Essentially, the iPhone 13 Pro Max seems to be affected. Users report that after an update to iOS 16.1, 16.1.1 or iOS 16.2, Face ID no longer works or no longer works correctly. What’s interesting is that those who went back to iOS 15 couldn’t completely solve the problem either. Face ID then fails again after a while.
So either a firmware update under iOS 16 damaged something in the Face ID technology, or the components were simply faulty from the start. Especially with updates, components fail from time to time because the process always causes a little more stress and can therefore finish off components that are not entirely perfect.
If you are affected, you should not panic but try the following tips first:
- Force restart iPhone
- Place iPhone face down before Face ID registration
- Change attention settings
However, if none of that helps, you’ll have to go to Apple and have the device replaced – hopefully you’re still under warranty. If this is not the case, you could hope for goodwill. If you are not granted this, the hope remains that it is a pure software error that may be fixed in one of the next iOS 16 versions. However, some users report that a paid repair of the True Depth camera helped, i.e. the hardware was actually defective after the update.
Among the users who have the problem with the iPhone 13 Pro Max, there are also some who use the 12 Pro Max or even 14 Pro Max. It is not yet possible to say whether the error occurs if you update directly to the current iOS 16.2 and skip the versions mentioned.
