Love my MBA ... hate TouchID

[agregson]

An option no one has brought up yet, you could just turn it off. We used Macs for decades without any biometrics. My password for my Mac is used nowhere else, is a random string, and I can type it faster than reaching for touchID and letting it register. I really don’t know if touchID actually adds anything but complexity no one asks for.

I tend to do that when I can. I am just so glad I have FaceID on iPhone as now all my secure apps such as banking now need biometric to authenticate and even approve bank payments, card charges and so on (other than Apple Pay). I suppose I could PIN this but less inclined to do that as it could be coerced (in some nightmare scenario).

10-15 years ago I used and sold to clients RSA authenticators mainly for Remote Desktop via Citrix. This always worked very well and struck me as being a simple balance between security and convenience. For many clients while not flawless it was better than the useless passwords they would choose. The devices could easily be managed, assigned, disabled and so on. With a secure desktop on Citrix from hosted server it was decent. Worked very well with thin clients too which was handy. Some sort of physical authenticator would be great (why is there not an Apple Watch or iPhone app for this?).

I have looked at YubiKey numerous times and like the principle of it. I used it on Windows during trial to handle authentication. With USB keyboard that had a USB socket it was very handy to plug in and leave in then remove when I left desk. Desktop would unlock when plugged in and lock when removed. Must look into it again on macOS.

 

[agregson]

i love TouchID
FaceID wouldn't really offer me any benefit at all, as i'd still need to press some key for confirmation anyway.

only condition where it's not working absolutely perfectly for me is when i didn't dry my hands enough right away after washing them

Face ID was a boon for me. I love it. Flawless on iPhone and iPad. Works with all my apps - password manager, banking, Apple Pay and so on. It just works and is seamless. I don't need to enter any key other than something to wake the device from sleep. I was so glad to see the back of TouchID on iOS as it always prevented me from making proper use of the services.

 

[agregson]

Irrational hate for typing a few characters aside, a PIN is a password. There's nothing stopping you from making your password numerical. There's also the option to not even use a password for login. TouchID is an extra gimmick, I would never notice if my current MBP didn't have it.

I've been typing the same short random string for decades, it's second nature/muscle memory and always works. TouchID is a new gesture and works like 80% of the time.

I could see the beenfit to FaceID, it actually saves effort, but I fail to see what I gain with TouchID. OP isn't missing much.

I'd recommend they Turn off TouchID, make sure they have their mac setup to ask for their password as rarely as possible (seriously, how often do you need to prove you're you?) and get on with life.

I like your succinct and salient advice. I think I will disable it and move on. Maybe move back to my Keychron K6 also - super keys and get rid of a whole row of keys! Apple Watch can handle things I suppose.

FaceID would be amazing. The main reasons I want it are for password manager, keychain, Apple Pay and login. Though all of this can be done on Watch. FaceID would help avoid removing finger from home positions on keyboard (something I detest even the key combos macOS and most OS overload us with now - I would love a VIM command mode for all of the shortcuts but that is a completely separate story!)

I am quite happy to type passwords and type much faster than I can write or speak so no real hassle. Interestingly I can type in a password faster than Touch ID (when it works) can authenticate and I do not need to move my hands away and concentrate on holding my finger in the right way ;-)

 

[VaruLV]

I prefer face ID to touch ID, its so much more convenient for me.

 

[1BadManVan]

As much as I would have liked to see Face ID, I’ve had zero issues with the Touch ID on my air.

 

[Tagbert]

I think, eventually, Apple will bring out FaceID on Macs but it is going to take a while to get the components small enough to fit on the displays. The laptop displays in particular are much too think for the current FaceID elements.