It seems like every week, users take to social media to share a new problem caused by iOS 16. Most recently, an issue with Face ID not functioning properly on iPhones running iOS 16 has been brought to light.
Small number of users reporting Face ID issues expected to be caused by iOS 16
In a Reddit thread (via AppleInsider), more and more users are sharing their experience of Face ID not functioning as it should after updating to iOS 16. The user who created the thread shared an image with an error that reads, “Face ID is not available, try setting up Face ID later.”
Users are also reporting the same issue on Twitter:
@AppleSupport apple I phone X iOS 16. 1Problem with Face ID disabled and won’t let me reset it now.. tried all your steps, still not working.
— craig griffiths (@CraigGrifo) October 30, 2022
face id not working on iphone xr with ios 16.0.2
— ratio.dmg❌🍆🇳🇿🏳️⚧️ (@ratioxr64) September 23, 2022
@Apple @AppleSupport my iPhone X and iPhone 11 Pro got bugged after updating to ios 16. In both phones Face ID isn’t working just after updation. Issue not resolved. Unsatisfied by apple support and services. Heavily disappointed. What to do?
— Ashish Singh (@ashishsingh0961) October 15, 2022
Back to the Reddit thread, many users contacted Apple Support but the diagnostic test did not reveal any software issues. One user claims that they had to take their device to an Apple Store where they were told that a hardware issue was affecting Face ID.
Same here. 13pro max on iOS 16 and Face ID refuses to work. It’s as if something was covering. The true depth camera. Apple ran diagnostic remotely on my device and found no issues. Scheduled as appt at the Apple Store next week
I actually had to take it in to the Apple Store and they ran a diagnostic test and it was a hardware error. I hadn’t dropped the phone or anything like that, but the Face ID hardware failed anyways. Lucky I had a week left of warranty so they replaced they repaired it in two hours.
As for the users who did not contact Apple support, they tried a bunch of other fixes:
- Restarting their iPhone
- Hard reset
- Resetting Face ID
- Setting up a new Face ID
One user claims that taking a picture with the front-facing camera allowed them to eventually set up a new Face ID.
Mine stopped working too! I restarted and took a front facing picture. Eventually it let me redo the face ID, but it wouldn’t at first. I think maybe taking a front facing picture activated the camera again. Who knows?
As of right now, Apple has not commented on the issue so we do not know how widespread it is and if a fix will be released in the near future. In addition, there is no way to tell if specific models are affected by the “bug” or if all models with Face ID are susceptible.
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