An iFixit teardown found the iPhone 18 Pro’s infrared Face ID camera beneath the screen, while its selfie camera and dot projector keep the display opening in place.
The Sept. 20, 2026, teardown found the infrared camera below the display, with the selfie camera and infrared dot projector still in the central opening. Apple’s public materials do not explain why it chose this layout.
NDTV Profit reported Nov. 3 that tech creator Atul Sharma, who posts as @techjunkies_official, made an explainer video about Face ID.
Apple introduced Face ID with the iPhone X in 2017 as a way to unlock the phone, authenticate users and authorize payments. Its TrueDepth hardware includes a dot projector, an infrared camera and a flood illuminator. Apple’s launch announcement said the projector sent out an invisible infrared field with more than 30,000 dots.
Apple says Face ID first checks that a person’s eyes are open and facing the device. The system uses infrared readings to produce a depth map and an infrared image of the face.
Processing takes place in part of the phone’s Neural Engine shielded by the Secure Enclave. Apple says the device turns the scan into a mathematical representation and checks it against the facial data the user enrolled. Its documentation says iPhone 18 Pro models and later also use additional image data.
Apple says Face ID information stays on the device, is excluded from backups and is not sent to Apple. The company says captured face images are discarded after the representation is created.
Apple estimates the chance that a random person can unlock an iPhone is less than 1 in 1 million when one Face ID appearance is enrolled. Its estimate for Touch ID is less than 1 in 50,000. Apple says false matches are more likely for identical twins and some close relatives, and presents both figures as estimates.
