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iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 12 Pro Max Face ID unlock eyes closed

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pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
I recently bought a 12 pro max. Everything seems to be working just fine. I am upgrading from a 7 plus so Face ID is new to me. So I was experimenting.

The phone will unlock with my eyes closed if I have my glasses on. It seems it will not if I have my glasses off. Require attention is turned on. I tried rebooting and resetting Face ID. It still works the same though.

Is something wrong with my phone or is this normal behavior? Or do I just not understand how Face ID works? I thought it wasn’t supposed to unlock if your eyes are closed but mine does.
 
This might sound dumb, but were you also wearing a mask and have an apple watch?
 
It’s hard for me to believe that my iPhone is the only one that works this way. So it does probably mean that attention awareness is a weak feature.
 
pendragon1984 said:
It’s hard for me to believe that my iPhone is the only one that works this way. So it does probably mean that attention awareness is a weak feature.
Click to expand...
Maybe you just have really small eyes, lol.

My iphone 11 Pro doesn’t let me unlock unless i’m looking at the screen.
 
Well seems to be a security flaw that merely putting glasses on bypasses the attention feature.
 
I can confirm that if my glasses are off faceID will not unlock if my eyes are closed. So this isn’t really a problem if I’m sleeping. But if my glasses are on then it will unlock with my eyes closed. I guess someone could put my glasses on my while I’m asleep and unlock the phone. I guess someone could also have put my finger on the sensor with the older phones. Anyway, not the end of the world but I’m surprised no one is talking about this. Check it yourself!
 
My iPhone X doesn't unlock unless my eyes are open, glasses or not. As far as no one talking about it, they would be so your situation must be unique
 
Put your glasses on and try a few times. Mine doesn’t always do it.

Anyone with a 12 want to try? I want to get to the bottom of this.
 
I stopped after 10 in a row.. Never unlocked with glasses on eyes closed. My FaceID is working as it should.. I suggest making an appointment at an Apple store (if possible) where your located and re-produce the anomaly for them.
 
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Well I’m within the 14 day return window so I’m trying to figure out if it’s broken or working normally. It doesn’t seem broken. I mean everything else is fine.

Which iOS version are you running?

It seems weird that this one feature would be broken or bugged out when everything else is fine.

I can try returning. I bet the next phone is the same though!
 
pendragon1984 said:
Well I’m within the 14 day return window so I’m trying to figure out if it’s broken or working normally. It doesn’t seem broken. I mean everything else is fine.

Which iOS version are you running?

It seems weird that this one feature would be broken or bugged out when everything else is fine.

I can try returning. I bet the next phone is the same though!
Click to expand...
I'm on 14.5.1 it's very possible you may have an issue with FaceID. Hopefully others will chime in and give you some more feedback. Like I said, if you can get to an Apple store and reproduce it for them I'm sure they will either replace the phone or help try and figure out what's going on with it
 
I have the same version.

I wish someone with a 12 would test for me.

I’ll just buy another and see if it’s different and return it if not.
 
Here with 12 pro max, glasses on, eyes closed no unlocks, same without glasses.
 
This is what I do. I close my eyes and then hold the phone up to my face and trigger faceID. I then turn the phone sideways and after that open my eyes to see if it’s unlocked. It unlocks with my eyes closed all the time if I have my glasses on.
 
Haven't wore my glasses in a long while, got curious and tried multiple times and wouldn't unlock with my eyes closed. Tried while facing a large monitor with the bright screen on my face, also in very low light, moved my face around for the dot projector, wouldn't unlock till I opened my eyes.
 
kamikazeeMC said:
Haven't wore my glasses in a long while, got curious and tried multiple times and wouldn't unlock with my eyes closed. Tried while facing a large monitor with the bright screen on my face, also in very low light, moved my face around for the dot projector, wouldn't unlock till I opened my eyes.
Click to expand...
Do you have a 12?
 
I always end up returning products due to some issue or another. Usually it’s a screen issue. I really thought this phone was perfect but I guess I’m going to have to return it.
Going to order another phone to compare. I’ll let you guys know if it’s different.
 
Just tried facing my phone eyes open but looking off to the side. Looking above, left and right, the phone stayed locked, looking below it unlocked, but also behaves the same with my glasses off.
 
Thanks for helping me out.

I can’t be the only person with this issue so people should test to be sure faceID is working correctly on their phones!
 
pendragon1984 said:
Thanks for helping me out.

I can’t be the only person with this issue so people should test to be sure faceID is working correctly on their phones!
Click to expand...
do you have require attention for face id turned off in the face id & passcode setting?
 
Require attention is turned on.

This is such a weird bug or issue I’m having. Everything else is working fine.
 
Not to sound callous, but is this really a deal breaker though? In what scenarios is this actually a problem?
 
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