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How to check if your iPhone's LiDAR is working

Updated October 8, 2026 by madebykamal

The quickest way to check your iPhone's LiDAR is to use an Apple feature that only runs on LiDAR models, such as measuring a person's height in the Measure app or People Detection in Magnifier. If the height line appears or the phone tells you how close someone is, the scanner is doing its job. Only the iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro and Pro Max models have LiDAR, so other iPhones do not offer these features at all.

Step 1: confirm your iPhone has a LiDAR Scanner

Apple's list of iPhone models with a LiDAR Scanner runs from the iPhone 12 Pro to the iPhone 18 Pro Max. An iPhone that is not on it has no scanner, so the checks below will not work on it. Not sure which model you have? Open Settings, tap General, then About, and tap the part number beside Model Number to reveal the model number. Apple's Identify your iPhone model page matches that number to a model and notes a LiDAR Scanner on the back of every Pro and Pro Max from the iPhone 12 Pro on (the iPhone 11 Pro has none).

The models with a LiDAR Scanner:

Step 2: measure a person's height

Apple's Measure app, in the Utilities folder, can read a person's height on supported models, and the supported models it links to are exactly the iPhones with a LiDAR Scanner. Ask someone to stand a few steps away, then:

Kamera Pro app icon

Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision

Night vision camera with a LiDAR lens

Get it on the App StoreAbout the app

Step 3: try Ruler view and edge guides

Two more Measure features are limited to the same supported models. Apple calls Measure results approximate, so judge whether the guides and the ruler appear, not whether the number matches a tape measure. Apple recommends well-defined objects 2 to 10 feet (0.5 to 3 meters) away, such as a table or a door frame:

Step 4: use People Detection in Magnifier

Magnifier's Detection Mode, built for people who are blind or have low vision, finds doors, people and furniture nearby and tells you how close they are. Apple offers it on the same supported models, and warns that it should not be relied on in high-risk or emergency situations or for navigation, so treat this as a hardware test only:

If a check fails, rule out the simple causes

One failed check on a LiDAR model does not prove the scanner is broken. Apple's steps for a rear camera that is not working make a sensible first pass, so work through them and then try again:

When to contact Apple Support

If the height line never appears, Ruler view never forms and People Detection stays silent after those steps, on a model Apple lists with a LiDAR Scanner, the hardware may need a look. Apple's camera troubleshooting ends the same way: if the camera still is not working properly, you might need service, which you can request through Apple Support. Note which checks failed and what you already tried.

Do not open the phone yourself. Apple's laser information for iPhone says it contains one or more lasers, that repair or disassembly may cause damage that could result in hazardous exposure to infrared laser emissions that are not visible, and that it should be serviced by Apple or an authorized service provider.

Seeing the depth itself with Kamera Pro

Apple's checks show the scanner at work through features built on top of it. Kamera Pro's LiDAR lens shows the depth directly: on Pro model iPhones it draws the room as measured distance, even in complete darkness, and measures between two points in meters or feet. Kamera Pro's Guard Mode can also watch a room by measured depth on Pro models, with a distance tripwire.

Questions people ask

Does the Measure app need LiDAR?

Not for basic measuring. Apple describes Measure as using the iPhone camera to measure nearby objects, and it marks only edge guides, Ruler view and person height as features for supported models, which are the models with a LiDAR Scanner.

Why doesn't the height measurement show up?

Either your iPhone has no LiDAR Scanner, or the person is not fully in frame. Apple says to position the iPhone so the person appears from head to toe, wait a moment, and turn the iPhone away briefly to reset before measuring again.

Does People Detection work on any iPhone?

No. Apple offers detection of doors, people and furniture in Magnifier only on supported iPhone models, and the supported list it links to is the list of models with a LiDAR Scanner.

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