Face ID vs Touch ID
We got our first taste of Touch ID in 2013’s iPhone 5s, giving us a supersecure way to unlock
our iPhones. All you need to do is press your finger onto the Home button and it’ll open up your iPhone – simple as that.
Apple released a faster second-generation version of Touch ID two years later with the iPhone 6s, and ported the functionality to the MacBook Pro alongside the Touch Bar in 2016.
Still, Apple being Apple, it has felt that it could do better than Touch ID. While the feature made it into the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, the flagship iPhone X got something new and shiny: Face ID.
Face value
Apple claimed during the iPhone X launch event that there was a one in 50,000 chance of Touch ID being tricked by an imposter. Face ID, on the other hand, only has a one in a million chance of being spoofed.
So how exactly does it work? Well, the upgraded front-facing TrueDepth camera scans your face and maps 30,000 tiny dots onto it to create a ‘precise depth map of your face’. Then all you need to do is look at your iPhone and it’ll unlock. It’ll recognise you even if you put on a hat, grow a beard or change your hairstyle. Pretty clever stuff.
So, is it worth upgrading just for the Face ID factor? No, we don’t think so. Touch ID is already extremely safe, storing your fingerprint details in a secure enclave on your iPhone, which makes it very difficult for imposters to intercept your data. If you’re already going to get the iPhone X anyway, then you’ll get to enjoy the new Face ID functionality, but don’t make it the sole reason you upgrade.