Apple denies reports about reduced accuracy of Face ID

After a Bloomberg report claimed that Apple had reduced its requirements from suppliers on the accuracy level of Face ID, the Cupertino giant has denied any such allegations calling the report “completely false” and that it expects Face ID to be the new gold standard of facial authentication.

"Customer excitement for iPhone X and Face ID has been incredible, and we can’t wait for customers to get their hands on it starting Friday, November 3. Face ID is a powerful and secure authentication system that’s incredibly easy and intuitive to use. The quality and accuracy of Face ID haven’t changed. It continues to be 1 in a million probability of a random person unlocking your iPhone with Face ID," the statement read. "Bloomberg’s claim that Apple has reduced the accuracy spec for Face ID is completely false and we expect Face ID to be the new gold standard for facial authentication."

Bloomberg report highlighted the struggles with Apple’s new facial recognition system during the iPhone X manufacturing process and said that the company gave its suppliers 'a go-ahead' to reduce the accuracy of Face ID to speed up production sometime in “early fall.”

Face ID is Apple’s new secure authentication feature on iPhone X, which replaces the present Touch ID feature. It claims Face ID’s accuracy is 1,000,000:1, compared to 50,000:1 for Touch ID. The technology basically integrates a dedicated TrueDepth camera. The setup includes a dot projector, which projects and analyzes more than 30,000 invisible dots for creating a depth map of a user’s face, and an infrared camera to read the dotted pattern. There is also a flood illuminator that helps the infrared light identify your face, even in the dark.

Earlier, reputed analyst Ming Chi Kuo too predicted that only 2-3 million units of the iPhone X will be shipped for its first sale. He claims that Apple is facing supply shortages for more components of the iPhone X, which include circuit boards, antennae, and wide-angle camera sensors, in addition to the depth-sensing infrared dot projector.