Apple has come out and firmly denied Bloomberg’s report that it reportedly had to reduce the accuracy of its Face ID True Depth Camera to meet production demand.
A Bloomberg report that went up this morning details Apple’s struggles to make the iPhone X, with the main culprit being the True Depth Camera. According to sources, during the initial manufacturing process, camera component production was so low, it forced Apple to lower its accuracy standard to improve the production rate.
“It quietly told suppliers they could reduce the accuracy of the face-recognition technology to make it easier to manufacture,” says Bloomberg.
Apple reportedly underestimated the difficulty in producing the True Depth Camera in large quantities with the same standard it had originally intended.
Multiple suppliers were having difficulty procuring high-quality parts to make the tech work—primarily the Dot Projector that beams 30,000 infrared dots on to the face. Finisar was one of the suppliers that ended up being dropped by Apple due to its inability to produce the necessary parts. Even so, Sharp and LG Innotek continued to struggle with the Dot Projector, with production yielding only 20-percent of usable components at one point.
Reportedly, once Apple lowered the accuracy it originally set for Face ID accuracy in “early fall,” the production delays were overcome.
But Apple is denying Bloomberg’s report in a statement made to CNBC.
“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,” stated Apple.
Unless someone can find hard evidence, there’s is no way to confirm who is telling the truth. It’s just a he said, she said argument at this point. We should note that multiple reports have come out detailing the iPhone X production problems, but Apple has stayed quiet on each one. Until now.
Bloomberg’s report is more inflammatory, striking at the heart of a technology Apple will heavily push over the next year, so it was all but expected that Apple would furiously rebuff the report. And it did.
With the iPhone X going on sale next Friday, November 3, we can test for ourselves if the iPhone X’s Face ID technology is as secure as Apple says it is.
