Apple has announced that its next iOS 15.4 update will include the unlock iPhone with Face ID even if you wear the mask, without the need to have an Apple Watch, as before.
A long-awaited novelty by users, but it is late and limited. Late because it could have been implemented sooner after two years of wearing the mask because of the damn pandemic. And limited because it will only work on iPhones released last year and the year before (iPhone 12 and 13).
A few days ago Apple released iOS 15.4 in beta phase for developers, with the implemented function of unlocking the iPhone with Face ID even if you wear the anticovid mask. Until now you could do it if you wore an Apple Watch on your wrist, but with the new update, you won't need to wear the Apple watch.
And it seems that after testing it, these developers claim that it works quite well... but only on iPhone 12 and 13. Although unlocking by Face ID It was implemented several years ago, since the revolutionary iPhone X, back in 2017, only those launched last year and the previous one admit said unlocking with the mask on.
That means that the different models of iPhone X, XR, XS, and iPhone 11, all of them with Face ID, will not be able to unlock with the mask on when they are updated to iOS 15.4. They can only do current and previous generation, that is, the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, or the iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max.
We still don't know if it's Apple's commercial policy, so that users of iPhones from previous years have one more reason to upgrade to current models, or simply that the iPhone 12 and 13 have the necessary hardware so that facial recognition with the mask on is done with sufficient security guarantees.
