The good news is that Apple will bring in-display Face ID to the iPhone, finally eliminating the distinctive “notch” at the top of the touchscreen. The bad news is that it’s reportedly not happening as soon as possible.
This means we’re still years away from an iPhone with a truly edge-to-edge display.
An in-screen fingerprint scanner won’t be part of any iPhone for at least three years, according to a trusted analyst. That raises the strong possibility that Touch ID will never again be part of Apple’s flagship smartphones — despite occasional rumors to the contrary.
Apple may have abandoned the idea after a recent improvement to Face ID.
iPhone 15 Pro, which is expected to make its debut in 2023, could be Apple’s first handset with Face ID sensors hidden beneath its screen. This would reduce the amount of display space the front-facing sensors require.
A new report claims Apple will use technology currently being developed by Samsung to make the upgrade possible. In the meantime, Cupertino is gearing up to replace iPhone’s notch with a number of smaller, more subtle cutouts.
New in iOS 15.4, released today, Apple is extending Face ID to authenticate your face while wearing a mask. In my testing, it has increased the reliability and the number of situations in which Face ID works.
This feature is arriving late into the pandemic — it would have been great to have this for the past couple of years — but as new COVID variants surge, we may still need it for the foreseeable future. Plus, in some countries, wearing a mask when you’re sick has been standard for many years.
Here’s how to set up Face ID with a mask on your iPhone.
iOS 15.4 debuted on Monday, allowing users to unlock their iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask. It also includes other new features.
And Apple released macOS Monterey 12.3, too. Plus, watchOS 8.5 and tvOS 15.4 went to the public as well.
A Face ID fail isn’t going to get you a new iPhone anymore. Apple has begun distributing the components that its own in-store technicians and authorized service providers need to fix Face ID faults without replacing an entire device.
The cost of the repair depends on the service provider, location, and iPhone model, according to one report. And it is only available for iPhone XS or later, with iPhone X — the first to ship with Face ID — left out in the cold.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple code once again refers to a mysterious “realityOS” for a virtual/augmented-reality headset. Vague rumors about the new device, which we’ve been hearing for years now, look set to become very real, very soon.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.
Apple considered bringing Face ID to the M1 iMac, which would have been an ideal candidate for the facial recognition technology, according to a new report.
It’s not clear why the company didn’t follow through with the move. It is believed Face ID could appear in a future Apple desktop. But one source, who has been reliable in the past, says the technology isn’t yet ready for a MacBook.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: iOS 15.4 packs a punch with some fun and useful new features. It’s still just a beta, but it will give us lots of new emoji for our critical, high-level communications when it goes live. Plus, the beta includes a convenient new way to unlock your iPhone while wearing a face mask — just in time for the end of the pandemic! 🤞
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below (down by the headlines and donkey links).
Apple on Thursday rolled out its first iOS 15.4 beta adding the ability to use Face ID with a mask for the first time. Since then, tests carried out by developers have uncovered some additional (and important) tidbits.
Here’s what you need to know.
