Face ID not working

Work through Apple's own steps:

1. Update iOS and make sure your model supports Face ID.
2. Uncover the TrueDepth camera at the top of the screen. Apple says a smudge, a case or a screen protector covering it can stop Face ID working. Sun cream and sand at the beach count as smudges.
3. Check your face isn't covered. By default Face ID doesn't work if your mouth and nose are covered, unless you set up Face ID with a mask (iPhone 12 and later).
4. Restart the iPhone, then go to Settings › Face ID & Passcode › Reset Face ID and set it up again.

Apple says that if set-up keeps asking you to position your face without continuing, or the camera isn't working, the iPhone may need service.

On iOS 14.6 and later, the iPhone can show the alert "A problem was detected with the TrueDepth Camera. Face ID has been disabled." Apple explains that the TrueDepth camera contains lasers, which may be disabled for safety if the device malfunctions or is damaged.

Apple says this won't prevent you from using your iPhone, which still unlocks with the passcode, but Face ID, Animoji and Memoji may not work until it is serviced. Apple also says Face ID allows only five unsuccessful attempts before the passcode is required, so a phone that keeps asking for the passcode isn't necessarily broken.

Because of those lasers. Apple says that if the TrueDepth camera is damaged, you should get a trained technician who uses genuine Apple parts, and warns that improper repair or non-genuine components in the laser system may stop the safety mechanisms from working properly. That rules out cheap swaps of the TrueDepth parts.

In practice, whether Face ID can be restored depends on which part of the TrueDepth system was damaged and how. At A1 Computers the phone is checked first, and you are told honestly whether Face ID can be brought back, and the price, before any work starts.

It shouldn't, if it is done carefully. The TrueDepth camera sits at the top of the iPhone, just under the screen, and on many models parts linked to it share a small cable with the earpiece that has to be transferred to the new screen. A rushed repair that damages that cable is a common reason Face ID stops working after a screen replacement.

On recent iPhones, Apple's Repair Assistant finishes repairs by calibrating replaced parts, and Apple says you won't be able to use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock the device, make payments or sign in to apps until that calibration is complete for those parts. What then appears under Settings › General › About › Parts and Service History is explained in iPhone Unknown part messages.

Keep using your passcode, and turn on a strong alphanumeric passcode if yours is short, since you'll be typing it more often. Apple Pay and apps that use Face ID ask for the passcode or your account password instead.

If the Face ID fault came with a drop, check the rest of the phone too: the front camera, the earpiece and the screen around the notch share the same area. See phone camera repair and iPhone screen repair.

It depends on the model and what is damaged, so the phone is checked first. Send the model and what happened on WhatsApp to 641 780 077, call 922 71 35 82, or walk in to Local 4, Centro Comercial San Eugenio, Av. de los Pueblos 20, Costa Adeje, Monday–Saturday 10:45–21:30 or Sunday 10:45–14:00. You get the price before any work starts. Diagnosis costs €15.