that less now since I use my Apple Watch more than ever. I found that turning off requiring attention helped a lot too.
 
The issue I had With faceid on my phone can’t really be resolved. Using an iPhone with touchid for all these years I am conditioned that when grabbing it out of my pocket, or off the desk or whatever I naturally place my thumb on the home button and my phone is unlocked long before it ever has to see my face. So in that case faceid “seems” painfully slow.
 
Welcome to the dark side! I can't even imagine going back to a Touch ID device as a primary device. I still have my 9.7 IPP and it feels so clunky compared to my 11 IPP.

Since you brought it up, Here’s a lock screen I use sometimes

F853AACD-1FF7-4DE7-B468-5216C2FDD1A0.jpeg
 
I have to say I completely agree.

I was never too against Face ID as I trust Apple to not release a feature until it’s finished and I’ve never had any complaints from people I know. My biggest concern was seeing my girlfriend lift her XR to her face like she’s taking a selfie, something that I’ve quickly learned she doesn’t need to do. I was also a little worried that it was going to be reminiscent of Touch ID v1 vs v2 (I had a 5S and a 6S so felt that different hard) but really the 5S was never that bad and Face ID is even better than that.

My biggest complaint, like most is that it won’t recognise me on a desk. For that reason alone I’d like to see a fingerprint reader under the screen but it’s nothing I can’t get past.
 
I gave my X to my wife. I took her 7plus. She likes the fingerprint enter but is getting used to it. Having used the X I had to get used to using my fingerprint again.
Now I’m on the Pro Max and I realized how much I love FaceID.

It’s way better on iPhone that the Note 10+ I used for a week
 
  • Like
Reactions: martyjmclean
when grabbing it out of my pocket, or off the desk or whatever I naturally place my thumb on the home button and my phone is unlocked long before it ever has to see my face. So in that case faceid “seems” painfully slow.

This was my issue, before the X and 8 were announced I was ready to pre-order the X but ended up changing to the 8. After 6 months I ended up giving the X a go and still have it now. While I do find it a little slower to get going when you pick it up and having to hover above the phone to unlock at a desk, for the rest of it I like having Face ID. It's a nice and seamless process when authenticating for logins and such.
 
I’ve got a new 11 Pro, having come from an 8. I’m slowly getting the hang of FaceID, it works most of the time. However, it doesn’t seem to work so well in low light/at night. Bit annoying really.
 
It works on infra-red, so darkness makes no difference.

I setup Face ID for a second time on my X from a lower & more realistic 'unlock' angle which made it work a lot better - most newbies seem to hold it like they're checking their teeth or doing a selfie.

ios13 made it better still & now my 11 Pro is better yet. Maybe my face fits, but I've found it faultless / borderline magical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MisterSavage
For a couple years now I've pissed and moaned about the home button going away. I've held off upgrading because of my beloved TouchID and how much I thought FaceID was ridiculous.

But this year I decided it was finally time and got my iPhone 11 Pro Max. After using it for two minutes I was hooked. FaceID is incredible. ...
Me too. I didn't hold off as long as you but I loved TouchID on my 6s, wasn't sure about FaceID when it was announced, and very consciously held off getting an iPhone X because my thinking was that it couldn't possibly be as quick and reliable as TouchID but if Apple was really going to force me down the FaceID route then I wasn't going to jump in on the first implementation of the technology but rather wait for Apple's 2nd generation version. When Apple announced it had improved FaceID during the Xs announcement I jumped in then, on Xs launch day last year, and like you was sold within minutes and have never looked back.

I confess that right now I'm sort of swaying and am even considering going to a Samsung Galaxy S10+ because various tests (e.g. Tom's Hardware) say that even after Apple's big battery boost the S10+ still has better battery life in a much lighter package than 11 Pro Max. The ironic thing is though that I suspect one of the biggest things that will probably still keep me in the Apple world is .... FaceID!
 
I joined the club too after being resistant for a while. Lots of my concerns about FaceID turned out to be unwarranted and it’s amazing just how seamless it is. It’s been so fast and so unnoticeable that on the first day I kept making sure my husband couldn’t open the phone because it seemed almost like there was no security at all it was coming on so fast. LOL

Needless to say, I love it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aFlockaCgulz
I love threads like these.
Turns out, most those who were moaning and groaning about FaceID just hadn’t ever given it a try and we’re stuck in their old ways.
I’m not a TouchID hater either; I hope and under screen TouchID comes back, IN CONJUNCTION WITH, FaceID, for two, near invisible security authentication methods. It would make these phones that much more secure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ko13 and iRabbit
It took a little getting used to with the X, but now I don’t even think about it. It really is pretty much invisible to the user, which is the end goal. I don’t see why anyone would prefer Touch ID, I think most are just in the same boat you were, griping just to gripe, without actually trying it.
 
Yeah, its so seemless when unlocking, its like not even having a password. In fact, my wife and I thought it wasn't even turned on (we were coming from 7's), my wife and I switched phones and sure enough they wouldn't unlock. Its super sweet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iRabbit
I was very skeptical coming from Android but Face ID is great. It would be good to have both options however but I’d use Face ID over touch. Touch ID is not great if your fingers are wet or in the winter when you have gloves on
 
So many people around here are criticizing Apples new products and/or innovations. Before they have even tried them, they are passing along their opinions (well, not even opinions, more like preconceptions!) as facts. Opinions around products that they have not even used. Face-ID being a great example.

Most of the times, this is only because it suits their agenda at the time. It's a way of rationalizing sticking with their old iPhone 6S, 7 or SE, perhaps due to budgetary constraints, being locked in to contracts, or something along those lines. Two-three years later, it takes all of two minutes to realize they were wrong all the time. ;-)

I have probably done the same, but during the last couple of years I have been so impressed with the new products that I have learnt to keep an open mind, despite what people are saying here.

I think we can all agree that pricing has gone absurd during the last couple of years, but most of the products are actually fantastic once you get to use them. I'm not sure any of this applies to you specifically, but anyway, hats off to you sir @zorinlynx for actually being transparent about it!
 
I was just thinking about this yesterday. I never cared about switching from TouchID to FaceID, but now I really prefer FaceID, especially as its learned more angles of my face and become more versatile over time. It always feels a bit antiquated when I have to use my finger on my iPad to allow an app to download or my password to be used. It's just not as ergonomic or efficient. FaceID is so much more convenient and apparently secure.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.