Apple Now Sells a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, but Can Your Mac Use It?

Apple first launched the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID as a companion piece for the M1 iMac. And after several months of waiting, you can finally buy the Touch ID-equipped keyboard for whatever Mac you’re using today …  so long as that Mac runs on Apple Silicon!

That’s right, the new Magic Keyboard with Touch ID only works with M1 Macs (and future Macs running more advanced Apple Silicon, we assume). Unless there’s a hardware limitation we don’t know about (which is possible), then this restriction seems artificial. Intel MacBooks have supported Touch ID for years using the T2 chip, which is also present in some Intel Mac Minis and iMacs.

Another disappointment here is the lack of color. Well, maybe that’s a relief for some people. Apple is only selling the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID in silver, while models packaged with the new iMac sport red, orange, green, and several other cute color schemes.

Anyway, it’s good to see Apple sell the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID as a standalone product. Let’s just hope that its fingerprint reader isn’t locked to your Mac for all eternity … oh yeah, that’s a problem too. Unfortunately, this is the only product that you can use to add Touch ID to your Mac, so I guess you have to deal with it.