Many iPhone owners have to deal with it on a daily basis: Face ID that does not recognize your face because of wearing a face mask. This should soon be a thing of the past.
New Face ID sensor
According to analyst Jon Prosser, Apple is currently testing new Face ID hardware internally. This is done in the form of a case for the iPhone 12 that contains the new Face ID sensor. According to Prosser, the sensor in this case corresponds to the CAD files (3D models) of the iPhone 13 that were previously leaked.
The new sensor is a lot narrower than previous iPhone models. This fits with previous rumors suggesting that Apple is moving the ear speaker upwards. As a result, the Face ID sensors will be closer together, and thus become narrower.
The choice to test with a case, rather than with the iPhone 13 itself, was made to be able to conduct the test on a larger scale without the risk of a leaked iPhone.
Face ID with a face mask
The reason for the large-scale test of the new Face ID sensor is the added support for face masks. Currently, Face ID only works with a face mask if you also wear an Apple Watch. Apple wants to change that.
Apple asks employees to test the new hardware in the case with a face mask in as many different scenarios as possible. It is also preferable to combine glasses and a face mask: this is to make Face ID also suitable for fogged glasses, a common problem for spectacle wearers with mouth caps.
Directly, or via an update?
The question is whether the support for face masks is directly built into Face ID on the iPhone 13, or whether this will be added via a software update. We’ll no doubt hear more about it at Apple’s September event.