UPDATE 10/25/17 1:10PM: TechCrunch reports that Apple released a statement that negates Bloomberg's claims regarding the problems with the iPhone X and its Face ID system.
"Customer excitement for iPhone X and Face ID has been incredible," Apple said in their statement, "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."
Original story is below.
It's been about a month and a half since we told you that you needed to start saving your money to cop the iPhone X, which is available for pre-order this Friday (Oct. 27). One of the biggest reasons everyone wanted to cop the X instead of the iPhone 8 is the lack of Home button and the addition of Apple's Face ID system, which is no doubt one of the reasons Apple's touting the iPhone X as being the phone of the future.
Now, even if you think Face ID spells trouble for iPhone-using cheaters, it's being reported that the Face ID service might not be as powerful as Apple was once touting, although they have a great reason why.
Apple originally stated that Face ID's accuracy would be 1,000,00 to 1 as opposed to the 50,000 to 1 of Touch ID, but according to The Verge, the dot projector that would allow the iPhone X to emit the 30,000 infrared beams it needs to properly identify your face is causing issues in production. While the exact number of beams that the dot projector is able to emit isn't being reported, Verge did note that Finisar, Sharp, and LG Innotek were having issues meeting Apple's demand in such a small window, with only 20 percent of the dot projectors actually being usable at one point.
What does this mean for you, the iPhone consumer? It's hard to say. With rumors of the iPhone X's supply and possibly delays flying since the announcement, it sounds like Apple decided that having a product that is of a lesser-quality than they initially advertised made more sense than missing the window they projected during their heavily-publicized event. One would have to imagine that Face ID is still going to be a major factor of the iPhone X, but maybe the one-in-a-million recognition might be smaller, although we're not sure if that means your twin sister could unlock your phone or if that kid who sort of looks like you with a hat on in Chem can unlock it.
With the iPhone X's Nov. 3 release date a little over a week away, it will be interesting to see what eager Apple stans will be getting their hands on.
