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Magic keyboard with macbook in clamshell mode worth it?

S

shepx13

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2021
4
3
East Texas
First off, thanks to everyone who responded to my last post about whether moving to a Macbook from PC land would be worth considering. I'm happily typing this on my new Macbook and have been very thrilled with the experience. Keeping an open mind that I would need to relearn some things has helped stop me from getting frustrated at some things being different. I've decided that, yes, I can move completely away from a PC ecosystem without any issues.

On to my question. I will be getting a Caldigit TS3 and will be keeping this docked in clamshell mode during the majority of my usage. As such, would it be worth getting the new Magic Keyboard with touch-ID? I know that Apple seems to have purposely disabled touch-ID while using as such for Apple Payments (which I don't currently use). There doesn't seem to be much info out there about what other apps allow the touch-ID to be used the same way.

I'd love to hear from folks who use theirs the same way and if they thought it was worth and what limitations there were with other programs.
 
I'm pretty sure there was a recent article on Macrumors that confirmed that the Touch ID In the new Magic Keyboards don't work with any of the M1-era Macbooks when in closed-clamshell mode (only with the new M1 iMacs). And that there seems to be an intentional software limitation where anytime it's closed, they disable the Touch ID commands.

Maybe that means they'll open that up in future MacOS updates (I have to think they will eventually), but pretty sure for now it doesn't work. Given that, I think it's up to you if you want to try and "future-proof" for that potential possibility and get one of these new Magic KBs, knowing that the Touch ID won't work for awhile / maybe never. Alternatively, I think it would be fine to get one of the older ones (especially since many could be had at discounts) as well.
 
touchID seriously doesn't work on the new keyboard when the computer is in clamshell mode?
 
jabbr said:
touchID seriously doesn't work on the new keyboard when the computer is in clamshell mode?
Click to expand...

From what I can gather, it works with some things(?) That's what I'm trying to find out: what programs people are using that are able to take advantage of it.
 
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