TouchID unresponsive on MacBook Pro M1

[mi7chy]

Ran into this issue initially between Big Sur 11.0.1 and after upgrading to 11.1. Normal behavior I noticed after rebooting is Touch ID wouldn't work and it would prompt for password. It also did this sporadically from long sleep so I guess it was rebooting during sleep. After accidentally soft bricking Big Sur and reinstalling it clean from recovery, Touch ID has been fine and consistent. Something to try if you're experiencing this issue. Follow this thread to boot into recovery, run 'resetpassword' from terminal, choose 'erase mac' from drop down then reinstall Big Sur from scratch.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...acs-computer-account-creation-failed.2274842/

 

[gank41]

To find the version of BridgeOs on a Intel T2 mac: View attachment 1710218

But if you have a M1 mac you may find something like this:

View attachment 1710219

So no info on the BridgeOs which may humbly suggest that the BridgeOs was replaced by or integrated with Big Sur or something else on your M1 computer.

If you want to reinstall BridgeOs it is possible on an Intel Mac but not on a M1 Mac. Probably because it has what Apple calls 'Unified Memory' in which all processes are dealt with.

If you need to know how to reinstall BridgeOs you can ask. But this thread is ment to deal with Touch ID on the M1 mac. Not about BridgeOs on Intel Macs that have a different way of operation and may not have a seperate Os for the Touch Bar.

How the id touch information is stored and in what 'memory', I don't know. But the operation of the Touch Bar is accessible to every program. It can even change per application. And it seems highly unlikely that this is stored or handled the same way as the encrypted information of the Touch ID. Not impossible, but unlikely. Besides the Touch Bar is a display. the Touch ID isn't.

I understand what you're getting at here. What the point I'm trying to make is, though, that if you were to just take the whole TouchBar out of the M1 MBP or the Intel MBP, you'd still find the Touch ID sensor at the end of it. Whether we're disagreeing about how the actual TouchBar is controlled/maintained now that there's the M1 SoC, doesn't change that it's on the same piece of equipment inside the machine. Sure, there may be no need for the T1 chip to control it, but it's still being controlled by macOS if it's not BridgeOS. And if the Touch ID button stops working, like in my case on my M1 MBP, so does the TouchBar also stop working (Along with Mission Control and the Menu bar becoming non-responsive). I'm trying to equate the two issues as being related because, well, they're on the same piece of equipment inside the laptop

 

[gank41]

Ran into this issue initially between Big Sur 11.0.1 and after upgrading to 11.1. Normal behavior I noticed after rebooting is Touch ID wouldn't work and it would prompt for password. It also did this sporadically from long sleep so I guess it was rebooting during sleep. After accidentally soft bricking Big Sur and reinstalling it clean from recovery, Touch ID has been fine and consistent. Something to try if you're experiencing this issue. Follow this thread to boot into recovery, run 'resetpassword' from terminal, choose 'erase mac' from drop down then reinstall Big Sur from scratch.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...acs-computer-account-creation-failed.2274842/

Yeah, if RC3 doesn’t fix my issues I’ll just reinstall everything once the official release comes out.

 

[Jaansch]

I got a pretty similar problem.. I got my Dell P2720DC today and every time when I plug it in the TouchID stops working. I remove the plug from the Dell and et voila the TouchID works.. Even e restart of the Mac doesn't change the situation. I also can't register a new fingerprint it just doesn't work.. Kind of crazy and I don't know why.. Happens on both of my USB C ports at my M1 Pro. Somebody got the same issue? The Dell and the Mac works perfectly without any issues. So what's the issue with the TouchID?

 

[mi7chy]

I got a pretty similar problem.. I got my Dell P2720DC today and every time when I plug it in the TouchID stops working. I remove the plug from the Dell and et voila the TouchID works.. Even e restart of the Mac doesn't change the situation. I also can't register a new fingerprint it just doesn't work.. Kind of crazy and I don't know why.. Happens on both of my USB C ports at my M1 Pro. Somebody got the same issue? The Dell and the Mac works perfectly without any issues. So what's the issue with the TouchID?

Do the console logs report anything unusual when that happens?

 

[Jaansch]

Do the console logs report anything unusual when that happens?

How can I see that?

 

[mi7chy]

How can I see that?

Type 'console' in spotlight and launch. Then, hit Start button to start logging, plug in monitor then pause logging once Touch ID fails. Go through the log entries and hopefully find a hint as to the cause.

 

[Jaansch]

Type 'console' in spotlight and launch. Then, hit Start button to start logging, plug in monitor then pause logging once Touch ID fails. Go through the log entries and hopefully find a hint as to the cause.

Would you like to see the log?

There are a lot of
fehler 01:06:39.563256+0100 kernel Failed to write key 1950826800 to SMC with error code 86
fehler 01:06:39.563908+0100 kernel Failed to write key 1950826829 to SMC with error code 86
fehler 01:06:39.564183+0100 kernel Failed to write key 1950826801 to SMC with error code 86
fehler 01:06:39.564865+0100 kernel Failed to write key 1950829892 to SMC with error code 86

Always the same 4 errors (fehler)

fehler 01:06:15.057297+0100 com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent [ERROR] - Unable to create and lookup port "com.apple.CoreDisplay.master" => 1102
0 0x184e93a64 CoreDisplay::Mach:ort:ort(std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >, CoreDisplay::Mach:ort:ortLookup) + 396
1 0x184e4dd08 CoreDisplay_IsCustomWhitePointSet + 100
2 0x19774f798 getCustomWhitePointXYZ + 104
3 0x19774fd0c modifyAndSetIntentionForWhitePoint + 68
4 0x19774ff0c modifyAndSetIntentionForWhitePointOnEveryDevice + 184
5 0x102dc6dbc main + 5056
6 0x1838d1958 _xpc_connection_call_event_handler + 164
7 0x1838d0460 _xpc_connection_mach_event + 960
8 0x1839b84ec _dispatch_client_callout4 + 20
9 0x1839d2610 _dispatch_mach_msg_invoke + 472
10 0x1839bf648 _dispatch_lane_serial_drain + 272
11 0x1839d3320 _dispatch_mach_invoke + 468
12 0x1839ca3fc _dispatch_workloop_worker_thread + 708
13 0x183b61060 _pthread_wqthread + 276
14 0x183b5fd94 start_wqthread + 8

fehler 01:06:14.758512+0100 corebrightnessd error requesting preset dictionary (0x3f3)

And some doubles.

 

[lemonkid]

Did this end up definitively solving the issue? I have the same exact problem, still haven't solved it. Appreciate the update.

No it didn't.....

 

[lemonkid]

I understand what you're getting at here. What the point I'm trying to make is, though, that if you were to just take the whole TouchBar out of the M1 MBP or the Intel MBP, you'd still find the Touch ID sensor at the end of it. Whether we're disagreeing about how the actual TouchBar is controlled/maintained now that there's the M1 SoC, doesn't change that it's on the same piece of equipment inside the machine. Sure, there may be no need for the T1 chip to control it, but it's still being controlled by macOS if it's not BridgeOS. And if the Touch ID button stops working, like in my case on my M1 MBP, so does the TouchBar also stop working (Along with Mission Control and the Menu bar becoming non-responsive). I'm trying to equate the two issues as being related because, well, they're on the same piece of equipment inside the laptop

We agree on a 'believe' that it is a software related issue. But I am not 100% certain before I have the problem resolved.

In 2013 the MacBook Pro came out with a stubborn keyboard. It would not respond after sleep. By putting a USB device, no matter which, the keyboard responded again. It was due to extreme power saving functions implemented for the first time. And they saved so much power that the keyboard did not get any.

Now with the 2020 MacBook Pro M1 the whole architecture of the Chip changed. But that's not all there has also been a change in the way the firmware is protected. There is no firmware pasword possibility anymore.
This means that the data on the computer must somehow have another way of protection. And I think that the protection of finger-print data is so effective, that it can't be reached when you need it.

@Jaansch reports that the id-touch button does not work when he plugs in a USB-device. And this gave the idea that it must be something as I wrote above.

Because it shows that there is some software based protection mechanism that blocks access to the data of the fingerprint to prevent access from a user that simply connects through the thunderbolt/USB port. And it is my guess that this protection contains a bug, or needs to gain better implementation.

@gank41 I really appreciate the way you make me rethink things. But you should please understand that the fact that two things are on the same piece of equipment does not mean that there is a relation between the disfunction of the id-touch and touchbar. There COULD be but my touchbar has no disfunction. It works perfectly fine.

However if I were to put the touchbar into a glass of water, I am sure that the touch-id would also suffer.... But when A then B, does not mean when B then A.
Or to put it in another way:
You cannot simply turn things around. When you go to the doctor with a broken leg, you will suffer from pain. But when you suffer from pain in your leg, it does not automatically mean your leg is broken.

So when you experienced that both touch-id and touchbar where dysfunctional and that this could be resolved with re-installation of BridgeOs on an Intel-Mac , that installation of BridgeOs will resolve a disfunction of the touch-id on a M1-Mac.

I have no idea of my assumptions about a bug in the security software are correct. But I will wait on the 'coming soon' version 11.2 of MacOs.

I have done a re-installation of the whole system last year. And I will do it again if under 11.2 it stays the same.

 

[lemonkid]

After big sur 11.2 I expected improvement. But there was none. So I called Apple support to hear the advice to re-install Big Sur. Which I did but not as drastically as @mi7chy Because I already did that in december.

The support guy told me that Apple was aware of the issue and apparently working to resolve it. But he mentioned it as in a whisper, as if he was not allowed to talk about it.

We will see. Otherwise I may have to sing:

Can I have my money back?
please sir.
Don't like what you're saying,
I just want my money back, money back, money back
please sir.

 

[Fred Zed]

Mine started after doing this now. Will have to read this thread when I get a chance. So far all I’ve done is remove existing fingerprints and added. Note, even adding fingerprints appears to be a choir now .

 

[lemonkid]

I believe I finally solved the problem of, at least, my own touch-id problems.

I tried to re-install Big Sur a few times but it did not resolve the problem. However each time that I completely wiped my HD I could set touch-id up and it would keep working. But the problems came back as soon as I used Migration Assistant.
This led me to believe that some settings etc. that I could not skip from migration, were each time taken from my old MacBook Pro. That did not run Big Sur and was an Intel without T2 chip. Since Big Sur many security settings had changed and on a MacBook Pro M1 there are even security differences in the hardware.

But what went wrong I wondered. Then on the Apple support Forum some users told that their problems went away after deleting Little Snitch. And these problems even stayed away after re-installation of this FireWall module.

When I first set up the M1 computer I was struck by the fact that the FireWall was disabled by default. I thought of that as a serious fault on Apple's side. But now I thought that this might have been on purpose. Maybe my own firewall was blocking the use of touch-id.

So I went to the security and privacy panel in the system settings. I first removed all app's that had full disc acces, I had already disabled them but now I removed them from the list until the list was blank. Then I went to the firewall and disabled it. Then I deleted all my fingerprints.

I closed the system settings and with my cursor I restarted the computer.

After initial start-up the laptop stalled and a program called Recovery Assistant came up. And it started to recover the security settings. I did not do anything it started by itself I have never heard of this app before.

After restoration of the security settings, the app disappeared and the M1 started up as normal.

This morning my touch-id is still working as normal and I am pretty sure that it will keep working. I have enabled the FireWall after giving in new finger prints yesterday. But I did not enable Stealth mode.

 

[gank41]

I believe I finally solved the problem of, at least, my own touch-id problems.

I tried to re-install Big Sur a few times but it did not resolve the problem. However each time that I completely wiped my HD I could set touch-id up and it would keep working. But the problems came back as soon as I used Migration Assistant.
This led me to believe that some settings etc. that I could not skip from migration, were each time taken from my old MacBook Pro. That did not run Big Sur and was an Intel without T2 chip. Since Big Sur many security settings had changed and on a MacBook Pro M1 there are even security differences in the hardware.

But what went wrong I wondered. Then on the Apple support Forum some users told that their problems went away after deleting Little Snitch. And these problems even stayed away after re-installation of this FireWall module.

When I first set up the M1 computer I was struck by the fact that the FireWall was disabled by default. I thought of that as a serious fault on Apple's side. But now I thought that this might have been on purpose. Maybe my own firewall was blocking the use of touch-id.

So I wen to the security and privacy panel in the system settings. I first removed all app's that had full disc acces, I had already disabled them but now I removed them from the list until the list was blank. Then I went to the firewall and disabled it. Then I deleted all my fingerprints.

I closed the system settings and with my cursor I restarted the computer.

After initial start-up the laptop stalled and a program called Recovery Assistant came up. And it started to recover the security settings. I did not do anything it started by itself I have never heard of this app before.

After restoration of the security settings, the app disappeared and the M1 started up as normal.

This morning my touch-id is still working as normal and I am pretty sure that it will keep working. I have enabled the FireWall after giving in new finger prints yesterday. But I did not enable Stealth mode.

Although I am happy that things seem to be working for you, I also restored from a Time Machine Backup on my M1 MBP from a 2015 MBPr 15in (no T2 Chip) and was/am using Little Snitch. I found that just doing a restore (I used Apple Configurator 2 from my old MBP) fixed it for me. I’m also thinking macOS 11.2.3 has something to do with it As I’m still using Little Snitch after reinstalling, and everything is working quite well for me now.

 

[lemonkid]

Although I am happy that things seem to be working for you, I also restored from a Time Machine Backup on my M1 MBP from a 2015 MBPr 15in (no T2 Chip) and was/am using Little Snitch. I found that just doing a restore (I used Apple Configurator 2 from my old MBP) fixed it for me. I’m also thinking macOS 11.2.3 has something to do with it As I’m still using Little Snitch after reinstalling, and everything is working quite well for me now.

Yes that's good to know. I only learned about Configurator 2 after I already sold my old Macbook (late 2013). It had been on Big Sur already, but since the update to Big Sur had soon after been blocked for a while by Apple on that machine, I could not bring it back after deleting the content on it. All I could was go back to the software that the 2013 Macbook came with. And I was so happy with everything on the new M1 that I just could not imagine it could give me problems after a restore with Migration Assistent...
So when I deleted all it's content because all documents were in TimeMachine I was convinced that I would enter The Apple Laptop Heaven afterwards... Little did I know....
So my old MacBook stayed useless for weeks untill finaly Apple allowed it to be equipped with Big Sur. But by then I already neared the date that I promised to sell my old MacBook to a buyer. So I could not even use Configurator. But I will now remember that such a thing can be done.
I am happy that you have no troubles with your MacBook!
Thanks!

Let's enter the happy Apple Laptop Heaven! (And get our cookies for free...... ;-)

 

[MohdZafar]

my touchbar isn't responding

 

[bbmacfl]

I also have an m1 macbook and have been having intermittent problems with touch ID mostly not working. You can't use it for initial log in, but after that it should work for most passwords and waking from sleep. I found only in the past few days that if I rest my hand on the metal body of the macbook, and then put my finger on touch id, it works every time. If I don't have my hand touching the metal on the body of the computer and only touch the touch id, it will not work at all. This kind of makes sense since the iPhones with touch id required that you touch the stainless steel ring for touch ID to work. I haven't found this in any documentation, but it's now working all the time.

 

[manolo.alvarez]

I also have an m1 macbook and have been having intermittent problems with touch ID mostly not working. You can't use it for initial log in, but after that it should work for most passwords and waking from sleep. I found only in the past few days that if I rest my hand on the metal body of the macbook, and then put my finger on touch id, it works every time. If I don't have my hand touching the metal on the body of the computer and only touch the touch id, it will not work at all. This kind of makes sense since the iPhones with touch id required that you touch the stainless steel ring for touch ID to work. I haven't found this in any documentation, but it's now working all the time.

I have the exact same issue. It only happens when my M1 MBA is connected to an external monitor (LG Ultrafine 5k). Resting my hand in the metal of the laptop gets Touch ID to work. I guess this is a Hardware Issue. Did you find anything else? My laptops is only three months old so I guess this is covered by warranty? Thanks!

 

[manolo.alvarez]

Hey guys! I finally figured it out. Believe it or not it was a Neon light in my office that was creating the issue. If the MBA M1 was plugged in to the monitor AND the light was on no Touch ID. Once my light was off everything went back to normal. My light is a neon light.

Hope that helps!

 

[mr_roboto]

Hey guys! I finally figured it out. Believe it or not it was a Neon light in my office that was creating the issue. If the MBA M1 was plugged in to the monitor AND the light was on no Touch ID. Once my light was off everything went back to normal. My light is a neon light.

Hope that helps!

This makes sense - neon light power supplies can emit a lot of electromagnetic noise, which may have been interfering with the M1's Touch ID sensor. Is the light on the same power strip or outlet as the monitor?

 

[manolo.alvarez]

This makes sense - neon light power supplies can emit a lot of electromagnetic noise, which may have been interfering with the M1's Touch ID sensor. Is the light on the same power strip or outlet as the monitor?

No! Actually the light is in my home office's roof. It's a house light. Not connected to a strip. Amazing!

 

[krkamath]

I too had similar issue with MacBook Air M1. Touch ID would not sense the finger.

In my case I pulled out the USB-C power cord the touch id would work just fine.

Initially this was quite intermittent then few days ago it was persistent for hours.
Apple support calls lead me to service centre. At the service centre the issue did not occur and Touch ID was working fine (the testing was on battery). On returning home it was fine even when connected to power. At this point I was not sure what the issue was. Finally today when the problem recurred I placed my finger on the sensor nothing happened, while continuing to place my finger on the sensor I pulled out the USB-C power connecter and the touch ID sensed it immediately. I could reproduce this multiple times within span of few minutes.

WIP:
Post this I swapped the 3 pin AC extender cable (from apple) with the original two pin AC plug (directly mounted on the power brick). No issues so far. No logical explanation here. It could be just that I may have to wait for it to recur again. I am yet to isolate this issue. I am using surge protector power strip too.

Since the issue is intermittent and how long it persists also varies. I will have to wait for recurrence and then isolate the surge protector and check. Pray that the issue remains until I switch back and forth and able to get to the root of this.

 

[con500]

I too had similar issue with MacBook Air M1. Touch ID would not sense the finger.

In my case I pulled out the USB-C power cord the touch id would work just fine.

Initially this was quite intermittent then few days ago it was persistent for hours.
Apple support calls lead me to service centre. At the service centre the issue did not occur and Touch ID was working fine (the testing was on battery). On returning home it was fine even when connected to power. At this point I was not sure what the issue was. Finally today when the problem recurred I placed my finger on the sensor nothing happened, while continuing to place my finger on the sensor I pulled out the USB-C power connecter and the touch ID sensed it immediately. I could reproduce this multiple times within span of few minutes.

WIP:
Post this I swapped the 3 pin AC extender cable (from apple) with the original two pin AC plug (directly mounted on the power brick). No issues so far. No logical explanation here. It could be just that I may have to wait for it to recur again. I am yet to isolate this issue. I am using surge protector power strip too.

Since the issue is intermittent and how long it persists also varies. I will have to wait for recurrence and then isolate the surge protector and check. Pray that the issue remains until I switch back and forth and able to get to the root of this.

Thanks. This worked a treat. My USB cable was the culprit. As soon as removed the cable TouchID works as it should. ??

 

[TimmKook]

I have the exact same issue. It only happens when my M1 MBA is connected to an external monitor (LG Ultrafine 5k). Resting my hand in the metal of the laptop gets Touch ID to work. I guess this is a Hardware Issue. Did you find anything else? My laptops is only three months old so I guess this is covered by warranty? Thanks!

Thank you so much, this worked for me too on my 2021 16" MBP... was driving me nuts not being able to use Touch ID while plugged in...

 

[mr_roboto]

Post this I swapped the 3 pin AC extender cable (from apple) with the original two pin AC plug (directly mounted on the power brick). No issues so far. No logical explanation here. It could be just that I may have to wait for it to recur again. I am yet to isolate this issue. I am using surge protector power strip too.

Since both this and disconnecting USB power altogether fixed the issue, I'd say that in some setups you have a ground loop (multiple paths to earth ground with different impedance). Ground loops can create electrical noise which interferes with sensitive things like touch ID sensors or makes audible noise in audio circuits.

(My hypothesis is that swapping from the 3 pin AC extender to the 2 pin plug helped by removing a ground connection and thus broke the ground loop - 3 pin is grounded, 2 pin is not.)

Take a look at all the things that might be electrically connected to the MacBook when you were experiencing this issue. How might they all be connected to the ground of an electrical outlet? Are there multiple outlets involved? Multiple power strips? Generally speaking, you avoid ground loops through practices like making sure that all AC-powered peripherals attached to a computer (and the computer itself) get power directly from the same power strip.