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Is the Touch ID Magic keyboard worth it?

Cham2000

Cham2000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 11, 2022
426
217
I'm about to buy a new mini M2, and I'm now wondering about the Apple keyboards. Should I really get the one with the Touch ID button? Is it worth it? It costs about 50$CD more than the previous generation keyboard, and I don't like much the round keys in the four corners.

And is the BlueTooth battery better than the one in the previous keyboard?

I don't care about the sound of the keyboard. The older one is nice to my ears too, even if the newest keyboard is softer.

So what is your opinion on the latest Apple keyboard?
 
Dragonmount said:
I have two stations where I have my Mac connected. One has the touchid keyboard, the other just has a Magic Keyboard. I miss the touchid constantly.

I think it's 100% worth it
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And what about their BT batteries? Is the latest keyboard has a longer charge cycle than the older one?
 
Another 100% worth it. Can't comment on battery life, but it is not an issue. Anyway, unlike the Magic Mouse you can use it while plugged in.
 
My wife has the older version with her iMac. I have the new non-TouchID version with my new mini. I don’t care for the look of the rounded corners, but they don’t impact functionality. It just is what it is with the design.

As far as battery life, I have no idea. Mine came around 75% charged, has been in service for a month and was around 45% charged when I plugged it in. My Bluetooth started flaking out during a remote lecture, so I plugged in what I could.

Both keyboards are capable of going literally months between charges, so battery life is a nonissue.
 
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What about the lack of backlight? I’m drawn strongly towards the Touch ID feature but repelled by the lack of backlit keys. Would it help to get the white key version instead of the black, if typing in a dark room is often a given?
 
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So far I’ve never had the convenience of Touch/Face ID on a Mac, so I‘ve had to type in my login password each time some damn web site or service asked for authentication, to unlock my keychain. With the iPad Pro being my main everyday computing device these days I have almost forgotten about all of that. Face ID is quick, seamless and never fails. Going back to the Mac with its constant password prompts feels almost archaic. I wouldn’t mind something more streamlined on the Mac side. I realise that Touch ID isn’t quite as refined as Face ID, but still…
 
I do not have touch ID on my "tertiary" computer, a cMPRO running Monterey. It does have Watch Unlock. The two are pretty much equivalent in my book, but I would hate to have none of those.
 
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Yes, the TouchID on the keyboard is a very useful and worth addition. If you're okay with the already high price of the Magic Keyboard and its limitations (no backlighting, rechargeable battery), I think that the extra 50$ is well worth it
 
fwmireault said:
Yes, the TouchID on the keyboard is a very useful and worth addition. If you're okay with the already high price of the Magic Keyboard and its limitations (no backlighting, rechargeable battery), I think that the extra 50$ is well worth it
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Could you tell the uses of that TouchID button, except for the computer login? I'm having some difficulties in seeing the usefulness of that button.
 
Cham2000 said:
Could you tell the uses of that TouchID button, except for the computer login? I'm having some difficulties in seeing the usefulness of that button.
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I almost never use it for computer login, as I have unlock with Apple Watch enabled. But I do have to enter my keychain passwords/2 factors authentification fairly often, and Apple Watch can't help here. For Apple Pay and keychain passwords alone, I find that very useful, but YMMV
 
Worth it to me, use it a lot on internet accounts. Saves a lot of time. As for the battery, I did have a problem on the weekend of all the playoff football games. I didn’t realize battery was getting low and didn’t use the computer all weekend. Went to logon Monday morning and couldn’t type in the password nor did the TouchID. Restarted the iMac, still nothing till I plugged in lightning cable and checked battery level ‘0’ !! Panic over.
 
Can we use that keyboard (i.e extended keyboard with TouchID) with a cable to the computer, without using Bluetooth?
 
Touch ID is worth it to me. I love it. I wouldn’t want to go back. I like the look and feel of it much more than the previous keyboard. The battery life seems fine.

I have two ten year old Apple keyboards that still work perfectly. If the new keyboard, and specifically the Touch ID last that long then $50 more is definitely worth it to me. But I don’t know how long the internal, non-replaceable batteries last.
 
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I use the touch id feature multiple times a day. If Logitec made the MX Keys for Mac with it, I might change. Otherwise, I'm sticking with the Magic with touch id.
 
It really depends on you, but it is 100% worth it for me. I tried the MX Mechanical mini but ended up getting back to it because of how convenient it is to use.
 
I bought my Magic Keyboard pre-pandemic so it's gotten well-used in the last few years. I can't be without a 10-key so I bought the full sized one (with lightning port charging) to replace my old 3x AA battery powered keyboard (minus the 10 key). Both keyboards work beautifully, no issues. I finally splurged and bought the newer Magic Trackpad to go with it.

Trackpad battery lasts about a 4-5 weeks at a time (leave it on all the time), the keyboard battery lasts approximately 2x as long as the trackpad.

If you have an  Watch, you'll likely use it more for authentication in Ventura than you will the TouchID. Nonetheless, I still use TouchID more because I don't have to switch or change position just to authenticate--it just works.

Probably once every 2-3 weeks or so, I will have to power cycle the keyboard because the TouchID stopped working. Power cycling is literally just turning it off and on again, sometimes I have to log out and log back in to get it working again. I leave my M1 mini on 24/7, rarely ever reboot it but let it sleep when not in use. The keyboard wakes the mini reliably and without fuss.

I still have my pro keyboard (wired) which works just fine but I can't deny the gravy that is wireless bluetooth.
 
Reckless1 said:
I bought my Magic Keyboard pre-pandemic so it's gotten well-used in the last few years. I can't be without a 10-key so I bought the full sized one (with lightning port charging) to replace my old 3x AA battery powered keyboard (minus the 10 key). Both keyboards work beautifully, no issues. I finally splurged and bought the newer Magic Trackpad to go with it.

Trackpad battery lasts about a 4-5 weeks at a time (leave it on all the time), the keyboard battery lasts approximately 2x as long as the trackpad.

If you have an  Watch, you'll likely use it more for authentication in Ventura than you will the TouchID. Nonetheless, I still use TouchID more because I don't have to switch or change position just to authenticate--it just works.

Probably once every 2-3 weeks or so, I will have to power cycle the keyboard because the TouchID stopped working. Power cycling is literally just turning it off and on again, sometimes I have to log out and log back in to get it working again. I leave my M1 mini on 24/7, rarely ever reboot it but let it sleep when not in use. The keyboard wakes the mini reliably and without fuss.

I still have my pro keyboard (wired) which works just fine but I can't deny the gravy that is wireless bluetooth.
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The TouchID button not working everytime may be a source of frustration for me (I'm very impatient with computers!). But I'm almost decided to buy this keyboard anyway (in black).
 
Cham2000 said:
The TouchID button not working everytime may be a source of frustration for me (I'm very impatient with computers!). But I'm almost decided to buy this keyboard anyway (in black).
Click to expand...
Although I don't tend to use it any more, it works for me 100% of the time.

I much prefer typing on my mechanical keyboards, although every now and then my carpal tunnel syndrome flairs up really badly, so the Apple keyboard is then more comfortable (typing doesn't cause it to flair, but if I do something else that exacerbates it, then the flatter typing angle as compared with my mechanical keyboard is more comfortable until it subsides after a few days).
 
xraydoc said:
Although I don't tend to use it any more, it works for me 100% of the time.

I much prefer typing on my mechanical keyboards, although every now and then my carpal tunnel syndrome flairs up really badly, so the Apple keyboard is then more comfortable (typing doesn't cause it to flair, but if I do something else that exacerbates it, then the flatter typing angle as compared with my mechanical keyboard is more comfortable until it subsides after a few days).
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So how do you qualify this extended Bluetooth Apple keyboard? Medium, Good, Very good, Excellent?
 
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