Apple today unveiled a new, colorful iMac with an Apple-designed M1 chip. That was only part of the story, however, as the company took this opportunity to bring out new Mac accessories. In addition to a Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse with multiple color options, Apple brings Touch ID to desktop Macs with a new Magic Keyboard.
Touch ID on the desktop works as expected. There is a fingerprint sensor on the top right of the keyboard. It replaces the eject button that you find on existing Apple keyboards. You can unlock your computer, pay with Apple Pay, unlock a password manager, and much more.
Interestingly, Touch ID works wirelessly, so you don’t have to connect your keyboard to your Mac with a Lightning cable. A special security component is integrated in the keyboard. It communicates directly with the Secure Enclave in the M1, which means that it only works with modern Mac computers with an M1 chip. It will be interesting to see the security implementation of this new version of Touch ID.
Customers can choose between three keyboard models when purchasing a new iMac. Some iMac models are unlikely to come with Touch ID as standard. You may be able to buy the keyboard separately, but we’ll have to wait for the event to end to find out how much the new keyboard will cost.
Credit: Apple
