Help me pick my poison: Least terrible way to unlock an Apple Silicon Mac

[JTK Awesome]

Ways that I know of:

Login and Password
The same way we do every night, Pinky. Reliable and $0 additional cost. But getting outdated and inconvenient.

Latest Magic Keyboard with TouchID
The only thing I hate more than TouchID is a membrane keyboard, except for the

Apple Watch
I'm not buying another useless (to me) disposable (it is, get over it) gadget just to not have to type in a password.

There has to be a better way..?

 

[zakarhino]

Apple Watch unlock is a bit slow and poses a security risk anyway. If you don't like the Magic Keyboard typing experience then you're SOL and there is no better way than using Login and Password. Sorry. If you feel like throwing away a few hundred dollars and some of your sanity you can follow Quinn's instructions for extracting the Touch ID button, circuity, and battery from a Magic Keyboard:

 

[JTK Awesome]

^ I was going to post that. There's also the nearly-as-wasteful, less time consuming method of velcroing a MK under the desk 🤯


Why is AW a security risk? Curious.

 

[Tagbert]

I can tell you that TouchID on the laptops is miraculously fast, reliable, and convenient. That’s all I use. (Until I need to refresh my credentials).

 

[meson]

^ I was going to post that. There's also the nearly-as-wasteful, less time consuming method of velcroing a MK under the desk 🤯


Why is AW a security risk? Curious.

The unlocked Watch more or less just needs to be in the same room as the computer. My kids will pick up my laptop and it authenticates while I’m across the room. This makes it a bit less secure than TouchID or FaceID.

It’s something I’ll have to consider carefully as my kids and their friends get old enough to take my classes.

As far as TouchID is concerned, I have it on my work laptop. It's a nice feature, but it seems that it is really only deeply integrated with Apple produced software. Installers from other vendors may or may not use it for authentication. Firefox and Chrome do not use it to authenticate credentials from their keychains. If it truly is a security feature, it should be more deeply integrated into the experience across the board causing any authentication to require the use of TouchID. Aside from websites, other things that trigger TouchID also trigger my Watch making it effectively redundant. Because of this, I opted for the non-TouchID keyboard to go with my M1 mini.

Yes I understand that software developers are free to develop as they choose, but a modern OS should also be able to recognize when user credentials are being requested (at least as well as they do with autocomplete forms, which is not 100% perfect either).

A long password with special characters, mixed capitalization, and numbers devoid of common words is best, but cumbersome.

 

[JTK Awesome]

I can tell you that TouchID on the laptops is miraculously fast, reliable, and convenient. That’s all I use. (Until I need to refresh my credentials).

But what about on the newest generation of external Magic Keyboards? (I’m using an M2 Pro Mini.) I’ve read mixed reviews about Touch ID being slow and finicky… which has always been my problem with any of Apple’s Touch ID implementations.

 

[maflynn]

The same way we do every night, Pinky. Reliable and $0 additional cost. But getting outdated and inconvenient.

I think people are over thinking, passwords are fine, and in many cases just as fast as touchid. In fact on my laptop, I still have to use a password because touch id times out, so you won't get away from it.

 

[meson]

I think people are over thinking, passwords are fine, and in many cases just as fast as touchid. In fact on my laptop, I still have to use a password because touch id times out, so you won't get away from it.

Additionally, after some period of time (somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-24 hours, I think) since the last authentication, the machine will require a password before TouchID and/or Apple Watch authentication are able to be used. Passwords will not be going away any time soon.

 

[coffeemilktea]

Touch ID on a laptop works really well for me, though I've never tried it with an external keyboard.

I'd like to think someday that Macs will eventually incorporate Face ID (the MacBook Pros and Air already have The Notch™ after all), but until then, Touch ID has been good to me.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Touch ID objectively. You just put your index finger down on the power button and boom you're logged in. It's also faster for when it asks for admin passwords to just use Touch ID

 

[jdb8167]

TouchId allows me to only have to type in my password a few times a week. That means I feel free to use a more complex password. I also appreciate that TouchId works for most authentication for other passwords and even for command line sudo.

I use TouchId on both my MacBook Air keyboard and a TouchId external Magic Keyboard. They both work the same. Fast and nearly flawless. The keypad TouchId Magic Keyboard is very expensive but I think the TouchId part is worth the cost. I find typing on it to work well for me too.

 

[JTK Awesome]

^ Typing feel is subjective - I dislike scissor switches (and hate rubber domes!). I miss my buckling spring keyboards (Unicomp made a Mac version - Apple Silicon broke compatibility with it) and have settled for a Keychron K8 upgraded to Green switches. Mechanical keyboards have made Apple’s keyboards almost painful to use for long periods of typing.

 

[kpluck]

You could use a Yubikey although I think the keyboard with touchID would be more convenient.

-kp

 

[senttoschool]

There has to be a better way..?

Yes. Many potentially better ways.

1. Don't have a password. Press enter key.
2. Hire an assistant whose only job is to unlock your Mac for you whenever you need it. Have him/her follow you around.
3. Ask your friends/spouse/kids/strangers to unlock it for you.
4. Take it to an Apple store and have Apple unlock it for you whenever you need to use your Mac.
5. Download some sketchy app that let's you unlock your Mac with an iPhone.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

5. Download some sketchy app that let's you unlock your Mac with an iPhone.

I heard that Russian apps should be really great for this!

 

[izzy0242mr]

But what about on the newest generation of external Magic Keyboards? (I’m using an M2 Pro Mini.) I’ve read mixed reviews about Touch ID being slow and finicky… which has always been my problem with any of Apple’s Touch ID implementations.

I've never had issues with Touch ID on Mac (laptops). It's almost always worked instantly for me.

 

[unrigestered]

time stop

 

[jdb8167]

Yes. Many potentially better ways.

1. Don't have a password. Press enter key.

You can auto login and skip the enter key.

 

[JTK Awesome]

I give up... partly because mechanical keyboards weren't for me in the end. (Though I love buckling springs, but that's for another thread.) Partly because if you want Mac F-key functionality, there aren't that many choices. Partly because scissor-switch keyboards are already everywhere, including my personal iPad's MKB and my work laptop.

I bought an MKB, black keys with TouchID. Now waiting for the UPS man to make his way through my neighborhood...

 

[Tagbert]

I give up... partly because mechanical keyboards weren't for me in the end. (Though I love buckling springs, but that's for another thread.) Partly because if you want Mac F-key functionality, there aren't that many choices. Partly because scissor-switch keyboards are already everywhere, including my personal iPad's MKB and my work laptop.

I bought an MKB, black keys with TouchID. Now waiting for the UPS man to make his way through my neighborhood...

Let us know how it works for you, once you get a chance to try it out.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Let us know how it works for you, once you get a chance to try it out.

It's... fine?

As usual from Apple, it's expensive, well-made, looks great, and the BT connection is rock-solid.

My main complaint is that I wish the keys had more travel. At work and for WfH I use Dell KB700 and Microsoft Bluetooth (non-Surface model) keyboards with my work-supplied PC. They are also scissor-switch keyboards, with greater key travel. Which is the same travel as my trusty old Apple model A1243 wired aluminum keyboard.

Those feel "right," whereas the current MKB keys barely extend above the keyboard. It's not bad enough to demand a return, but clearly Apple hasn't totally exorcised the ghost of Jony Ive and his obsession with thinness.

I also question changing F4's functionality from Launchpad to Spotlight. Then again this keyboard's "special" functionality is mapped differently from my Keychron K8 and past Apple keyboards. At least the MKB brings functions that I previously had up in the Menu Bar, like Dictation and Language input. Roll With the Changes, as REO Speedwagon said.

TouchID mostly works, but then again, Apple has always hated my fingerprints (and my ear canals, based on my APP experience, but that's another rant). I wish I could "record" more than 3 fingerprints but it's working OK so far.