Mark Gurman: Face ID on the Mac is likely coming within a couple of years, and all iPhones and iPads will transition to Face ID within that timeframe, too
Apple plans to bring Face ID to the Mac within the next “couple of years,” respected Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman said today in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter.
Context & Ripple Effects
The report extends Apple’s biometric roadmap beyond phones: a 2017 prediction that iPhones would move from Touch ID to Face ID had already framed Face ID as the company’s preferred direction. A year before this report, TrueDepth references in a macOS beta indicated that Mac support was under development.
The significance is the proposed convergence of authentication across Apple’s major personal-device lines, rather than a one-off iPhone feature update.
First-order effects
- Apple’s reported plan puts Touch ID-equipped iPhones and iPads on a path toward replacement by Face ID within the stated timeframe.
- Mac hardware and macOS would gain a Face ID implementation if Apple follows through on the TrueDepth work previously indicated in macOS.
Second-order effects
- A common Face ID approach would reduce the need for Apple to maintain divergent biometric experiences across Macs, iPhones, and iPads.
- Touch ID becomes a narrower design choice across Apple’s device range as product teams align around Face ID.
Third-order effects
- If implemented across these product lines, Apple would be standardizing biometric authentication as a cross-device platform capability rather than tying it primarily to individual device categories.
The trend: Apple is moving toward a more uniform biometric-authentication layer across its personal-device ecosystem.