Password prompt misses to register some characters in MacOS Sequoia 15.2

MacBook Pro, Apple M3 Pro. 18gb, Version 15.3.1 (24D70)

I have been seeing this since 15.2 (Dec 2024). It took me forever to figure out it was eating a character in the password... I thought it was a bad keyboard.

For me, it is a period that it eats, but it is also the first character in the password.

Fully updated, no change. Bought a new Apple Magic keyboard. No help.

When the problem is occurring, it is also reproducible on the built-in keyboard.

Since mine is the first character, I thought to maybe use back-space first, but that was no help. Still had to type the period twice, to login.

Something else I noticed... CMD-CTRL-Q to lock, followed quickly by ESC twice (turns off the display). About half the time, the first ESC sounds an invalid character bleep, 2 more ESC's are accepted and the screen shuts off. If I wait after CMD-CTRL-Q, the ESC-ESC is accepted normally. This could just be the sluggishness, so I will keep an eye on this as well.

I have changed my desktop picture to a static color (just now) and will see. IT DID HELP with the sluggishness I have been seeing. Time will tell.

Hopefully someone at Apple will find a solution.

Paul

Just a suggestion, change your password to something without the problematic key.

I've been on 15.4 for a few days now and no issues. Fingers crossed that they actually did fix it.

Op wrote " Worth noting is that we have zero issues with our keyboards outside of the password prompts! Also, my colleague typically enters his password using the built-in keyboard of his M2 MacBook Air and I do it using a Magic Keyboard (the one before Touch ID) wirelessly connected to my M4 Pro MacBook Pro while in clamshell mode. "

To Test your computer - do you experience this issue when using your Builtin Keyboard ?

Sorry, comparing one user's experience , who is using the builtin keyboard, to you using a Bluetooth Keyboard is akin to comparing apples to oranges

FYI - Using 2 Non Touch Apple Magic Keyboards, one on a M2 Mac Mini and a second M4 Mac Mini and the need to Double Register a singular key to register does not happen here on Sequoia 15.2

Using a M3 MBA, also on Sequoia 15.2 with the Builtin Keyboard - no need to double register 1 or more keys to Register

etresoft wrote:

MrHoffman wrote:

(In recent versions of macOS, Safe Mode doesn't turn off everything that can be added.)

Can you elaborate? This is something that I've suspected for a while...

Yeah, and much like those Google barge naming shenanigans some years ago, it's difficult to search for any technical details related to a macOS "Safe Mode" boot, too.

OSBundleRequired gets involved in determining what needs to be started in Safe Mode and what doesn't, and one of the available settings is for loading keyboard drivers and suchlike, and a (buggy) keyboard driver might just be involved here.

I don't know if this particular info.plist combination can arise in macOS 15 with the kext-related security changes included in recent macOS, and don't immediately have a way to test that.

PS: there may well be other paths. That wouldn't surprise.

I've upgraded to Sequoia 15.3.1 and I still have the issue. Also an additional piece of information: if there are multiple characters impacted, but not used in the password lock screen, the first keystroke into an text field AFTER unlock for the impacted character will not display. This was reproducible in all instances there are multiple keys were impacted. In one instance a "w" was pressed and a small pop-up with a fancy "w"-like character and a 1 underneath it appeared in the text box.

It was kinda hilarious to scroll through different discussions about this issue and come across this one, in which multiple people who share the issue have Swedish keyboards. I believe my computer has the same glitch, and I also happen to have a Swedish keyboard. Does anyone know if the keyboard is confirmed to be the reason behind this? It's very strange that it's a commonality, for sure. ':\

I've found that with my Mac any character (special or not) in "character position one" doesn't seem to echo on the screen, as posted similarly by @ ralph.w on this thread last month. My password doesn't start with a special character but nonetheless the first letter still doesn't show the first time I type it in. It seems any random key has to be clicked in order for the password input box to be activated and able to echo any other keys. Not sure if this last paragraph is just adding info that is already on this somewhat long thread!

A friend of mine repro'd this on a clean mac mini installation. There's definitely a software issue... I can post a video, but I think maybe going to an Apple store to demo IRL might be the only way to potentially escalate.

Feel free to send Apple feedback.

Feedback - macOS - Apple

You stated it only happens 50% of the time. If you are a touch typist, try slowing down the rate that you type in the password.

Is it mathematically possible for a singular key on a built-in keyboard, wired or Bluetooth-connected Apple Keyboard, and various third-party USB keyboards to malfunction simultaneously?

This scenario is so minuscule that it almost defies mathematical calculation. 

Nay - the real issue is somewhere else