Apple originally said the Face ID camera was broken

Dec 15, 2017 08:03 GMT  ·  By

iPhone X’s Face ID facial recognition system has been quite a controversial feature since launch, with some tests proving that it can be bypassed either with lookalike persons or using specially crafted 3D masks that do not cost a fortune to make.

While Apple still sticks with its claim that there’s a 1:1,000,000 chance for someone else to unlock an iPhone X with their face, it looks like the company agreed to issue a refund to a Chinese buyer after her colleague bypassed Face ID. Not once, but twice, that is.

Chinese media JSTV reports of a woman called Yan who purchased an iPhone X and configured the facial recognition system to protect the device, only to find out that one colleague was granted access to the phone when her face was scanned.

So what she did was call Apple and tell them about the issue, but the company’s staff “would not believe here,” as the cited source writes. Yan and her colleague then decided to go to an Apple Store in person and offer employees a live demonstration on the way Face ID can by bypassed.

“Faulty camera”

The Apple Store staff said the facial recognition camera was broken and offered the woman a new phone, only to discover than even the second iPhone X could be bypassed by her co-worker in the same way.

Eventually, Apple issued a full refund to the woman, though it’s not known if Apple Store workers blamed a faulty camera once again or not.

The report itself, however, lacks many critical specifics and Apple obviously has remained completely tight-lipped on this, which means that a certain amount of skepticism is strongly recommended for the time being.

Apple’s Face ID system has until now received mixed feedback, with even company co-founder Steve Wozniak admitting recently that a fingerprint sensor on the back would have been a much better choice.

“I have friends who actually turned off Face ID and turned passwords on to make their phone simple to use. I wasn’t going to get the iPhone X, but Tim Cook’s office heard I wasn’t going to get it so they sent me one, and I bit the bullet,” he said.

Next year, Apple is expected to bring Face ID facial recognition to all iPhone models as the company plans to remove Touch ID entirely.