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Touch ID and passwords not working on Big Sur

I upgraded my 2020 MacBook Pro to Big Sur yesterday. Now the touch ID is not working.


Additionally seems apple doesn't think my appleID password is correct on that machine any more. But it still works just fine on all other devices/computers.


I have deleted the fingerprint and tried to set up a new one -- it won't let me -- it asks for password then does nothing.


Appears to be a Big Sur issue. Are others having this problem after upgrading?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Dec 17, 2020 10:45 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 2, 2021 6:40 PM

Hi All --


So I still had this problem and finally had time to talk to Apple and see if they could help out -- and they did. :)


This is what they said I needed to do - hopefully it'll help you too. I needed to resent the SMC (system management controller) - to do this I basically had to (1) shut down computer, (2) press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds or so - you keep pressing the button as computer begins to start up and it'll shut down again, then (3) quick press on power button to restart computer and it has reset what it needed to. Then I was able to go into system preferences | Touch ID and scan a new Touch ID and it was able to accept it and worked just fine.


Good luck. 🤞


This is the link they sent for the details instructions on SMC reset:

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201295

10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 2, 2021 6:40 PM in response to ClairCanberran

Hi All --


So I still had this problem and finally had time to talk to Apple and see if they could help out -- and they did. :)


This is what they said I needed to do - hopefully it'll help you too. I needed to resent the SMC (system management controller) - to do this I basically had to (1) shut down computer, (2) press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds or so - you keep pressing the button as computer begins to start up and it'll shut down again, then (3) quick press on power button to restart computer and it has reset what it needed to. Then I was able to go into system preferences | Touch ID and scan a new Touch ID and it was able to accept it and worked just fine.


Good luck. 🤞


This is the link they sent for the details instructions on SMC reset:

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201295

Touch ID and passwords not working on Big Sur

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