Level 1

32 points

Touch ID unlock stops working after five minutes

I updated my 2020 MacBook Air (intel) to Sequoia 15.7 a couple days ago. Before I updated, I could use TouchID to unlock my computer all the time, and it would ask for my password once a day or so. Now, if I let it sleep for only five minutes, TouchID no longer works and I have to type in my password. Can I revert this to how it worked before?

Also, why is there no message on screen explaining this? The computer used to say "you must type in your password to enable TouchID." Now - nothing. I thought my fingerprint sensor was broken or something.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Sep 17, 2025 10:41 AM

Top-ranking reply

James Brickley

Level 5

5,680 points

Posted on Sep 26, 2025 7:39 AM

The last thing I tried, was to shutdown completely with a saved fingerprint which worked previously but ceased. Then boot into Safe Mode. On Apple Silicon you hold the power Touch ID button and then hold shift to click on Macintosh HD and you'll see a Continue in Safe Mode button. On Intel, just hold Shift while powering on. It is normal to have to login twice when entering Safe Mode. Give it about 5min in Safe Mode logged on. Then just restart. Login once to enable Touch ID.

It seems to be working again. Time will tell if sticks or encounters the problem again. It may take a day, two or three to determine if the issue is resolved. If it comes back again, then it's a bug and let's hope it's fixed in 26.1 or soon thereafter.

My thinking is that Safe Mode runs a lot of regular maintenance tasks when it boots. Caches are flushed, etc. Booting into Safe Mode and then just restarting normally; can fix bizarre issues.

I also submitted a bug report via Apple's Feedback. I recommend others submit so it raises awareness at Apple.

These community forums are for Apple customers and the only Apple employees are some moderators. Feedback is not collected on these forums.

View in context

37 replies

den.thed

Level 10

90,088 points

Sep 18, 2025 6:25 AM in response to Robaato72

Sounds like you need to adjust the Computer sleep setting to a longer period to time.

Test with Lock Screen set to 5 minutes and Computer Sleep set to 1 hour.

Sep 21, 2025 9:54 AM in response to leroydouglas

Same experience as others witha 2019 Macbook Pro. I tried everything suggested in your post (reset SMC, etc). There was no change. This is a bug. I routinely need to wait ~20-30 seconds before touchid access is available.

den.thed

Level 10

90,088 points

Sep 21, 2025 11:36 AM in response to muddy250

muddy250 wrote:

Exactly the same issue here on my 2020 MacBook Pro. I noticed that

'Lockscreen>Require Password after screen saver begins or display is turned off" is set to "Immediately" and greyed out so can't be changed?

The default setting for the iPhone Mirroring App is preventing you from changing that setting to Never.

Open the iPhone Mirroring App on your iMac and change the setting to "Ask every time"

Then reset "Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off" back to Never.

Sep 22, 2025 12:39 AM in response to Robaato72

I am having the exact same annoying issue with the finger print sensor taking ages to register the print I am on a 2019 MacBook Pro, its is exactly what everyone is saying above, going through the standard fixes that apple have to read from a script is not working and the finger print registers after ages so the finger print itself is fine. This is a bug in 15.7 update, please fix asap. Posting my message just in case Apple need numbers to show its an actual issue.

jay_v

Level 1

14 points

Sep 23, 2025 2:13 PM in response to Robaato72

Definitely a bug in 15.7. Touch ID really temperamental when trying to unlock. Works just fine for all the other applications. MacBook Pro Late 2018 model.

and yes, tried SMC reset and all the other options I found on the internet. Nothing works :(

Oct 13, 2025 12:19 PM in response to Robaato72

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro 15.4" and since the macOS 15.7.1 update my TouchID has stopped working correctly for login. It works flawlessly for everything once I'm logged in, but in the login process, it takes a dozen or more tries to get it to work. It simply either does nothing, or it causes the screen to flash. But if I keep doing it long enough, eventually it lets me in using TouchID. I am of course not speaking about when you reboot or boot up for the first time, I'm talking about when I have already logged in and closed the lid and then open the lid and try to login using TouchID.

This problem NEVER happened prior to the 15.7.1 update, only started after it, and only is a problem signing into the MacBook. Once I'm signed/logged in, TouchID works perfectly for Passwords, website logins, etc.

I have tried re-installing macOS, and this had zero impact on the problem.

den.thed

Level 10

90,088 points

Sep 22, 2025 7:10 AM in response to jakethemus

To make Apple aware of the problem, send Feedback.

Feedback - MacBook Pro - Apple

Feedback - macOS - Apple

jay_v

Level 1

14 points

Oct 1, 2025 8:18 PM in response to Dwnhillhiker

Yep, no matter what steps you take or how many times you boot in safe mode, the bug still exists in 15.7.1.

MacBook Pro 2018 with Touch Bar.

Robaato72 Author

Level 1

32 points

Sep 18, 2025 5:48 AM in response to leroydouglas

The Touch ID sensor is not broken. It reads my fingerprints fine if it's less than five minutes since the screen locked, or if I'm using it in Photos or Passwords or other applications. It's just that when the machine goes to sleep, if it's been asleep longer than five minutes it will not accept any input from the Touch ID.

Robaato72 Author

Level 1

32 points

Sep 18, 2025 5:54 AM in response to sfells

That doesn't seem to match what I'm seeing...if it's within five minutes of the machine going to sleep, it will have the "Touch ID or Enter Password" prompt. It works fine during those five minutes.

After five minutes the prompt goes away and using the Touch ID does nothing. I'll try waiting longer and see...

muddy250

Level 1

9 points

Sep 20, 2025 6:17 AM in response to Robaato72

Exactly the same issue here on my 2020 MacBook Pro. I noticed that

'Lockscreen>Require Password after screen saver begins or display is turned off" is set to "Immediately" and greyed out so can't be changed?

Sep 25, 2025 8:16 PM in response to Robaato72

I'm sick and tired of having to deal with bugs after an iOS upgrade. Fix it please Apple. At least this is not as as bad as the bug of several years ago, which sent emails to recipients after their email address had been removed. That was very embarrassing when it happened to me. I'm also cheesed off at having to visit a Genius Bar to have these bugs fixed. We are not all software engineers.

Sep 23, 2025 4:51 AM in response to jakethemus

Touch ID no longer works for me either...

[Edited by Moderator]

Sep 24, 2025 8:48 AM in response to mawalker01

Same issue after updating to 15.7, macbook pro 2019.

Sep 26, 2025 2:17 AM in response to Vivek_Support

Yep, MacBook Pro 2019 for me too.

Touch ID unlock stops working after five minutes