Apple says it has improved Face ID security with iOS and iPadOS 15

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How to use Face ID on the iPhone X
How to use Face ID on the iPhone X (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has improved Face ID security with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.
  • The company says it has improved Face ID anti-spoofing models.
  • This will prevent someone from creating a 3D model of you to get into your phone.

You won't be able to make a paper mache head of your friend to get into their iPhone anymore.

In a new Apple Support document that describes the security updates that come with both iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple has revealed an update to Face ID that helps to stop people from spoofing your face to gain access to your iPhone.

According to Apple, there was a Face ID vulnerability where "a 3D model constructed to look like the enrolled user may be able to authenticate via Face ID." The company has apparently closed this vulnerability by "improving Face ID anti-spoofing models."

Available for devices with Face ID: iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS (all models), iPhone 11 (all models), iPhone 12 (all models), iPad Pro (11-inch), and iPad Pro (3rd generation)Impact: A 3D model constructed to look like the enrolled user may be able to authenticate via Face IDDescription: This issue was addressed by improving Face ID anti-spoofing models.CVE-2021-30863: Wish Wu (吴潍浠 @wish_wu) of Ant-financial Light-Year Security Lab

While Face ID may have experienced improvement via a software update, the hardware performance itself has remained unchanged with the iPhone 13. The notch that the authentication technology is contained in, however, has shrunk by twenty percent this year, a first for the notch since it was introduced with the iPhone X back in 2017.

The iPhone 13 will officially go on sale in stores and online on Friday, September 24.

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Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.