Why is Face ID failing after updating to iOS 18.3.1?

I wanted to give everyone an update... I couldn't get this resolved so I scheduled a Genius appointment.

They confirmed they couldn't get it to work... some speculation that the front-facing sensors for Face ID were about to fail, and that the 18.3.1 update might have just taken them over the edge. I'm not sure if I totally buy that, but they were able to resolve my issue by replacing the physical hardware part. They did the repair in an hour while I waited. Very professional and also very quick repair in my opinion.

The two sensors at play are not the clear front facing camera we use for selfies, but rather the two dark colored lenses to the left of the earpiece/speaker.

Again 12 Pro Max with AppleCare, here's what they replaced:

TrueDepth Camera, iPhone 12 Pro Max

Item Number: 661-23799

Cost without AppleCare $169.00

The "TrueDepth camera" on an iPhone 12 Pro Max refers to the front-facing camera used for facial recognition technology, known as Face ID, which captures detailed depth data of your face to securely unlock your phone; it is a 12MP camera on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. 

I had this repaired 5 days ago and everything is still working great.

Got it fixed on my iPhone 15 Pro.

Steps all under FaceID & Passcode in Settings:

1) Turn off Stolen Device Protection. It will fail several times before it asks you for your passcode.

2) Reset FaceID, and it leave off

3) Turn off iPhone, and wait for full shutdown

4) Turn iPhone back on

5) Setup FaceID

6) Turn Stolen Device Protection back on.

These steps worked for me. And it didn’t work when I skipped the off and on again steps.

I solved it, the problem was my screen protection that had a bubble covering one of the lenses, I removed the screen and scanned my face again and worked, hope this helps you

I have the same problem iphone 12 pro max after i updated it to 18.2.1my face id gave me problem, so i did all the step of resetting but it didn’t work . After i check my phone there were some dirt stuck on the screen protector i cleaned it and surprisingly its work wooow . So please make sure your screen protector where the front lens is clear and clean from anything

i hope this will help someone

thank you

I can't explain why this worked but I was experiencing exactly the same problems as reported here and couldn't unlock my phone or authorise cards in the wallet with Face ID IMMEDIATELY after upgrading to 18.3.2.

Then I removed my phone's SCREEN PROTECTOR (yep I know) and Face ID started working again.

I put the screen protector back on, and Face ID stopped working again. It's now binary, Face ID works wihout the screen protector, stope working with the screen protector.

I have an iPhone 13 Pro.

Incidentally, Apple, I couldn't turn off "Stolen Device Protection" without using Face ID (which isn't working) and I couldn't disable Face ID without turning off "Stolen Device Protection".

While it is unlikely that the software update caused this, there is most likely something wrong with your TrueDepth camera. Please review the following support articles. 

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

If an alert says Face ID has an issue on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support

If the above doesn’t help, please make a reservation at your nearest Apple Store Genius Bar or Apple Authorized Service Provider for diagnostics. 

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple 

It happened to me after 18.3.1 and I just reset Face ID.

However many apps (all banking apps plus others) then needed Face ID switched on or re-established.

it was nothing to do with camera settings, it was just caused by iOS 18.3.1.

Face ID is not working after the update 18.3.1, not able to reset as well. It’s really a frustrating to enter the passcode every time. It is working after restart

After trying to Reset my Face ID numerous times after the update caused it to fail, I found a YouTube video that showed several fixes. After toggling off Require Attention for Face ID and toggling off Attention Aware Features, (under Face ID and Password)it finally let me reset it.

Ha! Talked to Apple Support. After a long investigation, I cleaned my glasses and everything good!!!

Update after speaking with Apple:

• Apple will not assist with this without me paying for a hardware FaceID module swap.
• Apple support will look at your diagnostic report and ask you to reset your phone. I resetted it via the iPhone and via a Mac, none of that worked.
• Apple support will then have you book an appointment with a tech in person; however, techs can't provide software changes, so you will need to do a hardware install, and you'll need to pay for it out of pocket.
• Apple's current support structure is not set up to deal with issues like these unless customers cause this issue to be visible publicly in some way.

I tried repeated turnoff "stolen device protection" option that others have suggested. It still attempted Face ID even after entering passcode.

This is what worked on my iphone XR.

I don't know which step actually required to make it work and I cannot repeat the same process to confirm.

Removed "Use Face ID" option for everything that is listed(like Login, Apple Pay, App Store etc).

Go to location services and removed location access to "Find my" and "Significant Locations".

Now try to turn off stolen device protection, it will ask for passcode only.

Hi Alin-Marcel,

I guess I was lucky in that although Face ID was knocked out with iOS 18.3.1, I was able to reset Face ID very simply through the "settings" menu as described in other posts. I just had to re-establish the Face ID for banking apps by confirming the passwords or PINS in the relevant apps.

[Edited by Moderator]