After upgrade to OS 26 Touch ID only works sporadically on 2019 MacBook Pro

This appears to be fixed in Sequoia 15.7.2 and Tahoe 26.1. Checked with my Intel MBP 2019 and Intel MBP 2020.

Worked with 14.8.2 on my 2020 intel MBP 13". That's it. I am sticking with this version.

osiegmar wrote:

I'm having the exact same issue for several years with MacBooks as well as Mac Minis and iMacs. Right now I'm having this issue with my Mac Mini with an M4 Pro chip and my Apple Magic Keyboard USB-C running macOS 26.1.

Very frustrating!

For others, the issue only appeared with the release of MacOS 26.0.1 and was resolved in 26.1. Previously on Sequoia, it was Mac OS 15.7.1 that introduced the bug and was resolved in 15.7.2.

If you have been experiencing the problem for many years across different Macs, you are having a unique problem, maybe due to a third party software conflict. I would suggest to create a new post where your System can be looked at more closely and include the machine details and OS version and concentrate on one device, where it is likely the same solution will apply to the others as well. There are tools like the free EtreCheck report that have been very helpful in resolving issues on a device and that report can be included in your new post. There is no personal information in the report.

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I'm having the exact same issue for several years with MacBooks as well as Mac Minis and iMacs. Right now I'm having this issue with my Mac Mini with an M4 Pro chip and my Apple Magic Keyboard USB-C running macOS 26.1.

Very frustrating!

CreateYourCommunitiesUSRNM23 wrote:

OS 26.1 fixed this issue for me. Worst os transition in the last 25 years, had to do a clean install. Absolutely atrocious. The don't fix things that are not broken department needs more coffee. The smc, p-ram reset twiddle the thingy never ever solves missing qa if anything, this is not how apple products should work and is better done by MS.

No clean install needed on my end for OS 26.1 and the update went smooth as butter while fixing the Touch ID login and noticed better performance with Safari 26.1. Not sure why you are caught up on the don't fix things that aren't broken mantra, as if that were the case you would still be using System 7 on a Mac. The SMC, PRAM resets are no longer a thing in Macs produced for the last 5 years, so that is a sign of improvement and not something that is even recommended as a fix for anything anymore.

OS 26.1 fixed this issue for me. Worst os transition in the last 25 years, had to do a clean install. Absolutely atrocious. The don't fix things that are not broken department needs more coffee. The smc, p-ram reset twiddle the thingy never ever solves missing qa if anything, this is not how apple products should work and is better done by MS.

Update: Just updated to Sonoma 14.8.2. It seems that the Touch Id is working correctly again when unlocking the laptop. Thank you, Apple, for fixing this.

I assume the update for macOS 26 also contains this fix.

Cheers!

Auriam wrote:

It's driving me nuts. I manually delete and re-add three fingerprints, they work for a little while, maybe a day or two, then they completely stop working again. I have an M1 MacBook Air from 2020. It worked fine before I updated - and I wish I could just go back to Sequoia.

Have you not updated to Mac OS 26.1 yet? It has been reported here many times that solves the problem.

It's driving me nuts. I manually delete and re-add three fingerprints, they work for a little while, maybe a day or two, then they completely stop working again. I have an M1 MacBook Air from 2020. It worked fine before I updated - and I wish I could just go back to Sequoia.

I got a new iPad and it has whatever the new thing is so decided to put whatever the new thing is on my 2019 16" Intel MBP ... 26.1 had come out in the meantime and ... Apple seems to have fixed it.

15.7.2 is out, too, for those trying not to play the churn game and hopefully that addresses the issue as well.

I had the same issue but just upgraded to 26.1 and that seems to have fixed the issue.

I just got a new update and as of now it's working fine. So everyone check your updates!!!

This solution works, but is a band-aid. For some of us at least, it works at first, but comes back after a couple of days, sometimes the very next day.

Some bug introduced in macOS Tahoe is corrupting the fingerprint data after a while. It seems tied to the T2 chip and/or Magic Keyboard T2 chip.