Face ID

Apple has today been granted a patent for using hand gestures to control a Mac. The inventors named in the patent are from PrimeSense, the company that developed Microsoft’s Kinect sensor, and which Apple acquired back in 2013.

PrimeSense was also involved in developing some of the technology behind Face ID, and the patent here appears to rely on a similar TrueDepth camera in a Mac …

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Earlier this month, a video from cybersecurity firm Bkav made the rounds for successfully being able to “trick” Face ID using a carefully constructed mask that mimicked a real person’s face. Now, the firm is back with a new attempt at tricking Face ID, showcasing a more advanced 3D printed mask…

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Face ID is undeniably more secure than Touch ID in a random sampling of population. Apple says the chance of a person unlocking your phone with Face ID is 1 in a million.

However, the probability of an incorrect match can be considerably higher fotr siblings, twins and children under the age of 13. A new video from a mother highlights exactly these limitations; she finds her 10-year old son can reliably unlock her phone using his face. Video after the jump …

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Despite initial skepticism, Face ID has turned out to be widely praised and accepted, even after just a week of iPhone X availability. In a poll we ran over the weekend, 61 percent of readers said they have found Face ID to be an adequate successor to Touch ID and that they see it as the “future” of biometric technology.

We’ve already heard reports of Face ID making its way to the iPad Pro next year, but you also have to think it’s coming to the Mac lineup at some point as well. And that’s what I’m most excited about…

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The first generation of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker isn’t available to consumers until next month, but a new report from Nikkei is already looking to the future. The report suggests that Apple may be working to include its Face ID technology in HomePod by 2019…

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Bloomberg has published new details about what to expect from new iPad Pros next year. KGI already predicted that Face ID will come to the iPad Pro lineup in 2018, and today’s report adds several additional details including the possibility of a redesign.

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has raised privacy concerns about developer access to the facial expressions of iPhone X users. In particular, they say that Apple allows developers to capture facial expression data and store it on their own servers.

When the iPhone X was launched, Apple was careful to stress that the 3D face recognition model used by Face ID was stored only on the phone itself. The data is never transferred to Apple servers. But the ACLU says that app developers are allowed to transmit and store some face data …

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There are key differences between Face ID on the iPhone X and Touch ID on other devices — facial recognition doesn’t care if you have wet fingers or gloves, while finger print recognition doesn’t worry about you wearing a ski mask — but which is faster? Early reviews put Face ID speed somewhere between Touch ID 1 and Touch ID 2, and Tom’s Guide has tested both and recorded the numbers. Touch ID beats Face ID in terms of speed, but there are a few things you can do to speed up the process.

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One thing really jumped out at me yesterday reading Mashable’s early review of the iPhone X, and that was Apple’s response to a query by Lance Unlanoff.

One important limitation of Face ID: It only lets you register one face. That may strike many as unnecessarily limiting since Touch ID lets users register up to 10 [sic] fingerprints, but Apple says it found the number of people who register more than one person’s fingerprints is miniscule.

The idea that hardly anyone registers more than one person’s fingerprint didn’t ring true to me, and our poll shows that it’s not true for 9to5Mac users at least …

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There’s been a flood of iPhone X reviews surfacing this week and we’re hearing (and seeing) more details about Face ID. While Apple has touted that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID, it also shared that this isn’t the case for twins and those under the age of 13. Now that a few outlets have had more time with the iPhone X, we’re seeing some mixed results when it comes to identical twins tricking Face ID.

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With early reviewers finding that Face ID on the iPhone X is mostly reliable, if not perfect, the transition from fingerprints to face may not be too big a deal. But there is one clear drawback compared to Touch ID: you can only register one face.

With Touch ID, you can register multiple fingers – which can include a partner or child, for example – but Apple chose not to allow this with faces. The company told Mashable that’s because only a ‘miniscule’ number of people do this.

But that sounds odd to me …

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Immediately after Apple unveiled Face ID last month, United States Senator Al Franken sent a letter to Tim Cook raising some concerns about security and privacy. A month later, and after publicly publishing a security white paper answering many of the questions, Apple has responded to Franken…

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With the introduction of cellular connectivity in Apple Watch Series 3, it’s now more convenient than ever to leave your phone at home for quick trips and during workouts without consequence – for the most part. When you want to snap that quick photo or have a FaceTime video call, the Watch still won’t cut it. This is the one of the largest remaining friction points in a truly independent Apple Watch experience.

At first it might sound unnecessary, or even a little invasive to have a camera always on your wrist. However, Apple has been putting in place technologies over the last several years that may soon make a camera on the Apple Watch not just a reality, but an essential part of your day-to-day life. Let’s take a look at why now may finally be the right time for all of these pieces to come together.

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Jony Ive said in an interview that the iPhone X was both the realization of a long-held ambition, and the beginning of a new chapter in the future development of Apple’s smartphones.

That much was predictable. Apple always needs to be working towards the next generation of devices, so of course the iPhone X is going to be just the first of a new line of iPhones.

But it was something else he said that I think could suggest a new direction for Apple’s user-interfaces …

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A new prediction from reliable supply chain analyst Ming Chi-Kuo of KGI Securities expects one of the iPhone X‘s defining features to join the iPad Pro lineup in the next upgrade. KGI expects the TrueDepth camera system which enables Face ID facial recognition to next appear on the iPad lineup.

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Update: More stops on his French tour below…

During a trip to France in which Tim Cook is scheduled to meet French president Emmanuel Macron, the CEO also visited a small French company whose technology is reported to be key to Face ID.

Cook tweeted a photo of himself at the company, thanking the small team of 42 employees for helping to make the iPhone possible …

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Apple yesterday shared details of how face recognition works on the iPhone X, but one thing that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves is how Apple future-proofed its iOS authentication from the start.

This future-proofing is why all Touch ID enabled apps will automatically authenticate with Face ID without requiring developers to update …

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Apple just dropped a detailed, six-page white paper entitled “Face ID Security” ahead of the iPhone X launch in November. In the security document, Apple explains how facial recognition with Face ID on iOS will work, how safe it is as biometric security, and what issues it may have for users.

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Update: When asked about the intricacies of Face ID, Apple provided the following comment:

Our teams have been developing the technologies behind Face ID for several years, and our users’ privacy has been a priority since the very beginning.

Face ID provides intuitive and secure authentication enabled by the TrueDepth camera system and the A11 Bionic chip, which uses advanced technologies to accurately map and match the geometry of a user’s face. Face ID data never leaves the device, is encrypted and protected by the Secure Enclave.

Read more below…

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