There is evidence in the macOS Big Sur beta code that suggests that the TrueDepth camera – as found on the iPhone – will be coming to the Mac.
Should the TrueDepth camera arrive on the Mac it follows that Macs will gain the ability to be unlocked with Face ID.
Some Macs can already be unlocked with a fingerprint using Touch ID, a technology that Apple introduced in 2013 with the iPhone 5S. Touch ID has been available on the MacBook Pro since 2016 and on the MacBook Air since 2018.
The TrueDepth camera brought Face ID to the iPhone X in 2017. According to Apple, Face ID is more accurate, faster and more secure than Touch ID (although your device is only as secure as the passcode that can override Face ID or Touch ID).
As 9to5Mac reports after analysing the latest macOS 11 Big Sur Beta code, there are indications that Apple plans to use the Face ID on future Macs.
9to5Mac claims to have found clues that indicate the presence of the camera systems that enable a 3D scan of the face. That site also found reference to a “PearlCamera” – which was the internal name for the system that was later called the TrueDepth camera. The code also referenced functions such as “FaceDetect” and “BioCapture”, which is identical to the code in iOS.
The code is clearly programmed for macOS rather than being a case of copy-and-paste from iOS via Catalyst. This seems to prove that the presence of Face ID is not a coincidence or accident.
This evidence seems to suggest that the first MacBooks with Apple Silicon will also offer Face ID. This is one of the new features that the move to Apple Silicon will make possible as the neural engine of the processors built into iPhones and iPads from the A11 onwards are essential for facial recognition. On the current range of Intel Macs the ARM-based T2 co-processor does the fingerprint recognition.
This wasn’t the first claim that future Macs will support Face ID though. The first reports appeared in mid-June, with Twitter user @blue_kanikama tweeting about the discovery of a system file that gave evidence of support for Face ID in macOS and even tvOS. Those tweets have since been deleted though.
Hopefully if the TrueDepth camera arrives on Macs we will also see improved FaceTime cameras, which currently suffer from disappointing resolutions.
Find out about the new Silicon Macs – and how Apple Silicon compares to Intel:
This report first appeared on Macwelt. Translation by Karen Haslam.
