New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Apple Says Claims Face ID Was Downgraded to Speed Up Production Are 'Completely False'

Wednesday October 25, 2017 9:32 am PDT by Juli Clover
Bloomberg this morning alleged that Apple allowed its suppliers to make Face ID less accurate in order to speed up production on the device, a claim that Apple now says is "completely false" in a statement shared with TechCrunch.


According to Apple, the quality and the accuracy of Face ID have not changed, and Face ID will be the new "gold standard" for facial authentication.
Customer excitement for iPhone X and Face ID has been incredible, and we can't wait for customers to get their hands on it starting Friday, November 3. Face ID is a powerful and secure authentication system that's incredibly easy and intuitive to use. The quality and accuracy of Face ID haven't changed. It continues to be 1 in a million probability of a random person unlocking your iPhone with Face ID.

Bloomberg's claim that Apple has reduced the accuracy spec for Face ID is completely false and we expect Face ID to be the new gold standard for facial authentication.
The report from Bloomberg, which went into detail about some of the components used in the TrueDepth camera, suggested Apple had "relaxed some of the specifications for Face ID" to boost the number of usable dot projectors, a component that Apple suppliers were said to be struggling with. From Bloomberg:
It's not clear how much the new specs will reduce the technology's efficacy. At the phone's official unveiling in September, executives boasted that there was a one in a million chance that an interloper could defeat Face ID to unlock a phone. Even downgraded, it will probably still be far more accurate than Touch ID, where the odds of someone other than the owner of a phone being able to unlock it are one in 50,000.
In addition to Apple's statement suggesting no changes have been made to Face ID, Apple has shared specific accuracy numbers and details on the feature, so it would be difficult for the company to make changes in production that would alter the way that Face ID works.

Apple reportedly struggled with production for several of the components for the iPhone X, given that it's a new device using many new technologies. As a result of those issues, supply of the iPhone X is expected to be extremely limited at launch, with Apple likely unable to reach supply-demand balance until 2018.

Related Roundup: iPhone X
[ 314 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
filmantopia
24 months ago
Won't stop the trolls from running with it.
Rating: 63 Votes
Avatar
Brookzy
24 months ago
Can we all just agree now that 99% of what these so-called "analysts" spout out is complete rubbish?

They're given so much airtime and manage to define the narrative despite being so wrong so often.

For Apple to denounce a story this comprehensively is quite unprecedented.
Rating: 52 Votes
Avatar
iReality85
24 months ago
Sometime, in 2018:

Apple: "Did you get the keynote invite for the iPhone release?"

Bloomberg: "What invite?"

Apple: "That's right."
Rating: 42 Votes
Avatar
Dormammu
24 months ago
I didn't see Apple doing this anyways.
Rating: 36 Votes
Avatar
tkukoc
24 months ago
True or not.. what else would you expect Apple to say in this case?
Rating: 32 Votes
Avatar
djcerla
24 months ago
To degrade the specs at the last minute would have cost more time, not less. Wake up people.

Also, that piece of fake news has been carefully timed to go out when everyone in California was sleeping. Just like you do when you launch an atomic first strike :)
Rating: 24 Votes
Avatar
Jarman74
24 months ago
Props to Apple for quickly setting the record straight. Still a day one buy for me.
Rating: 20 Votes
Avatar
Brookzy
24 months ago

Of course Apple would deny it, we all were expecting that.

Oh really? You think they'd lie? Of course they wouldn't. If the story was true, someone, somewhere, would have proof. Copies of emails between suppliers and Apple. And they would make a lot of money by proving to a court that Apple lied on record and thus misled customers right before a new product came out.

This flat out denial shows the story was false, and it is not a given that Apple would deny it.
Rating: 18 Votes
Avatar
JohnApples
24 months ago
Summary of comments:

People who thought the “less accurate FaceID” rumor was false, now say they were right all along.

People who think the rumor was true, claim Apple is lying/doing damage control.

In other words, Apple’s statement basically means nothing and the endless bickering here on MR continues. :p
Rating: 15 Votes
Avatar
Eorlas
24 months ago
jesus apple, this is just awful.

i was so excited, but after this it's too much. i definitely won't be staying up to preorder on saturday at 4am and i highly discourage you all from getting one as well, especially if it's a 256gb space gray!
Rating: 14 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]