TouchID not working while charging

[silvetti]

Hi!

Anyone having issues with TouchID not working while charging? As soon as I unplug the charging cable it starts working normally.
I've noticed this for now only with Safari while authenticating for passwords.
I've seen a few other posts here and there about it (not on MacRumors) but I've yet seen any solution.
This is on a 16 inch MacBook Pro.

Any ideas?

 

[kristof46]

Where did you find other threads? I have not exactly the same but similar problem. Sometimes it just stops working. You can’t authorize anything or even add new fingerprint. After a while or sometimes just push Touch ID button everything comes to normal. I don’t have perfect skin so that could be a reason but I guess it is soft bug. My previous (returned) mbp16 has same problem. But when I connect external display Touch ID immediately stops and you can’t fix it until unplug display.
Anyway you should try smc reset

 

[niwre_www]

Hi!

Anyone having issues with TouchID not working while charging? As soon as I unplug the charging cable it starts working normally.
I've noticed this for now only with Safari while authenticating for passwords.
I've seen a few other posts here and there about it (not on MacRumors) but I've yet seen any solution.
This is on a 16 inch MacBook Pro.

Any ideas?

I experience the same now.. first I thought it was because of the heat while it's charging then accidentally unplugged the charger and it worked.. any update on what have you done about it?

 

[drnemo]

i have same issue. Have anyone solution?

 

[davegoody]

Hi!

Anyone having issues with TouchID not working while charging? As soon as I unplug the charging cable it starts working normally.
I've noticed this for now only with Safari while authenticating for passwords.
I've seen a few other posts here and there about it (not on MacRumors) but I've yet seen any solution.
This is on a 16 inch MacBook Pro.

Any ideas?

I used to have this with a third-party Lighning cable or charger. If plugged-in with an original charger / cable it worked fine. Perhaps your charger is giving out some hum which upsets the iPhone. Have seen this on multiple phones / chargers over the years, so not uncommon.

 

[JD_Boo]

I have the same problem and still cannot be sloved

 

[grunsfrans]

I experienced the same issue today with my new M1 Pro MacBook Pro. It seemingly came up out of the blue, while I had been testing switching accounts via Touch ID. This had been working perfectly the entire morning and afternoon. Both on battery and plugged in.

After dinner I tried to unlock the MB again, but this time the Touch ID didn't respond. It didn't even register that there was a finger on it. After a Google search I quickly discovered that it was indeed still working on battery. Strange....

So what did change since the morning/afternoon before? Of course I had turned some lights on in my living room. And - lo and behold - after checking a few of them, by turning them off, it turned out that one of my (cheap) dimmable LED-lights was causing the issue!
With that light turned off, Touch ID did respond again. Also with the light turned on, but on a different dim-level, it also worked fine. ONLY with the light on a certain dimming-level, Touch ID stopped responding.

So my guess is that the light is producing some interference on that level...
Time to replace the cheap light with some proper light I think.

Hope this helps solving the issue for other people as well.
Cheers

 

[fa8362]

I experienced the same issue today with my new M1 Pro MacBook Pro. It seemingly came up out of the blue, while I had been testing switching accounts via Touch ID. This had been working perfectly the entire morning and afternoon. Both on battery and plugged in.

After dinner I tried to unlock the MB again, but this time the Touch ID didn't respond. It didn't even register that there was a finger on it. After a Google search I quickly discovered that it was indeed still working on battery. Strange....

So what did change since the morning/afternoon before? Of course I had turned some lights on in my living room. And - lo and behold - after checking a few of them, by turning them off, it turned out that one of my (cheap) dimmable LED-lights was causing the issue!
Which that light turned off, Touch ID did respond again. Also with the light turned on, but on a different dim-level, it also worked fine. ONLY with the light on a certain dimming-level, Touch ID stopped responding.

So my guess is that the light is producing some interference on that level...
Time to replace the cheap light with some proper light I think.

Hope this helps solving the issue for other people as well.
Cheers

Wow! Great trouble shooting!

 

[Marrty]

I just had the same problem on 2020 M1 MacBook Air. It was a bad 30W charging brick. Apple Store was able to do diagnostics and confirm. Replaced brick under warranty and problem solved.

 

[alfimuhammed]

Ahaaa... Found the solution.

From my knowledge the problem is caused by some electrical issues not hardware or software ( depends ).
Here is the fix -

1. If your plug doesn't have a earthing point : Place your whole palm on the side of the trackpad and try the Touch ID it will work. Or Buy a 3 point plug for the charger on amazon or something.

2. If you think your Touch ID suddenly got slow or not responding properly : move your MacBook from all electrical equipments near you and place somewhere else. In my case I had my HomePod and Echo dot behind my MacBook working. So, I took my MacBook and moved far away from it and Touch ID worked like super instant and perfect.

 

[amurgshere]

I can also confirm it is the charger that seems to cause it, if I use the charger that came with my MacBook the Touch ID works fine, if I use the 20w charger that came with my iPad it works fine, but I use either the 20w or 100w USB-C port in my brand new no-name brand GAN charger it fails to even detect a finger being placed on it. The Touch ID sensor must be very sensitive to voltage fluctuations I would say, that's just a guess though. Either that or my no-name GAN charger is just a piece of crap... which is quite likely...