Like some other users touch ID has *never* worked consistently on my M1 MB Pro (14 in. 2021). I keep things up to date and it will work for maybe 5 or 6 times after clearing all the fingerprints and creating new ones. I've had it with this generation of Mac. My question is does it work *consistently* on the latest MB Pros? I'm ready to trade this one in.
sunnibee wrote:
Cleaning isn't the problem. You can open some things immediately and others don't give options, even though in the past you could use Touch ID. This morning I couldn't get into my MacBook Pro M1 without a password multiple times (even after it had already been accessed) and just now I could. No rhyme or reason, apparently.
Perhaps try a DFU Firmware Revive which resets the security enclave chip. Maybe that chip is having issues. Otherwise you may have a hardware issue with your Mac. While the "Revive" should not affect anything, I still highly recommend you have a good backup first. You should always have frequent & regular backups since there are so many new ways to permanently lose access to the data stored on the internal drive of the recent Macs due to all the hardware, software, and security changes.
Keep in mind if your finger has been in liquids or has anything on it (including dirt & lotions), it can make fingerprint recognition intermittent & problematic.
Cleaning isn't the problem. You can open some things immediately and others don't give options, even though in the past you could use Touch ID. This morning I couldn't get into my MacBook Pro M1 without a password multiple times (even after it had already been accessed) and just now I could. No rhyme or reason, apparently.
A "cheat" way to make fingerprint detection more reliable is to ask your Mac to add an additional fingerprint. Then add a print of the SAME finger again. Between the two variants you are more likely to have one or the other recognized more often.
In my case it had to do with System Settings -> Lock Screen settings. By playing around it suddenly worked again. I didn't even had to shut the MacBook down.
My current settings are:
Hard question to answer since it works consistently for me on my 2019 i9 MBP, my 2021 M1 Pro MBP and my 2024 M4 Pro MBP, and for the latter two with two different Magic Keyboards, as well.
This could be due to the touch ID button being dirty, I’d recommend cleaning it with a microfibre cloth.
M1 Macbook Pro Touch ID only works sometimes
