Troubleshooting iPhone X Face ID Not Working 'Move iPhone a Little Lower/Higher'

With the diffused application of Face ID on...

Apple iPhone X Moderate No estimate Guide 128928

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Guide overview

Before you begin

With the diffused application of Face ID on iPhone X – 11 series, Face ID failure also appears at a high frequency. As our previous Face ID teardown video has introduced, Face ID can be easily damaged and hardly repaired. If the problem is related to the flex cable, then it’s simple. However, based on statistics of REWA chip-level motherboard repair service, Face ID failure is caused by damage of the Flood illuminator/Dot Projector in most cases, which can not be repaired.

Step 1

Test The Flood Illuminator

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The phone keeps sending messages: ‘move iPhone a little lower/higher’ during the setting up process of Face ID. Based on REWA exclusive repair tricks, let’s start with the Flood Illuminator.
In our daily repair work, we can test the Proximity Sensor and the Ambient Light Sensor to confirm whether the Flood Illuminator is working normally.
Let’s make a phone call to confirm whether the Proximity Sensor is working. The Proximity Sensor works normally.

Step 2

Test The Flood Illuminator

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Next, test the Ambient Light Sensor. The Ambient Light Sensor is also working normally.
Judging by this, the Face ID failure is not caused by Flood Illuminator.

Step 3

Test The Front Camera Parts

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Let’s move on to the next step of Face ID troubleshooting – test the front camera parts.
Open the camera app and swipe to Portrait Mode. The background is not blurred, which is abnormal.

Step 4

Observe The Dot Projector

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At the Portrait Mode, there is no flashing red light from the Dot Projector.
We can confirm now that the Dot Projector has malfunctioned.
This is the fault and the problem cannot be fixed.
The three parts ( infrared camera, flood illuminator and dot projector) are paired to the phone. Damage of any one of them can cause Face ID failure and such an issue is irreparable.