Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > M1 MBA - Fingerprint Reader Unusable

M1 MBA - Fingerprint Reader Unusable
Thread Tools
ghporter
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 6, 2022, 10:20 AM
 
The fingerprint reader on my wife’s M1 MBA is essentially useless. It will read her print for a short time after she redoes that print, but a few hours later, it rejects all attempts.

The biometric feature was supposed to be a big selling point of this model. I think it should “just work,” like everything Apple. But it doesn’t.

Any tips, hints or guidance on fixing this very frustrating (for both me and my wife) problem would be greatly appreciated.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Online
Reply With Quote
Sep 6, 2022, 01:34 PM
 
AppleCare. There is no reason why it shouldn't be flawless. Fingerprint readers have worked fine on all Macs since 2016.
     
ghporter  (op)
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2022, 10:31 AM
 
Thanks. I wasn’t sure if there was something about software that might be messing things up, or some setting that I didn’t know about.

Is this a Genius Bar issue? I hope so…

We will figure out when, in our copious free time, to get that Genius Bar appointment.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Online
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2022, 12:18 PM
 
perhaps try to set up a different user? But it really doesn't sound like a software issue — the secure enclave isn't software-controlled, anyway.

The machine is all up-to-date?
     
ghporter  (op)
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 8, 2022, 02:35 PM
 
As far as I know it’s up to date.

I have set up another user (me) on that machine, and it usually lets me log in with my fingerprint just once, right after I’ve recorded the fingerprint.

I think I’ll delete all the prints and redo them to see if we just hadn’t captured them well. We’ll make sure we have clean, dry, hydrated hands before we do the new prints.

Related note: fingerprints are dependent on how well hydrated your skin is. If you’re too dry, the prints sort of flatten out. In my professional role, I’d work with patients who thought they had a weak grip because they would drop very smooth things; once I got them to use a good hand lotion, their prints plumped up, and suddenly they didn’t drop stuff.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 8, 2022, 03:49 PM
 
You could also try the old standby: reinstall the OS. That's been known to fix a lot of weird issues that defy diagnostics.
     
ghporter  (op)
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 9, 2022, 10:02 AM
 
I want to go with the simpler, quicker angles first. It seems that there’s a lot of online chatter about Touch ID, including with the M1 Macs. We’re going to thoroughly clean the sensor, delete the current prints, and enroll several fingers for each of us. And we’ll record when we enroll them, as well as if/when which fingers fail.

If the clean/re-enroll thing fixes the issue, at least for a while, I think we’ll be OK with it. But if the machine continues to fail to recognize fingerprints, we’ll have specific data to give Apple. While I’d REALLY like to not have to either reinstall the OS or take it to a Genius Bar (or worse, send it in), my wife deserves a Mac that “just works,” and one way or another we’ll get there.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
ghporter  (op)
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 2, 2023, 04:33 PM
 
I figured I'd tie up the loose ends on this issue. Basically, we just erased all the fingerprints and redid them, and the machine went from catching the finger less than 50% of the time to about 99% of the time.

It seems like sometimes the sensor just doesn't get around to reading the finger until you've had it on the sensor for quite a while. Like a lot longer than our old iPhone 8s ever took. But if you're patient, it "gets around to it" and unlocks stuff.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:29 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,