For some strange reason, my wife’s iPhone’s face iD has stopped working and her passcode isn’t working either so she’s essentially locked out of her phone. There is an option to erase her phone. Assuming she does that, will she be able to log back in just like as if she were starting with a brand new iPhone? Would there be any sense in going to an Apple store or will they just tell her to do that exact same thing?
Try a force reboot. Press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.
You can try an erase if that doesn’t work, and then back up from an iCloud backup, assuming there is one.
An Apple store won’t help with passcodes not working. Never heard of this happening, so no idea what to do if that doesn’t work.
I believe that if you enter the wrong code it adds time until you can try it again. It adds up each time you enter incorrectly. So you may want to wait awhile (if force reboot doesnt work).
I wish I could help but all I can offer is that the #1 thing we see with biometrics failing is dirty sensors. In her case, the front facing camera area up top. But the same holds true for for those with finger biometric scanners, etc. Besides the forced reboot LeeAbe mentions, make sure it’s cleaned well and remove it from any phone cover before she reattempts Face ID.
We ended up erasing the phone and starting over. I have no idea why my wife’s passcode wouldn’t work.
If you don’t have iCloud back up on, might be a good idea to do so.