Fixing a Touch ID keyboard after upgrading to macOS Sequoia

2024-10-14 | #macos #keyboard | @Acidus

I regularly use 2 Macs: a work laptop, and personal laptop. All my peripherals are pulled into a monitor, and I have a single Thunderbolt cable going into a Mac. Switching between companies is as simple as unplugged the cable from one mac, and plugging it into the other.

Since both computers are usually in clamshell mode, I use a keyboard with Touch ID, plugged into the monitor via a wired USB connection.

After upgrading both machines to macOS Sequoia, I noticed that Touch ID stopped working. More specifically, it was as if the machines didn't even know I had a Touch ID keyboard at all:

• Touch ID wasn't an option for logging in

• Touch ID was not offered when doing a password protected task like installing an app

While there are many articles on the enshitifized web, they were either:

• AI generated garbage

• Pre-dated macOS Sequoia

• Had crazy advice like deleting random plist files

Turns out the actual answer, at least for me, was to power cycle the keyboard:

• 1. Turn off the keyboard power switch on the back corner

• 2. Unplug and replug in the USB cable

• 3. Turn back on on the power switch

I didn't do anything else with the Mac and this worked. I locked the screen, and Touch ID was now an option to unlock it.