iPhone Face ID stops working

[Yigal Arens]

iPhone X, iOS 13.6. A short while ago Face ID stopped working. Attempts to set Face ID up again result in the message "Face ID Is Not Available. Try setting up Face ID later." The camera appears to work just fine. I've gone through a couple of iOS updates and the problem persists. Apple customer service says the solution is to buy a new phone(!). Is this a known problem? Is there a less drastic solution?

 

[Sedulous]

Any reason to suspect physical damage?

I am not sure if FaceID uses the camera at all. I believe it uses an infrared dot projector and sensor to read topography of face. Assessing the state of FaceID by the camera is probably not informative. If you have another camera (I just tested this using an iPad), it can be used to visualize if the FaceID sensor array even powers up. If working, there should be a dim square and a brighter dot on the top left side of the notch when trying to unlock with FaceID. If not, either the camera used has an IR filter or the sensor array is dead.

 

[aakshey]

Old Tempered glass can do this. Has happened to me.

Remove your tempered glass and try again. If the problem is fixed, install a new one. I’m assuming you have edge to edge and your glass covers the notch. I am assuming you’ve restartEd your phone, reset all settings, etc.

 

[Yigal Arens]

Any reason to suspect physical damage?

I am not sure if FaceID uses the camera at all. I believe it uses an infrared dot projector and sensor to read topography of face. Assessing the state of FaceID by the camera is probably not informative. If you have another camera (I just tested this using an iPad), it can be used to visualize if the FaceID sensor array even powers up. If working, there should be a dim square and a brighter dot on the top left side of the notch when trying to unlock with FaceID. If not, either the camera used has an IR filter or the sensor array is dead.

You are obviously correct about the camera not being used by itself, and this just hadn't occurred to me! Face ID works in the dark, so it must not to be using the camera alone – or perhaps at all.

I have no reason to believe there was physical damage, i. e., I don't recall dropping the phone and there's no sign of damage on the screen or anywhere else. The phone has always been in a protective case. One day Face ID just stopped working...
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Old Tempered glass can do this. Has happened to me.

Remove your tempered glass and try again. If the problem is fixed, install a new one. I’m assuming you have edge to edge and your glass covers the notch. I am assuming you’ve restartEd your phone, reset all settings, etc.

Oh, yes, I've restarted my phone multiple ways and multiple times. Also, there have been a couple of minor iOS updates since this first began. I assume the glass would have to be removed by a competent technician, not by me .

 

[Sedulous]

You are obviously correct about the camera not being used by itself, and this just hadn't occurred to me! Face ID works in the dark, so it must not to be using the camera alone – or perhaps at all.

I have no reason to believe there was physical damage, i. e., I don't recall dropping the phone and there's no sign of damage on the screen or anywhere else. The phone has always been in a protective case. One day Face ID just stopped working...
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Oh, yes, I've restarted my phone multiple ways and multiple times. Also, there have been a couple of minor iOS updates since this first began. I assume the glass would have to be removed by a competent technician, not by me .

I think the post referred to any screen protector glass you might have applied. I had considered this but dismissed it because it would have slowly degraded over time and not a sudden loss of function.

I urge you to attempt my suggestion because it should help narrow issue, costs nothing, and is not invasive.

 

[aakshey]

I meant tempered glass. Anybody can remove.

Tempered Glass = Screen protector

 

[Yigal Arens]

I think the post referred to any screen protector glass you might have applied. I had considered this but dismissed it because it would have slowly degraded over time and not a sudden loss of function.

I urge you to attempt my suggestion because it should help narrow issue, costs nothing, and is not invasive.

Oh. I am not using a screen protector. The case is an apple leather case that only covers the sides and back of the phone. As I mentioned, there's no sign of any damage to the phone, not even a scratch on the glass.
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I meant tempered glass. Anybody can remove.

Tempered Glass = Screen protector

Thanks. As I said, I am not using a screen protector, so there's nothing between the phone and me except air

 

[Sedulous]

Oh. I am not using a screen protector. The case is an apple leather case that only covers the sides and back of the phone. As I mentioned, there's no sign of any damage to the phone, not even a scratch on the glass.
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Thanks. As I said, I am not using a screen protector, so there's nothing between the phone and me except air

Great, now that that is cleared up, I would suggest checking to see if FaceID sensors are actually working. The easiest way would be to view the phone using a camera while you slide up to unlock. If FaceID is simply unavailable, I am afraid I know of no simple test to determine if the sensors are dead/ hardware issue.

Have you tried a hard restart? This is done by quickly pressing volume up (release), volume down (release), and hold the lock button until the Apple logo appears.

 

[TiggrToo]

Have you tried a hard restart?

I've gone through a couple of iOS updates and the problem persists

Would those not have the same effect?

 

[Sedulous]

Would those not have the same effect?

Not sure. Trying to think of things that are not invasive and no cost. The impression I get is that this issue arose suddenly and independent of software updates. This lends some weight to a hardware failure or the lif connector came loose somehow.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Make sure time is set to automatically under settings. If that is already toggled, try reset all settings and reboot the phone.

 

[Yigal Arens]

Great, now that that is cleared up, I would suggest checking to see if FaceID sensors are actually working. The easiest way would be to view the phone using a camera while you slide up to unlock. If FaceID is simply unavailable, I am afraid I know of no simple test to determine if the sensors are dead/ hardware issue.

Have you tried a hard restart? This is done by quickly pressing volume up (release), volume down (release), and hold the lock button until the Apple logo appears.

When I view the screen through a camera it appears that there's a small purple light to the left-hand side of the of the speaker slit. When looking at it through a MacBook Pro's camera it appears to be flashing. When looking at it through a simple digital camera it's steady. But it's there. It lights up when I touch the screen.

As for restarting, I've done it multiple ways, including what you suggest. Also returning the phone to factory settings and reinstalling everything from backup. No dice...

(By the way, I appreciate everyone's willingness to help!)
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Make sure time is set to automatically under settings. If that is already toggled, try reset all settings and reboot the phone.

Thanks. It *was* set to automatic, and I've rebooted the phone numerous times, including restoring to factory settings and reinstalling everything from backup.

 

[Sedulous]

When I view the screen through a camera it appears that there's a small purple light to the left-hand side of the of the speaker slit. When looking at it through a MacBook Pro's camera it appears to be flashing. When looking at it through a simple digital camera it's steady. But it's there. It lights up when I touch the screen.

As for restarting, I've done it multiple ways, including what you suggest. Also returning the phone to factory settings and reinstalling everything from backup. No dice...

(By the way, I appreciate everyone's willingness to help!)
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Thanks. It *was* set to automatic, and I've rebooted the phone numerous times, including restoring to factory settings and reinstalling everything from backup.

Yep, that “purple” is the FaceID sensor doing its job. So it is connected but is being rejected by the board. I know you said no damage, but was this a replacement display?

 

[Yigal Arens]

Yep, that “purple” is the FaceID sensor doing its job. So it is connected but is being rejected by the board. I know you said no damage, but was this a replacement display?

Not that I know of. The phone was purchased new from AT&T by my employer when the iPhone X first came out. (AlthoughI ended up paying the majority of the cost.) So it’s out of warranty by now, of course. As I said, Apple’s advice when I called them was to buy amother phone...

 

[Sedulous]

Not that I know of. The phone was purchased new from AT&T by my employer when the iPhone X first came out. (AlthoughI ended up paying the majority of the cost.) So it’s out of warranty by now, of course. As I said, Apple’s advice when I called them was to buy amother phone...

Sorry, I have not been able to solve this.

My guess is that somehow the touchID sensor lost registration with the Secure Enclave. The dot projector may have gotten dirty, a ribbon cable damaged, or lif connector came loose. It seems that the failure is the sensor array itself (each FaceID sensor is uniquely locked to one device) with a slightly smaller possibility that the fault is on the logic board.

The reason Apple is advising you to replace rather than repair is because of cost. This kind of fault is something only Apple can fix (because of how part is locked to phone). Replacing the display/sensor array is somewhere around $300 and there is no certainty that would fix it. If the logic board needs to be replaced, that is an even greater cost.

Unless you feel comfortable pulling apart the phone, there is really nothing else left to try. Hopefully someone can offer a better solution.

 

[Yigal Arens]

Sorry, I have not been able to solve this.

My guess is that somehow the touchID sensor lost registration with the Secure Enclave. The dot projector may have gotten dirty, a ribbon cable damaged, or lif connector came loose. It seems that the failure is the sensor array itself (each FaceID sensor is uniquely locked to one device) with a slightly smaller possibility that the fault is on the logic board.

The reason Apple is advising you to replace rather than repair is because of cost. This kind of fault is something only Apple can fix (because of how part is locked to phone). Replacing the display/sensor array is somewhere around $300 and there is no certainty that would fix it. If the logic board needs to be replaced, that is an even greater cost.

Unless you feel comfortable pulling apart the phone, there is really nothing else left to try. Hopefully someone can offer a better solution.

Not surprised, and I appreciate your help/advice!

I guess I was mostly looking for reassurance that this is indeed a hardware issue and not some software quirk that Apple was hiding from me.

Still, it’s a bit disconcerting that such a significant component of the phone can fail so catastrophically. The iPhone X has no fingerprint sensor, so the face recognition’s failure means having to repeatedly enter long passwords using the keyboard.

 

[Sedulous]

Not surprised, and I appreciate your help/advice!

I guess I was mostly looking for reassurance that this is indeed a hardware issue and not some software quirk that Apple was hiding from me.

Still, it’s a bit discovering that such a significant component of the phone can fail so catastrophically. The iPhone X has no fingerprint sensor, so the face recognition’s failure means having to repeatedly enter long passwords using the keyboard.

Happy to try to help! My assessment could be wrong but I tried to share how I arrived at the conclusion.

It is unusual for faceID to fail suddenly and without obvious cause. Have you been wiping down phone with alcohol? Over time, the alcohol may have dissolved the water seal. This would have permitted some dirt to occlude the dot projector.

 

[Yigal Arens]

Happy to try to help! My assessment could be wrong but I tried to share how I arrived at the conclusion.

It is unusual for faceID to fail suddenly and without obvious cause. Have you been wiping down phone with alcohol? Over time, the alcohol may have dissolved the water seal. This would have permitted some dirt to occlude the dot projector.

I’m pretty sure I haven’t mistreated my phone. I’m quite careful, even to a fault, about such things. My phones look like new after years of use. This is the first time anything like this — any kind of serious failure, actually — has happened.

I guess I’ll just wait for a 5G model and get a new one...