Apple to introduce face unlock feature in new iPhone: reports

Apple is working on a feature that will allow users to unlock their iPhone using their face, rather than a fingerprint.

The redesigned iPhone will go on sale later this year, and the company is running tests on an improved security system that will allow users to log in, authenticate payments, and launch secure apps by scanning their face, according to people familiar with the product, Bloomberg reported.

According to the people, who requested not to be named, this is powered by a new 3-D sensor. One of the people said, the company is also testing eye scanning to augment the system.

The sensor's speed and accuracy are central to the feature, which can scan a user's face and unlock the iPhone within a few hundred milliseconds, the person added. It has been designed to work even if the device is lying flat on a table, rather than just close up to the face. The feature is still being tested and may not be available on the new device. 

In testing, the face unlock feature makes use of  more data points than a fingerprint scan, which makes it more efficient than a Touch ID system, the person said.

Meanwhile, Apple accidentally pushed the firmware for the HomePod out yesterday, and a number of developers who studied the code, learned a bit about how the LED lights on the top may work.

But according to commentators, it is also is giving developers an opportunity to learn about what might be coming to the next iPhones.

Developer Steve Stroughton-Smith tweeted: ''I can confirm reports that HomePod's firmware reveals the existence of upcoming iPhone's infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit and elsewhere.''

There are several lines of code for  ''BKFaceDetect'', where the ''BK'' probably refers to ''Biometric Kit.'' There are also references to an infrared camera, which would be used to detect one's face, even in the dark.