A Dot Projector projects more than 30,000 invisible dots onto your face to map its structure. The dot map is then read by an infrared camera and the structure of your face is relayed to the A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone X and transformed into a mathematical model. The A11 chip then compares your facial structure to the facial scan stored in the iPhone X during the setup process. As with Touch ID, if there is a match between the two face scans, the iPhone X will unlock.
From there, you can swipe upwards to get to the Home screen. Face ID uses infrared to scan your face, so it works in low lighting conditions and in the dark. The TrueDepth camera also has what Apple calls a "Flood Illuminator," aka an infrared light that illuminates your face in the dark so the dot map and the infrared camera can do their jobs. First of all, Face ID can't be fooled by a photo because it takes a 3D facial scan to unlock a device.
Face ID is also "attention aware," a feature Apple implemented for extra security. Face ID will only unlock your device when you look in the direction of the iPhone X with your eyes open, meaning Face ID only works when there's a live person in front of it. Attention aware is optional, though, and can be turned off if you choose.
Most people will want to leave attention awareness on, but for users unable to focus their attention on the iPhone, turning it off will allow the iPhone X to unlock with just a facial scan. Face ID is also sensitive enough to tell the difference between you and someone who is wearing a mask of your face.
Apple trained Face ID with hyperrealistic masks created by Hollywood studios, ensuring a mask of a person wouldn't be able to fool the Face ID system. According to Apple, Face ID is more secure than Touch ID because there are slimmer chances of a mismatch. There's a 1 in 50,000 chance someone will be able to unlock your iPhone with their fingerprint, but a 1 in 1,000,000 chance someone else's face will fool Face ID. That doesn't count for twins, though -- if you have an identical twin, that error rate increases.
Touch ID locks a device after five failed attempts, but with Face ID, Apple is only allowing two failed attempts. After two incorrect scans, the iPhone X will lock and require your passcode to unlock again. You can also discreetly disable Face ID by pressing the side button and volume buttons at the same time.
This will lock it and require a passcode to access your device. Face ID works with hats, beards, glasses, scarves, and other accessories that partially obscure the face. According to Apple, this is because the A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone X uses machine learning and a neural engine to recognize changes in your appearance. It's also likely that Face ID, like other facial recognition systems, has a match threshold that's below 100 percent, so even with part of the face not visible, it recognizes the part that is visible.
Face ID also adapts to changes in your appearance over time, so it will continue to recognize you as you grow a beard or grow your hair longer. Update: Apple software chief Craig Federighi has confirmed that Face ID will work with most sunglasses. The infrared light used by Face ID can penetrate all but the darkest sunglasses. If someone knocks you unconscious or attempts to unlock your iPhone X with your face while you're sleeping, it's not going to work. As mentioned above, you need to look at your iPhone for Face ID to grant access to your device.
On iPhones with Touch ID, your fingerprint data is stored in a Secure Enclave on the device, and the same is true of Face ID. Your facial map is encrypted and kept in the Secure Enclave, with authentication happening entirely on your device. No Face ID data is uploaded to iCloud or sent to Apple. When using Touch ID, multiple fingerprints can be added to a device so more than one person can unlock it.
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