I came upon a spare Touch ID keyboard. I just got Command strips and adhered the whole keyboard to the underside of my desk. USB cable is clipped to the desk and goes to my dock. I've got the fingerprint reader right next to my standing desk controls so it's really convenient, and I still get to use my Keychron as my keyboard. The low profile of the Apple keyboard means it doesn't get in the way.
Also every time I need to unlock my Mac or sudo I get to feel like I'm tripping the silent alarm at the bank.
Although to be honest not the worst keyboard I own, but not the best, I probably rate it like a 7/10.
It would be a 5/10 if the Bluetooth wasn’t so magically seamless.
The low profile means I can get by without a wrist pillow.
Found it in a forum post here: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=120964.0
Sometimes it would take a few minutes in the morning before my Mac would even recognize 'hey, there's a watch' (typing in my full password was usually much quicker than waiting for the watch unlock).
Sometimes whatever notification happens that triggers the watch to vibrate and allow the double-squeeze-to-accept action would just... not.
Other times the above notification would pop up about 8-15 seconds after the prompt on the screen.
It was inconsistent enough I got _really_ good at typing my password, since it was normally quicker than waiting on the Apple Watch.
Contrast that with the Touch ID, that's always ready to go.
The main downside is it doesn't always recognize and it takes a few seconds to trigger. I'd love a separate touch id. But absent that the watch is quite useful.
It's tied to your iPhone and Apple account during initial setup.
Each time you put the Apple Watch on, you have to enter your PIN to unlock it. It can only perform automatic unlocking of your Mac and iPhone in this unlocked state.
The watch does automatic wrist detection and it will automatically RE-lock itself as soon as you take it off.
This is reasonably secure for most needs, though of course you can disable all of this automatic unlocking if you want more security. I forget if it's on by default or not. IIRC I had to enable it but I'm not too sure.
As a watch user i will also say that the Bluetooth wake is unreliable enough to make this a poor replacement. Frustrating, even.
I've found the Bluetooth connectivity quite reliable. When it doesn't work, it's because the watch re-locked itself.
It has no concept of “who” you are, only that it got positively authenticated while on a wrist by proximity to your iPhone unlock or a manual correct PIN entry and hasn’t separated from that wrist since.
I’m no Apple salesperson, but, no.
Once you set the watch up, you can throw the phone in a lake, and retain most if not all major features.
Especially the cellular models.
This does require an iPhone though, right?
An achievable bar for people buying Dick Tracy computers.
That seems…ripe for disruption.
Why is nobody selling a cellular standalone watch?
Not enough units to make manufacturing worth it?
Is this a chicken-and-egg problem?
I don’t like the rest of the keyboard. I have a big Keychron on top of the desk, that I use for typing.
A fingerprint reader inside the powerbutton is the way to go IMO, you instantly unlock when u press the power button, you have to actually touch the device to verify and you have no notch.
IIRC just looking at the confirmation if i wanted to buy something in the app store via face id was enough to confirm it.
> IIRC just looking at the confirmation if i wanted to buy something in the app store via face id was enough to confirm it.
Apple themselves are generally good about asking for explicit confirmation, but annoyingly in a way nobody else can replicate: They repurposed double pressing the power button, which is otherwise the Apple Pay secure attention sequence, for exactly one non-Apple-Pay action – buying something in the App Store (or iTunes store etc.)
The most annoying failure case for FaceID for me is using it in bed. I'm a side sleeper so half of my face is mushed into the pillow. I realize how lazy this sounds, but when I'm half asleep... that is exactly when I don't feel like tapping out a PIN or repositioning my head.
A fingerprint reader inside the powerbutton
is the way to go IMO
I love the "reader inside the powerbutton" idea, but... phone cases....
My phone has the fingerprint reader in the power button, all cases just leave the powerbutton open.
All you typically need to do is lift your head up so FaceID can get a clear look... but when I'm sleepy, it's annoying.
Ideally, the phone would just have both... somehow... but this seems technically infeasible so I get it
Step 1 : take the phone off your pocket Step 2 : put it against the terminal while touching (not pressing) the home button. Step 3 : there is no step 3, you already paid because even if the phone wasn’t unlocked the NFC reader automatically unlocked it, opened your default card and validated the payment thanks to your finger being on the reader.
Compared to FaceID, no need to double press a button and to watch your screen waiting for the little animation to finish.
Don’t get me wrong, paying with FaceID totally works and it’s fast. But paying with TouchID wasn’t fast, it was instant and thoughtless.
Touch ID is far, far, far superior to Face ID.
I just want Touch ID to return on iPhones. Oh how I hate, hate, hate Face ID and its inability to read my face without my glasses when I get up in the morning.
Then not wanting to wear a watch and wishing for a better keyboard than the Apple one don't sound outlandish either.
That is probably why. They prefer you to buy an iPhone than to sell you another gadget.
By the way, I like the idea but for some reason it unpairs randomly and I have to go into settings and re-enable it every couple of months. Really annoying.
If you were to guess how many sales (e.g. in units) they'd make every year, what would you guess?
I jest, but probably the $150 sales of the TouchID keyboard would tank as they are displaced by such a device.
That has got to be a joke. It's like they're mocking their customers. I can't stop laughing at the sight of the guy they somehow convinced to model this thing in their promotional photo.
Someone somewhere is taking the mick. I honestly would never be able to see a guy the same way again if I saw him wearing one of these.
It’s not for me either but fashion is as fashion does.
Apple could sell a standalone TouchID sensor and charge $50 or $60 for it.
and yeah, they can kill themselves making the iphone 17 air and a folding phone. but put an existing tech into a laptop? naw. not gonna do it.
Sensing is one thing. Trusting the sensor input and what it unlocks is another.
If you just package this button up, as a USB device, it's no different, if it can be bootstrapped as an input device "to" the secure zone.
But is it annoying enough I'd actually buy one of these hypothetical $50 boxes? IDK.... I've got my two machines on a KVM so I can use my Kinesis keyboard with both of them.
There is no scalable market. They want to control the hardware for quality and margins. They already sell a keyboard with Touch ID included. Mac accessories are far from their focus area.
They don’t because it doesn’t make sense to.
Edit: If you’re downvoting, feel free to say why!
If they sold 1 million of those, it’s not worth it for them. Even 10 million units likely isn’t something they’re interested in, and I doubt they’d see anything close to that.
P.S. Liquid Glass + TouchID approval needed for every Keychain entry == Windows Vista
1. Buy an old A2449 keyboard, ideally one with broken keys or battery but working touch ID. I got mine for $45 shipped. Recent listing example: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=magic+keyboard+a2449&_s...
2. Pry it apart as described in the article (really, there is so much glue) and then use some spare Legos to make an enclosure like this person: https://grepjason.sh/2022/standalone-touch-id-part-2
The standalone Touch ID key button is just under the size of 2x2x1 Lego. I integrated mine into a space diorama set for better vibes: https://imgur.com/a/Im7t9Xb