Facial Recognition Startups Report Increased Interest in Their Tech After Apple's Reveal of Face ID

With the upcoming launch of the iPhone X in November, Apple is preparing to debut an all-new biometric security feature called "Face ID." By using half a dozen front-facing sensors and an enhanced camera system, the iPhone X will be able to project more than 30,000 invisible dots onto your face, create a precise map of what it sees, and remember it so that all you have to do to unlock the iPhone X is look at it with your eyes open, and swipe up on the Lock Screen.

Although it's yet to be seen if this feature will be "well received" by users, a new report by Bloomberg today cites a few startups in the technology industry that have noticed Apple's influence already beginning to make waves in the face-scanning technology market. These startups -- which specialize in technology related to facial recognition systems -- say they have "already seen a pickup in demand" from certain companies interested in their technology, starting soon after iPhone X event day on September 12.

iphonexfaceidsetup
George Brostoff, CEO of one such startup called Sensible Vision, told Bloomberg that Apple's Face ID/iPhone X announcement "makes companies like Motorola, like LG come knocking on the doors of companies like ours." Brostoff said that the company is now fielding calls from potential buyers, including talks with "virtually all of the world's phone manufacturers," with expectations set for the startup to be sold to one of these interested parties -- which excludes Apple -- within a year.

While not everyone will buy the $999 high-end iPhone, rival electronics makers are already trying to figure out how they can incorporate the technology in their offerings. Startups selling their own versions of facial recognition say they’ve already seen a pickup in demand since Sept. 12, when Apple announced the iPhone X, aka 10.

“We now have a leader like Apple acknowledging that this makes sense,” said George Brostoff, chief executive officer of SensibleVision Inc., a Cape Coral, Florida-based startup that makes software for tablets and smartphones. “This makes companies like Motorola, like LG come knocking on the doors of companies like ours.”

Looking forward, research firm Crone Consulting LLC reported that facial recognition will account for "more than half of all [device] log-ins" over the next three to five years, including users authorizing mobile banking apps and payments. In terms of earnings, researchers at MarketsandMarkets predicted that the market for Face ID-like biometric security systems will double from the $3.35 billion it made in 2016, to $6.84 billion in 2021.

Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi has made the rounds since the September 12 keynote event, assuring users that Face ID is "incredibly reliable," "very fast," and it "just works." He's said that he understands user uncertainty over the new feature, but these concerns will "melt away" once they get the iPhone X in their hands. In terms of security, Apple has also said that your face is saved only to the iPhone X and not accessible by anyone who doesn't have access to the device.

According to Federighi, all of these behind-the-scenes Face ID features come together flawlessly: "You don't even think about it," he said.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

Zaft Avatar
105 months ago
Not surprising, I bet wireless charging will suddenly be popular.

Apple is a trend setter.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
symphony Avatar
105 months ago
Not surprising, I bet wireless charging will suddenly be popular.

Apple is a trend setter.
Even Phil said in the keynote wireless charging will become more popular now that iPhone has it. And it’s true, Apple has a good following. They have pretty high credibility.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blackcrayon Avatar
105 months ago
I have a beard as well, that is a concern to me too!
If there is a massive change to your face, can't you just enter your passcode and re-setup Face ID? Will this be a repeated thing, every day? Sort of like asking what if i need to wear (capacitive) gloves one day! Well, I guess i'll punch in the passcode that day. What if I break all my fingers and my Touch ID hand is in a cast? Well, i'll enter the passcode then set up fingers on my other hand.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
105 months ago
Even Phil said in the keynote wireless charging will become more popular now that iPhone has it. And it’s true, Apple has a good following. They have pretty high credibility.
It's funny with some of these technologies.... on one hand you have the "Oh Apple, welcome to the party, finally :rolleyes:" brigade, while secretly also thinking "Yay, now Apple are onboard, this technology will take off big time"

Like Apple Pay and NFC payments.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jaybrwn Avatar
105 months ago
Face-ID is more secure than Touch-ID, According to Apple It is estimated that the accuracy of Face ID will be 1 in 1,000,000 when compared to the 1 in 50,000 of Touch-ID fingerprint.
Not gonna lie, face ID looks real promising. I’ve watched a few videos on YouTube and it works so effortlessly.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DNichter Avatar
105 months ago
What if, one shaves clean their foot long beard? That's the test I wanna know.
I think worst case, you just re-enroll your face. They say it learns your face so you would probably good from that point on.
[doublepost=1505920083][/doublepost]The industry follows Apple's lead, as always.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)