Why no fingerprint reader on Macs?

[ryan42]

I feel compelled to type that my dad has one on his HP Laptop, and with his disabilities it's way easier for him to use that than to have to type his passwords all the time.

There is something useful about it.

I have about 10 PW's for my website - i'd actually love to just swipe my finger on something rather than typing and finding where i wrote them all down.

Would you now? Really there isn't software that does that. My laptop came with this fingerprint software that was like that except it only worked for IE, meh, and would put passwords in the wrong fields and submit the form. You also couldn't just swipe, you had to hit something like Ctrl Alt H and then click which website you were on then swipe. Not worth it.

Say no to swiping. Say yes to typing. (TM)

 

[shipdestroyer]

With EFI passwords and FileVault, I don't think fingerprint-readers-as-security is a valid argument.

 

[WannaGoMac]

Just use Firefox in that case. It'll provide real security, versus the pseudo-security of a finger scanner.

Did you even read the responses refuting your claims?
Geesh.

 

[Taylor C]

A finger print reader would be astoundingly aesthetically obtrusive. If you absolutely need one, buy an external one. Aside from looks, 90% of MBP users most likely wouldn't use it for anything worthwhile other than "Hay, my notebook has a fingerprint reader, awesome!"

 

[WannaGoMac]

With EFI passwords and FileVault, I don't think fingerprint-readers-as-security is a valid argument.

Fingerprint readers are not for security anymore, they are used to make security less of a chore. Most of the new reader software just control a password store that contains all your passwords -- ie. login, boot etc.

You still have passwords. You just don't have to type them in anymore.

 

[WannaGoMac]

A finger print reader would be astoundingly aesthetically obtrusive. If you absolutely need one, buy an external one. Aside from looks, 90% of MBP users most likely wouldn't use it for anything worthwhile other than "Hay, my notebook has a fingerprint reader, awesome!"

Have you seen how small they are on Lenovo laptops? they are not anymore. Just a SMALL (1cm x .2cm) metal strip that you slide your finger across.

Anyway, it's moot. Macs are made for non-corporate types *for the most part* and they don't need these devices.

 

[Wolfpup]

Did you even read the responses refuting your claims?
Geesh.

Huh? What are you talking about?

 

[Roba]

I like this little feature. I am going to buy a Sony SZ and the fingerprint reader is one of the things that attracted me to the more premium models.