iOS 16.1 Face ID not working

scs_ppc wrote:

I updated to 16.1 on Monday and today my Face ID is no longer working, rebooted, cleared Face ID and now I cannot register a Face ID. I am able to place my face in the square but it tells me to place iPhone lower or higher. I tried adjusting the iPhone to no avail.

If Face ID isn't working on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support

Yeah, I am having the same problem, Iphone 13 pro max. I updated from 16.0.3 to 16.1 and Face ID stopped working.

I tried the different tricks / links (If Face ID isn't working on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support), but it did not change anything.

I downgraded to 16.0.3 and it worked, for a while. Then it began to fail again. But it might have been just a fluke.

It actually works fine for 5 minutes (identification, setup alternative appearance), then it fails for minutes / hours in the same spot, same light settings.

I upgraded again to 16.1 and I have the same behavior.

When it fails in 16.0.03 I see the "Face ID is not available", in 16.1 I only see "put your iphone a bot lower / higher" messages.

When I try to setup the face with a mask, I have the message "Your face must match the existing FaceID appearance".

AT&T is sending me a new phone, so I'll see if I have the same problem with the new one.

You never realize how annoying typing passwords on phone are until you have to :)

I took it into the store she did what she called a “soft reset” and everything cleared right up. I thought she said down volume followed by hold up volume/power until it shuts off and then restarts. But when I googled it it had a different button sequence:

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

anyways she said it clears out all the cookies and cashe. So there is something in the update that gets hung up until you do that.

Then I was able to reset up the Face ID

Best of luck

Hello, try restarting you iphone by holding the power button and volume up then shut down. Leave it off for 15-45 seconds then hold the power button to turn it back on. If the issue still persists try using methods from this forum: If Face ID isn't working on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support

If still unable to use face ID after trying all the following contact apple support. However they may not be open on thanks giving so you may need to try again later.

I am another customer who's Face ID magically stopped working after the 16.1 iOS update... Im on a iPhone 13 mini fyi.

This is 100% related to the software update iOS 16.1. So its a bug and hopefully Apple will fix it by next patch (currently 16.2 and the problem is still here yikes...) I have tho found a TEMPORARLY solution, and by temporarly i really mean it, it works for less than 5 min then the Face ID glitches again.. Here's the "fix/solution"

1. Lock the phone and lay it down with the SCREEN SIDE(front camera) down on a flat surface.
2. Press the power button to light up the sceen.
3. Slightly lift/tilt up the bottom edge of the phone so u can manage to swipe upwards to unlock. (without lifting the whole phone).
4. After the swipe lay it down again just like it was before. And wait 2 seconds.
5. Now lift up the phone & point it towards your face and it will lock up without a problem.

IMPORTANT: The reason behind step 1, 2 & 3 is because this only works if its the FIRST attempt to scan the face/unlock... Since it only works on the first try you cant just hold the phone in your hand and do step 4&5 unfortunately. Because if u do that, Face ID will have attempted to scan a face once (& fail) & this only works on the first scan attempt. If your on step 3 & you accidently lift up the phone to high so the front cam tries to scan a face and fails(leaving you with 2nd attempt to scan a face) then u have to re-do everything from step 1… meaning > unlock the phone with passcode then procceed from step 1 and onwards again.

IMPORTANT: For some reason this only works on a FLAT horizontal SURFACE (straight horizontal angle) when ur doing step 1...

After doing these steps the Face ID will work for like 5 minutes if even that. Then it glitches again and u have to re-do the steps if u want it to work for another minute lol.

So i wouldnt call it a solution/fix just a weird interaction to unglitch the dot cam/Face ID..

For people with this same issue that resetted their Face ID in hope to fix it and are now stuck with setting up a new Face ID & only getting ”Lower/Higher your phone” or ”Face ID is not avalible right now” while doing so these steps also works for that..

tons and tons of people got this exact issue with Face ID after iOS 16, this is NOT a coincidense.. I haven't seen or heard a WORD from Apple about this issue and its been ongoing since September.. Not okay

Hi, Me in the iP 13 Pro Max, I first deleted the saved id profile, then turned the iPhone on and off. After starting and entering the Face ID settings, I also turned off what I marked in the screenshot.
After these steps, the Face ID configuration worked without a problem.
You don't need to move those 4 sliders at the top at all, they will set themselves as soon as you configure your Face ID

I just updated to 16.2. No change. Completely stopped working. I’ll just have to take it into apple and have them waste 40 minutes doing the same testing i just did before giving me a new phone, lol.

Luckily, this is the first time apple has broken something with an update for me

Interesting, I considered trying the 16.2 beta but I saw the public betas seemed really buggy (I mean, betas...).

It will be interesting to see if your new phone works nice, I'll give an update when I got my replacement, hopefully Tomorrow evening.

Same here on a 13 Pro Max. It stopped working, so I reset Face-ID, face not recognised on setup try.

Called Apple Support for a replacement.

Day after, able to setup Face-ID again. Worked for 1hr. then iPhone didn't check Face-ID but asked for PIN/PW again.

Reset Face-ID, face not recognised on next Face-ID setup try.

Waiting for the replacement device now.

After updating I noticed several issues. Face ID works most of the time but not always. However some apps now crash when I open them, my screen background photo suddenly disappears at random times so I have to reset my phone for it to pop back up. Also having wifi issues at times and problems making phone calls. Overall just a really bad messy update after 16.1

I received my replacement from AT&T, reinstalled / restored / setup everything in 16.1, so far Face ID works perfectly when at the same time on the "old" phone it keeps failing.

So I'd say that, so far (crossing fingers), the replacement works...

There is severe touch issue that has appeared after shifting to iOS 16.1

the right side of the phone has lost touch. Making partially useless. So much for iOS and tech - battery draining continues unabated. Misery galore!!

Land up in their service station they ask for money to look into problems created by the company - complete scam run by iPhone

It is so frustrating that I have made up my mind to port out of IPhone / iOS Enviroment completely

I took mine into apple today after talking with tech support online. Diagnostics with tech support didn’t find a hardware issue, but in store did find a hardware issue with Face ID. They are repairing it over night. Funny that you got a replacement and they are repairing mine instead.

Apple should change our software back to the earlier version - it is so frustrating now we will be forced to migrate to other brand of devices

how irresponsible and callous are the team that they do not take any action

I am running a pro max 12 on 16.1. Face ID stopped working out of the blue, took it in and got a replacement phone and it worked for a few days and then stopped.

took it to Apple on 11/07 and they did a software reset and suggested I try that, well it’s 11/08 and it’s not working again. No luck with new phone and the software reset.

I showed Apple the screenshot of “Face ID not working” and they were surprised and said they hadn’t seen that issue before?

[Edited by Moderator]