Apple iPhone 15 Proximity Sensor in the Face ID Module

Overview / Introduction

• Executive Summary
• Reverse Costing Methodology
• iPhone Proximity Sensing & Face ID
• Glossary

Companies & Supply Chain

Physical Analysis

• Summary of the Physical Analysis
• Face ID Module Overview
• • Module Overview
  • Module Teardown
  • Module Cross Section
  • Lens Modules & Optical Filter Overview
  • Diffractive Optical Element Overview
  • NIR Global Shutter CIS Overview
  • Dot Projector VCSEL Overview
  • Flood Illuminator VCSEL Overview
• VCSEL Driver Overview
• Proximity Sensor ASIC
• • Overview & Dimensions
  • Deprocessing, Technology & Main Blocs
  • Cross Section
  • Process Summary
• Proximity Sensor VCSEL 
• • Overview & Dimensions
  • Cross Section
  • Process Summary

Physical Comparison with Previous Generations

Manufacturing Process Flow

• Global Overview
• ASIC Wafer Fabrication Unit
• ASIC Filters & Back-End
• VCSEL Wafer Fabrication Unit
• VCSEL Processes
• Module Assembly Process
• Final Test

Cost Analysis

• Main Steps of the Economic Analysis
• Yields Explanation and Hypotheses
• SPAD ASIC
• • Front-End Costs
  • Back-End Costs
  • Die Costs & Selling Price
• Proximity Sensing VCSEL
• • Epitaxy & Front-End Costs
  • Back-End Costs
  • Die Costs & Selling Price
• Module Assembly
• BOM & Module Cost Breakdown

Cost Comparison with Previous Generations

Selling Price

Feedback

Related Products

About Yole Group   

Proximity Sensor integrated into the iPhone 15 Face ID Module

Smartphones rely on proximity sensing modules to control the capacitive “touch screen” display and modulate its brightness.  There is an intense competition between a handful of suppliers of these modules.  For the iPhone series, it is also a competition between material systems, and as the series represents over 15% of smartphone sales, there is a lot at stake.

The iPhone proximity sensing story is inextricable from the display notch and the Face ID system.  When the Face ID system was introduced in the iPhone X (2017), the flood illuminator for the system was housed in the proximity sensor module from STMicroelectronics.  In the iPhone 13, the Face ID system, including the flood illuminator, was fully integrated into a single compact module, allowing a notch reduction of 33%.  STMicroelectronics continued to provide the proximity sensor module without the flood illuminator. In the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple again decreased the notch size, this time going for a pill-shaped “Dynamic Island.”  To achieve this, they moved the proximity sensor under display by using a costly InP-based Short Wave InfraRed (SWIR) solution by Coherent, effectively removing STMicroelectronics from the proximity sensing supply chain.  Now, our prediction of the iPhone 15’s return to 940 nm GaAs-based proximity sensing has been confirmed.  The new solution is furnished by STMicroelectronics and Trumpf, and the reduced notch size was retained by integrating the new sensor into the Face ID module so it can work through the Dynamic Island.

This full reverse costing study provides insights into the technology data, manufacturing cost, and selling price of the iPhone 15 proximity sensor in the Face ID module.

The Face ID system can be divided into eight parts: the module assembly, NIR global shutter CMOS image sensor, diffractive optical element, dot projector VCSEL, flood illuminator VCSEL, VCSEL driver, and two lens modules. We have previously published a report on the Face ID module in the in the 14 Pro, and all of these Face ID components are retained in the iPhone 15 module with little to no change.  For these parts, we present only cursory analysis in this current report, and focus instead on the integrated proximity sensor, which consists of a SPAD ASIC from STMicroelectronics and GaAs-based VCSEL from Trumpf.

For these new dies, we present detailed physical analysis such as optical and electron microscopy, de-processing, cross-sectional analysis, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to determine the technologies and manufacturing processes involved.  We then calculate the cost of each manufacturing step and present itemized fabrication costs. Finally, this data is used to calculate the total cost and estimate the selling price of the proximity sensor.  We also compare it with the two previous generations of proximity sensor in the iPhones 14 Pro and 13.  The cost breakdown of the greater iPhone 15 Face ID module is also presented.

Apple, Coherent, Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO), IQE PLC, LG Innotek, Lumentum, STMicroelectronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Texas Instruments, Trumpf

Key Features

• Detailed photos​
• Detailed SEM images​
• Module structure​
• Precise measurements​
• Materials analysis​
• Manufacturing process flow ​
• Supply chain evaluation​
• Manufacturing cost analysis​
• Selling Price Analysis
• Comparison with previous generations

Product Objectives

• Provide insights into the technology data, manufacturing cost, and selling price of the iPhone 15 proximity sensor in the Face ID module.