Apple patent points to Macs getting a key iPhone feature

Face ID could give your next MacBook or iMac an extra layer of security to protect your precious files
The notch on a MacBook Pro where Face ID could live in a future product
Apple
Alan Martin16 August 2023

Since arriving in 2017 with the iPhone X, Face ID – Apple’s facial biometric security – has been added to every phone barring the SE models and the company’s newer iPad Pros.

For some reason, the facial authentication hardware has yet to be adopted by the company’s MacBook line. But that looks as if it could change soon, with a new patent outlining how Apple would introduce the technology to its laptop and desktop computers.

The patent, catchily titled Light Recognition Module for Determining a User of a Computing Device, outlines the nuts and bolts. And while the words “Face ID” don’t show up once, it is essentially the same result: you can prove your identity with your face, rather than a password or fingerprint.

The patent describes the system as using a “light pattern recognition module that may be incorporated within a computing device”. It would be neatly tucked into a “notch, a circle, an ellipse, a polygonal shape, a series of polygonal shapes, a curvilinear shape or the like”.

Handily, recent MacBook Pros have adopted such screen notches for their webcams, so it shouldn’t be too much of a culture shock if and when Apple introduces Face ID to its computers.

While undoubtedly more useful on a MacBook, which is far more at risk of theft thanks to its portability, it is possible that such technology will be debuted on an iMac instead, as there is more space for the complex array of technology. Indeed, one included image shows how this might look on a desktop Mac.

An iMac from the patent
An iMac from the patent
Apple

Face ID is certainly more convenient than a passcode or a password, and it can be safer too. While passwords and PINs can be stolen via database breaches, keyloggers or just watching a user type, Face ID is matched to your face which is, of course, unique to you.

For the moment, modern MacBooks get TouchID, the fingerprint technology introduced to iPhones in 2015. And while Apple has previously suggested that Face ID could be expanded to more devices over time, in 2021 the company claimed it was unnecessary for computers as users already have their hands on the keyboard where Touch ID is located.

While that’s true, it’s likely just a way of justifying its current absence than a philosophical design choice.

After all, Apple once railed against styluses and had a whole commercial about how its 4-inch iPhone 5 was the optimum size for the human hand. A decade on, the iPhone 14 starts at 6.1 inches and the Apple Pencil is a popular accessory, so suffice it to say these justifications can often age poorly.

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