Face ID for Mac Delayed

Apple's plans to bring Face ID authentication to the Mac this year have been delayed, according to a recent report.

FaceID iMac REREREREMIX

‌Face ID‌ debuted in 2017's iPhone X and has been a key feature of Apple's flagship iPhones ever since, with the iPad Pro also gaining the facial recognition system in 2018. Apple's ‌Face ID‌ feature allows a device to be unlocked with a facial scan and is limited to the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ and the ‌iPad Pro‌ at the current time, but last year, code found in the macOS Big Sur betas has suggested that Face ID could come to Macs in the future. Speculation that Apple will bring ‌Face ID‌ to Macs is not new, but rumors have been few and far between until a recent report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

According to Gurman, Apple has developed a version of ‌Face ID‌ for the Mac. Despite plans to roll out the feature to the iMac expected later this year, the feature has been delayed until the second iteration of the redesigned machine.

Apple has also developed underlying Mac support for both cellular connectivity — the ability for Macs to connect to the internet via smartphone networks — and Face ID, the company's facial recognition system. But neither feature appears to be coming soon. To that end, Face ID had originally been planned to arrive in this year's ‌iMac‌ redesign, but it's now unlikely to be included in the first iteration of the new design.

This suggests that ‌Face ID‌ for the Mac has been in the works for some time. ‌Face ID‌ makes particular sense on machines such as the iMac, which are unable to offer a built-in Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the keyboard due to the need for a T2 chip or a Secure Enclave, but it could improve the experience of authenticating and unlocking across the Mac lineup.

With the ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad Pro‌ already featuring ‌Face ID‌ for some years now, and in light of the news that the feature is in development for the Mac, it simply seems like a matter of time before the first Mac with ‌Face ID‌ is unveiled.

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
iOS 17

28 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in December's iOS 17.2 Update

Friday December 1, 2023 2:57 am PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen three more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 28 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released this December. 1. Help...
anker new xmas 1

Anker's Cyber Week Sale Enters Final Days With Up to 60% Off Sitewide

Friday December 1, 2023 12:05 pm PST by
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.1.2 With Security Fixes

Thursday November 30, 2023 10:12 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2, small updates to the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 operating systems that Apple introduced in September. iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2 come a few weeks after the release of iOS 17.1.1, another bug fix update. iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update....
iPhone 16 Mock Header Updated 1

iPhone 16 to Include Action Button Across Entire Lineup

Thursday November 30, 2023 4:08 pm PST by
The release of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max saw the introduction of an entirely new user-configurable button known as the Action button, and now, MacRumors has seen extensive evidence confirming Apple is planning to include the Action button on the entire iPhone 16 range. Designs and plans for the Action button date back to at least 2021, as the button was intended for release alongside hapt...
General Apps Messages

Green Bubbles on iPhone to Gain These 7 New Features Next Year

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:00 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
top stories 2dec2023

Top Stories: iOS 17.1.2 Released, NameDrop Misinformation, and More

Saturday December 2, 2023 6:00 am PST by
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...