Level 4

1,094 points

Face ID Failing After Installing iOS 16.3.1

About 36 hrs after upgrading my iPhone 11 to iOS 16.3.1 Face ID stopped working. Until then Face ID had always worked flawlessly. It refused to unlock the phone and forced me to enter the passcode to unlock it. I tried cleaning the notch, retrying unlock, nothing helped. After several failed unlock attempts I got a message saying "Face ID unavailable, try again later".

Eventually I tried resetting Face ID and tried to set it up again, but during the face scan process I got the Face ID not available, try again later message. I then tried restarting the phone and went back into Face ID setup and it failed again, but on the second or third attempt it suddenly worked and I could complete the Face ID setup process. From then on Face ID was working again. For about 24 hrs. Then it just stopped working again (this time I didn't get the unavailable, try again later message, it just wouldn't unlock).

This time I powered the iPhone off and on again and it still failed to unlock without the passcode a few times, but then suddenly started working again for no obvious reason.

I guess it could be an intermittent h/w issue, but I'm suspicious that iOS 16.3.1 may be causing the problem, has anyone else encountered issues with Face ID after updating to 16.3.1?

I'm also curious about the meaning of the message "Face ID unavailable, try again later" and what sort of issue(s) would trigger that? What sort of problem would cause Face ID to fail temporarily and waiting a while might resolve? Temperature or something?

iPhone 11

Posted on Feb 16, 2023 2:48 AM

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David Shanahan Author

Level 4

1,094 points

Posted on Mar 17, 2023 3:25 AM

Ok, took the phone into Apple today and they ran a swag of tests on it and finally declared the issue with Face ID was due to faulty Face ID sensors. The battery passed testing and the recommended action was to replace the Face ID sensor module. As this was going to cost more than A$300 I decided not to proceed.

So in the end this problem turned out to not be related to iOS 16.3.1 (coincidences do happen) nor was it caused by a flakey battery, it was a Face ID sensor hardware fault. ☹️

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90 replies

caden18

Level 1

8 points

Mar 5, 2023 9:52 AM in response to David Shanahan

I am so glad I am not the only one having these issues after downloading iOS 16.3.1.

iPhone 12 Pro.

When I finally got to where I was able to reset my FaceID, it kept telling me to position my face within the frame, lower iPhone. My hair was completely out of the camera sight before it noticed anything and wanted me to proceed. Not once could I use FaceID after I reset it, multiple times actually.

Before iOS 16.3.1, FaceID worked pretty good. There were a few times where it wouldn’t work in the daytime, though.

Mar 8, 2023 2:55 PM in response to David Shanahan

I have the exact same issue, I have a iphone x from 6 years which was working fine until i updated to 16.3.1 and face id stopped working and won't let me reset..... I am not sure why I need to spend money now to get this fixed when my phone was working fine and a software update from apple broke it

David Shanahan Author

Level 4

1,094 points

Mar 13, 2023 12:35 AM in response to David Shanahan

I did some further testing on the phone today and nothing's really changed — Face ID works fine for a while then fails, with no error message, it just fails to unlock the phone. Power off and restart usually clears the problem, though sometimes I have to restart it more than once to get Face ID working again, but sooner or later it fails again.

This time I made sure the phone was fully charged before testing it, given the battery capacity is only 83% I started to wonder if Face ID might start failing when the battery is getting low, but it still happens even at 100% charge.

I then tried resetting Face ID and setting it up again. That worked but it would not unlock the phone, even after three restarts. So I reset Face ID again and tried to set it up again and that failed with "Face ID not available" message, two or three restarts later I was finally able to set up Face ID again and then it unlocked the phone as usual.

Mar 13, 2023 12:21 PM in response to MINHAZRAFSAN

I can confirm that Apple and apple support is absolutely ****. First they push an update that breaks FaceID and next they ask customers to pay for the repair. my phone has a third party battery replacement since 9 months and was working fine without any issues, updated to 16.3.1 and booom face id stops working. Apple then proceeds to run diagnostics on my phone and accepts that faceid is not working because of a System issue and tells me go to the store to get it fixed free of cost even though i am out of warranty, they state that the issue is system related and it will be handled free of cost. I step into the store and they start asking me money for what was supposed to be a free repair, next thing i know they are blaming me for having a battery replaced at a third party and not at all agreeing to fix the face id issue which they caused via an update!

David Shanahan Author

Level 4

1,094 points

Mar 15, 2023 2:55 PM in response to jptrek77

80% is the recommended capacity for battery replacement that Apple recommend.

From previous experience that's also about the level at which you start encountering problems with these batteries. I had an iPhone 6 before the 11 that got to around 80% capacity after a couple of years and then it pretty quickly began lasting far less than it's previous time, it sometimes wouldn't charge to 100%, it would suddenly drop from reporting 80 or 90% charge to 20% or less, and other such issues. Replacing the battery fixed it and it worked fine from then until I upgraded to the 11.

Now this phone has also started misbehaving at close to 80% battery capacity, so it would not surprise me to find that replacing the battery fixes it.

Why would I not be happy if replacing the battery fixes the problem? If it fixes it then it's clearly not "all nonsense". This is not a "mindset" issue, it's a fact that these batteries start causing problems at around 80% capacity. They do not simply decline smoothly with no impact on operation aside from reduced run time, at around 80% they hiccup and can misbehave in various odd ways.

With a laptop that no longer lasts a full day or starts shutting down due to low battery capacity you can usually plug it in and run it from the mains, that's not possible with an iPhone.

Mar 18, 2023 8:00 AM in response to David Shanahan

Same problem with my phone since updating to 16.3.1. My sons phone was working fine until he upgraded to 16.3.1 this week. Seems to be the common denominator. Apple is trying to make money off people claiming they aren’t the problem.

Mar 19, 2023 2:46 PM in response to David Shanahan

I’m having the same issues. Flawless Face ID, I updated to 16.3.1 , then it stopped working and I got the same messages as you. iPhone 12. There’s no way it’s a coincidence to an unrelated problem. The update had to have changed something for the worse for the Face ID module.

Nelson28

Level 1

0 points

Mar 20, 2023 12:37 AM in response to David Shanahan

David, your messages are misleading this conversation into wrong direction. Like myself, the problems started AFTER installing the iOS 16.3.1 - before that moment FaceID had worked perfectly. So, I regard very unlike that FaceID fails at the hardware at so many phones at the same time - do you really believe in that?

I am waiting for a patch to iOS 16.3.1 - also stopped all updates on other devices I have. Sad, but can not afford to lose the same functionality on my other devices.

Mar 26, 2023 5:43 PM in response to David Shanahan

Same thing is happening to me. I have tried to reset my Face ID a few times now… (all updates are current and on 16.3.1) when I try to reset it keeps telling me to reposition my face within the zone (when it is perfectly as always in the zone) then says it’s not available try again later.

so wondering can I go back to fingerprint ID if this is no longer available? And not wanting to pay $300 for this repair. Only 2 year old phone.

Alancito

Level 7

29,952 points

Apr 27, 2023 12:21 PM in response to Jazza1811

Jazza1811 wrote: "Yes, original battery. 76% maximum capacity."

Jazza ~ 76% is weak and is to be expected in an iPhone X original battery after so many charging cycles. Your screenshot indicates that the battery is "significantly degraded". (Apple recommends replacing the battery at around 80%.) The long process of applying an iOS update to an old iPhone with a weak battery can be the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back." – and that's probably what happened to yours. So have the degraded, aging battery replaced and all will (probably) be well:

iPhone Battery & Power Repair

About genuine iPhone batteries

Repair Provider Verification

(Articles found by searching Apple's Knowledge Base.)

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Suzysurf

Level 1

8 points

Dec 28, 2023 6:48 AM in response to David Shanahan

I believe that's the case sum. But I also believe that one of the updates did indeed cause a problem. When I first did the update, my Face ID stopped working. It started working with the next update, and then stopped again. iPhone 12 Pro.

it also happened on my daughters iPhones'.

I don't think the country has a whole batch of bad bad sensors. I don't know. I have to use my phone using a passcode. Sucks.

Alancito

Level 7

29,952 points

Feb 28, 2023 2:28 AM in response to David Shanahan

David ~ Does your iPhone 11 still have its original battery?

And what's the Maximum Capacity % here?...

Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging

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Mar 18, 2023 6:38 AM in response to David Shanahan

This happened to me after installing 16.3.1... was never an issue before this update. I'm confident this is a software issue and waiting for a patch.

Apr 9, 2023 9:34 AM in response to David Shanahan

The patch released today fixes the issue! I’m so excited. Thank you Apple developers!!

Nelson28

Level 1

0 points

Feb 28, 2023 2:10 AM in response to David Shanahan

FaceID not working properly on my iPhone 12 Pro Max. After iOS 16.3.1, I have to insert passcode about 8/10 when opening the phone. Before update, FaceID worked perfectly. How I can roll-back this install?

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Face ID Failing After Installing iOS 16.3.1