About Optic ID advanced technology
Learn how Optic ID helps protect your information on Apple Vision Pro.
Optic ID for Apple Vision Pro
Much of our digital lives are stored on our Apple devices, and it’s important to protect that information. Like every Apple product and service, Apple Vision Pro was designed to help protect your privacy and keep you in control of your information. It builds on the foundation of existing Apple privacy and security features with new technologies like Optic ID.
In the same way that Touch ID revolutionized authentication using a fingerprint and Face ID revolutionized authentication using facial recognition, Optic ID revolutionizes authentication using iris recognition. Optic ID provides intuitive and secure authentication that uses the uniqueness of your iris, made possible by Apple Vision Pro’s high-performance eye-tracking system of LEDs and infrared cameras.
With a look, Optic ID securely unlocks your Apple Vision Pro. You can use it to authorize purchases from the App Store and Book Store, payments using Apple Pay, and more. Developers can also allow you to use Optic ID to sign into their apps. Apps that support Touch ID or Face ID automatically support Optic ID.
Learn how to set up Optic ID on your Apple Vision Pro
Learn more about the built-in privacy and security protections of Apple Vision Pro
Advanced technologies
Optic ID results from the combination of some of the most advanced hardware and software we’ve ever created. When you set up Optic ID, spatiotemporally modulated eye-safe near-infrared light illuminates the eye, so that the Apple Vision Pro eye cameras can capture images of your iris. This iris image data is sent to and processed on the Secure Enclave and a portion of the Apple M2 chip’s neural engine that’s protected within the Secure Enclave, where it is transformed into a mathematical representation for enrollment. When you authenticate with Optic ID, the authentication attempt uses the same process to compare your iris to the enrolled biometric data to determine whether there is a match.
Optic ID automatically adapts to changes in conditions by updating your enrolled template after a successful authentication. This helps improve Optic ID performance in various lighting conditions, under which the visible portion of your iris and the size of your pupil might vary. Optic ID is designed to work with prescription soft contact lenses and ZEISS Optical Inserts for users who require vision correction.
When you unlock your Apple Vision Pro with Optic ID, the Optic ID icon is prominently displayed in the center of your line of sight. After you successfully unlock Vision Pro or authenticate in an app, Optic ID keeps continual track that your eye area is visible to the Apple Vision Pro eye cameras. While you continue to wear the device, if you need to authenticate again, this continual tracking is used by Optic ID for authentication. To help prevent inadvertent purchases using Apple Pay, the authorization will only be successful if you’re looking directly at the app from which you’re making a purchase and the payment sheet is visible.
Security safeguards
With Optic ID, we’ve done some important things to safeguard the information on your Apple Vision Pro, the same way that we did with Touch ID and Face ID. Optic ID uses near-infrared imaging and processing including machine learning for a secure authentication solution. Optic ID data is encrypted, never leaves your device, and is accessible only to the Secure Enclave processor.
The probability that a random person in the population could unlock your Apple Vision Pro using Optic ID is less than 1 in 1,000,000. As an additional protection, Optic ID allows a maximum of five unsuccessful match attempts before a passcode is required. The statistical probability that a random person could unlock your Apple Vision Pro using Optic ID is higher if only a single eye is enrolled in Optic ID, which is an accessibility option.
Optic ID matches against detailed iris structure in the near-infrared domain, which reveals highly unique patterns independent of iris pigmentation. It’s designed to protect against spoofing through the use of sophisticated neural networks that analyze the authenticity of the iris and surrounding region.
When you enable Optic ID, your Persona is linked to your Optic ID enrollment and can be used only after successful Optic ID authentication.
To use Optic ID, you must set up a passcode on your Apple Vision Pro. You may need to enter your passcode for additional security validation when:
The device has just been turned on or restarted.
The device hasn’t been unlocked for more than 48 hours.
The passcode hasn’t been used to unlock the device in the last six-and-a-half days and Optic ID hasn't unlocked the device in the last 4 hours.
After five consecutive unsuccessful Optic ID attempts.
In some of these cases, such as when the device has just been turned on or restarted, you may still be able to use Optic ID if your iPhone is nearby and set up to enable Optic ID in Settings.
Learn how to use your iPhone to enable Optic ID
Privacy
At Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right and we’ve designed Optic ID to protect your privacy. Optic ID data — including mathematical representations of your iris — is encrypted and protected by the Secure Enclave. This data will be refined and updated as you use Optic ID to improve your experience, including when you successfully authenticate. Optic ID data doesn’t leave your device and is never backed up to iCloud or anywhere else. In addition, eye-tracking information is not shared with Apple, third-party apps, or websites.
If you choose to set up Optic ID, you can control how it's used or turn it off at any time.
To control how it’s used, go to Settings > Optic ID & Passcode > “Use Optic ID For,” then adjust the settings. For example, if you don’t want to use Optic ID to unlock your device, turn off Apple Vision Pro Unlock.
To turn off Optic ID entirely, go to Settings > Optic ID & Passcode, then select Reset Optic ID or Reset Optic ID for All Prescriptions (if you use ZEISS optical inserts) — which deletes Optic ID data, including mathematical representations of your iris, from your device.
If you choose to erase or reset your device by erasing all content and settings, all Optic ID data is deleted.
Within supported apps, you can use Optic ID for authentication. Apps are notified only whether the authentication is successful or not. Apps can’t access Optic ID data.
Safety
We’ve designed the near-infrared illumination system used in Optic ID — which consists of multiple infrared emitters placed behind the lens — with safety at the forefront. This system complies with international safety standards and won't cause harm to the eyes or skin due to the low output of the emitters.
If Optic ID isn’t working, you should contact Apple for service. Repairs should be done by a trained technician who uses genuine Apple parts. Improper repair, modification, or use of non-genuine components in the illumination systems may make the output non-compliant with the standards, and could cause hazardous exposure and injury to the eyes or skin.
The infrared emitters may be visible when viewed by a camera. In addition, some users may be able to detect the light of the emitters — which could appear as a faint red flickering — in a completely dark environment. This is considered safe and normal.
Get help setting up or using Optic ID
Accessibility
Accessibility is an integral part of Apple products and we build our products to support a wide variety of use cases.
If you rely upon a dominant eye, you can choose to control Apple Vision Pro with only one eye. When you choose this option, only that eye is used with Optic ID.
To customize which eye that you use to control Apple Vision Pro and with Optic ID: In Settings, scroll down and select Accessibility > Eye Input. You can choose Both Eyes, Left Eye Only, or Right Eye Only.
If you’re blind or low vision, Optic ID enrollment may be feasible by focusing gaze forward, in the center of the screen during set up. If you choose not to use Optic ID or if it’s not a feasible solution, you can unlock Apple Vision Pro and use Persona via passcode.
Learn more about accessibility features for Apple Vision Pro