According to latest reports, it seems that difficulties with Face ID production could cause iPhone X shortages.
Apparently, Apple’s manufacturing partners Sharp and LG are having difficulties with laser and camera lens, two main components of the Face ID technology, while the largest manufacturing bottleneck lies in a TrueDepth camera responsible for the sophisticated Face ID recognition system. The TrueDepth camera uses a dot projector which emits more than 30, 000 infrared dots onto the consumers face in order to precisely scan the face.
Image source: apple.com
LG and Sharp had to discard more than 85% of the dot projectors they made as they can’t be used. This resulted in slowed down production of iPhone X, said the unnamed source.
Apple instantly requested to reduce the accuracy of their face-recognition technology in order to speed-up the manufacturing process. By reducing the accuracy of the TrueDepth camera Sharp and LG can speed-up the manufacturing process and prevent possible delays.
Apple said that the quality and accuracy of the Face ID won’t be changed. It will still hold 1 in a million probability of a random user unlocking your iPhone. The company also negates Bloomberg’s claims about their request to reduce the Face ID sensor accuracy.
Apple should have 2-3 million handsets available at launch, while the manufacturing bottlenecks should be cleared during November. Preorders for the iPhone X will start on October 27.