Masked man tricks iPhone X's Face ID

Some Security researchers at Bkay have managed to fool the iPhone X's Face ID developed with an advanced facial recognition engine using a specially-developed mask.

The outer "skin" of the mask was handcrafted by researchers at Bkav, before being laid upon a 3D printed frame. Other facial features, such as the mask's eyes, are merely printed images. In total, the mask cost around $150 to make, although the materials used to make the frame weren't included in that cost because it was printed from the company's own designs.

The dummy face was made in just five days - Bkav starting developing the concept on November 5th and completed its experiments on November 10th, posting a video to show the iPhone X unlocking when the face is presented to it.

The iPhone X used in the experiment was trained using a real person's face and was seemingly unlocked on the first try, although Bkav didn't reveal how many times it had tried to unlock the phone before perfecting the mask.

At $999, the iPhone X is one of the most expensive smartphones on the market, but a tear down analysis of the device suggests it costs just $357.50 to produce.

The list of parts identified in a strip down of the device suggests Apple is enjoying a gross margin of 64% on its newest flagship smartphone, which means the iPhone X is more profitable per device than the iPhone 8, at a gross margin of 59%.