Before You Get Too Excited About Apple Face ID, Read This

With all the announcements from Apple swirling through your currently over-excited brain, you're probably trying desperately to sort out all the info so you can decide which phone to spend your hard earned cash on. I know — they all look better than the phone you have right now, which probably has lint and crumbs stuck in every crevice, at least one crack in the screen, and literally no storage left at all. So, as you make your decision, you're going to want to know which iPhone has Face ID, because that might be a huge deciding factor in picking a phone.

Face ID is the official name of the new security feature that will replace the Touch ID. Instead of using your thumb to unlock phone or make purchases, the new technology will simply do a 3D scan of your face. This change will make the security of your phone and funds more protected, in addition to making it a much quicker and more efficient action and transaction. Once your phone gets to know your face, the info is stored and it's only got to see your face from any angle to recognize you.

Sure, the thumbprint Touch ID was super easy to use, for the most part. But what about all of those times that it couldn't read your thumb because your hands were hot, or cold, or kinda sweaty, or stuck in a glove, or not properly hitting the button? The Face ID hopes to close the margin of error a bit. After an initial easy setup in which the facial recognition tool takes a 3D rendering of your face, storing data relating to your appearance from a variety of angles, it will be able to decipher the difference between you, a photo of you, and even someone who looks a whole lot like you. Yep, technology is that good right now. Hello phone of the future, I've been dreaming about you since I first started watching the Jetsons.

The technology is going to be revolutionary to have in our everyday phones. It's no longer the fantasy sci-fi gadget of the future, it's just one of many exciting new features on your iPhone. And maybe the most interesting part of the feature is the realm of capabilities it has. Not only will we use it to open our phones, but we'll also use it to buy songs on iTunes and apps in the App Store. We'll use it to personalize emojis with the new Animojis feature which brings emojis to life using your own facial expressions — perhaps eliminating the need to use words ever again, amirite? And once developers get their hands on that technology, you better believe there's going to be tons of exciting new options. You think Snapchat and Instagram Stories are fun now? Guess how much more fun and interactive it's going to be when it can actually recognize you. Let's just put it this way — say good bye to puppy ears on your shirt button or coming out the side of your face. Augmented reality is about to get a lot more precise and a lot better.

But back to which phone you should get. If you're drooling over the facial recognition features, you're going to have to save up for the iPhone X. While the iPhone 8 will also utilize iOS 11, it won't have the hardware needed to do advanced Face ID. The iPhone 8 will still rely on the Touch ID and have a home button, while the iPhone X will be all screen and will rely completely on Face ID. Though there will always be a passcode option in case you're not in a position to use Face ID, or in case you want someone else to access your phone.

If you're still undecided, you can wait until your friends get the iPhone X so you can test out the Face ID before you buy it. Though I have a feeling the envy will be real and most people will chose the iPhone X over the iPhone 8. With all the new features getting us excited, it will be hard to settle for anything less.