Using Touch ID on Mac had been on my wish list for long. Finally, Apple has introduced this much-awaited feature on new MBP as well to bolster user-experience.
Once you have set up Touch ID on your Mac, you can quickly unlock your Mac, authenticate Apple Pay purchases, make purchases in App and iTunes Stores, unlock certain System Preferences which require a password, easily access the passwords section in Safari preferences, use more convenient user switching and more. To ensure, you are able to get the perfect hold of it, we have made the complete guide. (Check out this post to) Let’s start over!
Set up Touch ID on MacBook Pro 2016 (with Touch Bar)
Step #1. Open System Preferences either from the Dock or Apple menu. Then, you need to click on the Touch ID preference pane.
Step #2. Next, click on “ Add a fingerprint” in order to register a print.
Now, you have to type in your password. Lift and rest your finger accurately on the Touch ID button.
Step #3. Once the fingerprint has been successfully enrolled, you should see a message “ Touch ID is Ready.”
Step #4. Finally, click Done to confirm.
Up next, you have three options to select to use Touch ID for:
- Unlocking your Mac
- Apple Pay
- iTunes & App Store
You can name and save your fingerprint in order to identify it a bit easily. For example, “ Left Thumb.”
Unlock New MacBook Pro with Touch ID
- Your MacBook Pro will ask you to enter account password instead of Touch ID, if you have logged out of your user account, restarted your Mac, enrolled or removed fingerprints.
- In case, the Mac doesn’t recognize your fingerprint five times in a row, you will be asked to enter your passwords. At the same time, if your Mac hasn’t been unlocked in the last 48 hours, you will need to enter your passwords.
- Whenever you start up or restart your Mac, you need to type your password to log in. Then, you can use Touch ID to login whenever you are asked for passwords.
Step #1. Just lift the lid of your new MacBook Pro to turn it on, or simply press Touch ID (power button).
Step #2. Then, press your enrolled finger on Touch ID to login.
Use Touch ID on App and iTunes stores on MacBook Pro 2016
Using Touch ID on App and iTunes stores on new MacBook Pro is as easy as it’s on iPhone and iPad.
Step #1. Launch Mac App Store or iBooks Store app on your Mac, or open iTunes Store in desktop iTunes. Now, select the item you want to buy.
Step #2. Click on the buy button. Next, in the Touch ID prompt, you have to place the finger on the Touch ID sensor to authenticate the purchase.
If you make changes to your enrolled fingerprints, you will be asked to enter the password on your first purchase.
Delete Enrolled Fingerprints on New MacBook Pro
Mac allows you to enroll up to three different fingerprints. You have the option to remove the fingerprint which you no longer want to use.
Step #1. Open System Preferences on your Mac.
Step #2. Now, click on Touch ID. Then, find the saved fingerprint you don’t want to use anymore.
Step #3. Click on “X” button that will appear when you move over the saved fingerprint. Click on Delete to confirm the change.
What’s your take on new MBP? Share your views in the comments below, on
The new MacBook Pro, as we know, has finally received, approximately the same as the iPhone and iPad. The reader is built directly into the laptop's power on/off button, which in turn is located next to the touch panel, right above physical button Delete keyboard.
As the developer himself noted during the ceremonial presentation, using Touch ID the user will be able not only to turn on the laptop itself, but also to log in to Apple Pay, the App Store, as well as in a variety of specific applications like 1Password etc.
However, here we can clarify a little. As of now, Touch ID is mainly supported only by Apple branded applications. What's more, 1Password is actually the only third-party desktop app to support Touch ID. As for Apple's programs, the fingerprint scanner in the MacBook Pro can be used, for example, to open protected entries in the Notes application, view iCloud Keychain in, pay for something in Apple Pay, etc. .
There are at least two ways to enable the Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the 2016 MacBook Pro.
Namely:
- when first turned on
And also, when registering each new account, the system will automatically prompt you to set up Touch ID. The procedure is simple: just like, you need to place your finger on the surface of the scanner several times, slightly changing its position with each touch. After a couple of seconds, the laptop will remember the fingerprint. Actually, nothing more is needed. The only caveat : When you turn it on for the first time, you can only add one finger to the memory.
- through System Settings
When you need to add additional “fingers” or set up Touch ID on your MacBook Pro without having to register a new account, you can always do this in the Touch ID section of the MacBook Pro system settings. Open it and then simply follow the instructions. To add a new fingerprint, click “+”. Along the way, you can also configure the functionality of Touch ID, that is, indicate where it will be used: for logging in, for authorization in Apple Pay and/or.
The main feature of the updated MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar and the built-in Touch ID fingerprint scanner. The usefulness of the first is still in doubt, although this small touch display can be used very coolly, but the appearance of Touch ID on macOS has received unanimous approval from both users and experts.
The fingerprint scanner has long been present on the iPhone and iPad. This technology has significantly simplified authorization in Apple mobile devices and, more importantly, made access to data stored on them as confidential as possible. Even the FBI could not quickly hack an iPhone protected in this way. Touch ID has made it almost pointless to steal Apple equipment. Even if someone else’s tablet or smartphone ends up in the hands of criminals, the only thing they can do with it is sell it for pennies for spare parts. Now MacBooks will be protected in a similar way, which is good news. But how does Touch ID work on macOS compared to mobile devices?
After the presentation, many thought that the Touch ID scanner replaces the classic MacBook switching scheme. This is not entirely true. Yes, the computer does turn on when the user touches the scanner, but, as with mobile devices, the first activation will always require a classic password entry.
The reason is simple, a “mold” of your finger is stored in a special section of the processor called the Secure Enclave.
Secure Enclave is a coprocessor built into an A7 or greater processor new version A-series processor. Secure Enclave uses encrypted memory and includes a hardware random number generator. In addition, Secure Enclave handles all cryptographic operations to manage data security keys and ensures security integrity even in the event of a kernel security breach. Communication between the Secure Enclave and the software processor is limited by mailbox, which is managed by interrupts, and shared data buffers in memory
iOS Security Guide
*in MacBook Pro Secure Enclave is part of the T1 coprocessor
Apple has made the user's fingerprint identification system in such a way that it is stored only locally in this coprocessor. The device itself, Apple, or any third party cannot access this data. Turning off the device leads to the fact that the system cannot match the fingerprint being read with the impression stored in the coprocessor, because it blocks access. This was done to protect the data stored in the Security Guide. Apple has provided several scenarios when the coprocessor “goes to sleep”:
After five incorrect attempts to recognize a fingerprint using the Touch ID scanner
Activation command via Find My Phone
Activating new Touch ID fingerprints
If the device has not been unlocked in the last 48 hours
If you have not used both a password and a fingerprint to unlock your device in the last 6 days and the last 8 hours.
In such cases, the system can only be given access to the Security Guide by entering an authorized password. This is why the new MacBook Pro will still turn on the old way.
However, after the system is convinced that you are you, you can wake up the MacBook Pro simply by placing your finger on Touch ID. Since computers are often used by several users, Apple has implemented instant switching between them using Touch ID. You will no longer need to log out or close one session to start another. It is enough to simply set each required profile with your fingerprint, after which switching between them will occur with a simple touch.
And of course with using Touch ID on MacBook Pro you can make purchases in Safari browser using payment Apple system Pay, as well as log in to various applications. For example, the popular password storage service 1Password today announced a version of its application for macOS that supports Touch ID technology.
If you have a MacBook Pro with Touch ID, then you probably know how to add fingerprints for authentication. But what to do when the saved fingerprint needs to be deleted? You can also delete fingerprints, and today we will tell you how this is done.
Obviously, this only applies to Mac models that support Touch ID, including the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
How to delete a saved fingerprintTouch ID WithMac
- Open System Preferences from the Apple menu and select Touch ID.
- Hover over the fingerprint you want to delete and click on the (X) icon that appears in the corner.
- Enter your password to confirm deletion.
You can delete other fingerprints if necessary. You can even delete all your fingerprints and then add them again, or not use Touch ID on your Mac at all. It may be necessary to remove a fingerprint for various reasons. For example, you can delete saved fingerprints to add them again for better work technologies. Or maybe you hurt your finger and now your fingerprint looks a little different. In any case, this is done very easily.
Additionally, the number of Touch ID fingerprints on a Mac is limited, and sometimes you need to delete an old fingerprint to add a new one.
On at the moment Touch ID support is only available on certain MacBook Pro models with a touch bar, but it may appear on other laptops or computers in the future.
It is worth noting that you can also delete saved Touch ID fingerprints on iPhone and iPad.
Apple's fingerprint scanning technology, Touch ID, is no longer limited to iOS devices. The new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has a Touch ID reader built into the power button, directly above the key Delete.
Using Touch ID, you can do things like approve Apple purchases Pay, unlock your laptop, or unlock important apps like 1Password.
Apps that support Touch ID.
At the moment, the list of applications outside the Apple ecosystem is quite short. Short enough that 1Password seems to be the only third party application of those that support Touch ID. As for Apple apps, you can use Touch ID to view iCloud Keychain in Safari or unlock secure notes in the Notes app, in addition to unlocking your MacBook Pro and using Apple Pay.There are two ways to set up Touch ID on the new MacBook Pro; let's take a look at both.
Initial setup.
During the initial setup of a laptop or adding a new account user, a prompt will be displayed asking you to set up Touch ID.The process is very simple. Place your finger on the reader several times, just as it does on iOS device, change the position of your finger slightly between touches.
In a few seconds everything will be ready. You will not be given the option to add more than one finger during initial setup.
System settings.
If you want to add another finger, or you missed the initial setting, you can always open System Settings and click on Touch ID.Follow the instructions to add your first fingerprint, or click on the "+" sign to add another.
You can then customize how you want to use Touch ID on your MacBook Pro by checking (or unchecking) the checkboxes next to the three options listed: Unlocking Mac, Apple Pay and iTunes and App Store.