Apple lowered iPhone’s facial recognition accuracy to meet demand: report

Apple let its suppliers weaken the accuracy of the iPhone X’s facial recognition system in order to speed up the phone’s production, according to a Wednesday Bloomberg report.

Sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg that Apple decided to make the move out of concern of not having enough iPhones available for the holiday season.

Apple’s previous Touch ID system reportedly proved to be a challenge for suppliers to manufacture. According to the report, Apple did not give its suppliers extra time in addition to the standard two-year lead time to get the new, difficult technology correct.

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In an emailed statement, Apple denied the Bloomberg report.

“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,” an Apple spokesperson said. “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.”

Analysts predict that Apple will have two to three million phones ready for the iPhone X’s Nov. 3 launch date and 25 million to 30 million ready for the holidays. They believe that this might not be enough to meet demand for the $999 phone.

The company has already faced issues with less-than-expected demand for the iPhone 8 and 8 plus, which it released on Sept. 12.

Security experts have also expressed skepticism that the facial recognition system used to unlock the phone will be more secure than fingerprints or a password.