Mechanical Keyboards with TouchID

[apastuszak]

One feature of my MacBook Pro that I really like is TouchID. But to get TouchID on my Mac, I need to buy Apple's chicklet keyboard with TouchID for $200.00.

There's a video on YouTube where a guy bought the Apple keyboard and mounted it under his desk just to get the TouchID sensor.

Does anyone know if a keyboard manufacturer is possibly working on a mechanical keyboard with a TouchID sensor in it?

I really wish Apple would make a standalone TouchID sensor without they keyboard.

[fanf]

Limentic is posting about their mechanical magic keyboard project on GeekHack https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=120964.0

[apastuszak]

That looks interesting. It's a shame you need to cannibalize an Apple keyboard to make this work.

[Muirium]

TouchID is a hardware authentication mechanism, tied to the "secure enclave" on Apple's processors. I’m no engineer so I don't know the jargon, but the heart of it is a private encryption key, paired to your computer. It wouldn't be much of a hardware authenticator if you could just plug in another one and login to whoever's system you liked.

I have a TouchID MacBook Air, but I mostly don't even use that method. Mainly my Watch opens up my Mac for me on wake. Other times, MacOS demands "your password is required to enable TouchID" which locks out both. I have a way around this using Karabiner macros, myself, which work with all keyboards and whenever I want. The only time I have to enter my admin password manually is on boot, when Karabiner isn't running.

Besides, the debounce on that TouchID button really is piss poor. I have like a 33% hit rate, tops, at successfully waking the laptop with it! More often, the Mac will wake and then sleep again within a fraction of a second because buttons are a pioneering new technology, apparently…

[fanf]

I just found an interesting description of how it works on Apple’s site https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/s ... 513daa/web

I usually wake up my Mac by bopping a key, then I have to wait for the external monitor to wake itself up (to avoid messing up the window placement), then I make sure the pointer is not in the magic “lock screens and sleep” corner, then I can put a finger on the touch ID sensor to unlock it (unless it is demanding my password). Buttery smooth user experience!

[Findecanor]

I just found an interesting description of how it works on Apple’s site https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/s ... 513daa/web

The link does not work. I suppose you meant this one.

[fanf]

The link does not work.

I blame Apple for being weird.

[apastuszak]

TouchID is a hardware authentication mechanism, tied to the "secure enclave" on Apple's processors. I’m no engineer so I don't know the jargon, but the heart of it is a private encryption key, paired to your computer. It wouldn't be much of a hardware authenticator if you could just plug in another one and login to whoever's system you liked.

I have a TouchID MacBook Air, but I mostly don't even use that method. Mainly my Watch opens up my Mac for me on wake. Other times, MacOS demands "your password is required to enable TouchID" which locks out both. I have a way around this using Karabiner macros, myself, which work with all keyboards and whenever I want. The only time I have to enter my admin password manually is on boot, when Karabiner isn't running.

Besides, the debounce on that TouchID button really is piss poor. I have like a 33% hit rate, tops, at successfully waking the laptop with it! More often, the Mac will wake and then sleep again within a fraction of a second because buttons are a pioneering new technology, apparently…

Well, you can buy a Magic Keyboard with TouchID and pair it up with your Mac. So, I would think you could buy boards from Apple and insert them in your keyboard if you wanted to.

Snazzy Labs did a video where he tore apart an Apple keyboard, removed the TouchID mechanism from it and shoved it into 3d printed enclosure.

[Muirium]

I don't disagree with you. Encrypted credentials are a bit counterintuitive, though. My layman's understanding is that TouchID is not available to third parties to implement because the hardware itself needs signed by Apple with their private key. It's not like a regular USB keyboard that simply implements an open spec. That module's authentication rights come from secrecy, by design; like all encryption.

Bluetooth's somewhere in between. There is encryption—which is established during device pairing—but all that's being stored is some random key which can be regenerated any time you pair the device. TouchID, meanwhile, works against your own fingerprint. It's not so easy to regenerate a random finger for us humans! And there's the whole trust issue for stored biometrics, too. So TouchID and FaceID use a private encryption system which isn't open.

[apastuszak]

I still hope Apple releases a standalone TouchID sensor. Barring that, Apple could make boards available to third-parties that they could put into their own keyboards.

I like what Snazzy Labs did. And if I could find a cheap used keyboard with TouchID, it might be an interesting project to implement over a weekend.

I agree with his assessment of the Apple keyboard. They break. Prior to my mechanical keyboard days, I had 2 of these things and they both broke.