Touch ID Does not work period!

JoeJustJoe wrote:

I’m on my third MacBook, first two 2020 mbp, third one Mac book air. The Touch ID in these M1 Macs doesn’t work. There is no real fix for it. I’ve gone round and round with Apple support and the Apple store. The Touch ID doesn’t work. Now my only option is go to the Apple store again and see about exchanging it. They’re not going to even let me exchange it again if it’s not a hardware issue. I’m stuck with a Mac Book air that just doesn’t work. I’ve used macs since 1986 and this is the worst experience I’ve had with a Mac.

For the M1 the best you can do is—a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262 to sort issues

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc.

Login and test. Reboot as normal. Caches get rebuilt automatically.

You can try re-install the macOS—If you experience issues running macOS Big Sur on your M1 MacBook Air, ‌M1‌ MacBook Pro, or ‌M1‌ Mac mini, or you want to start fresh with a new installation of the operating system, you'll need to boot into macOS Recovery, which is done slightly differently on Apple Silicon Macs compared to Intel machines. Use macOS Recovery on a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple ...

It would seem if you had this at the Apple Store, they would have done this for you....

Also Apple's AST (Apple Service Toolkit) on the back bench is much more comprehensive then the user Diagnostic you have available...If it is a hardware issue— there is not much you can do.

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

You can submit your frustrations here—Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback

It works for me and everyone I know. That doesn't mean it works for everybody. Presumably it works for a lot of people, but you're not one of them.

An inability to use Touch ID does not prevent a Mac from working. You ought to know, having used Macs lacking that feature for over thirty years.

Wrks fine on Retina MBA cira 2018 and MBA M1 both running Big Sur 11.4.

From time to time have seen others complaining about the Touch ID just not working. In certain cases, not all, the issue was AV Software installed and other times they had Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster. 

Should any or all of the above not be applicable - please disregard.

You may be one of the few unfortunate humans unable to use Touch ID. My wife is one of them. No matter how many times she enters her fingerprint for setup it never works. Meanwhile I and our oldest son both have our fingerprints in mom’s iPhone and both of us can unlock her phone with ease using Touch ID. We’ve tried getting her fingerprints in our phones and the result is the same. There must something about her skin chemistry that is stymying Touch ID.

Have you tired asking a family member or friend to establish their fingerprints in the MBA M1 as a test?

Hand Cream, Sesame Oil pretty much any thing including Petroleum Jelly but that is for Winter Climates.