[patrickmay]

Is the knowledge of which finger to use protected as much as a passcode? Law enforcement might have the authority to physically hold the owner's finger to the device, but it seems that the owner has the right to refuse to disclose which finger is the right one. If law enforcement doesn't guess correctly in a few tries, the device could lock itself and require the passcode.

Another reason to use my dog's nose instead of a fingerprint.

[parl_match]

I really wish Apple would offer a pin option on macos. For this reason, precisely. Either that, or an option to automatically disable touchid after a short amount of time (eg an hour or if my phone doesn't connect to the laptop)

[fpoling]

You can setup a separated account with a long password on MacOS and remove your user account from accounts that can unlock FileVault. Then you can change your account to use a short password. You can also change various settings regarding how long Mac has to sleep before requiring to unlock FileVault.

[xoa]

As another alternative, rather than using Touch ID you can setup a Yubikey or similar hardware key for login to macOS. Then your login does indeed become a PIN with 3 tries before lockout. That plus a complex password is pretty convenient but not biometric. It's what I've done for a long time on my desktop devices.

[1718627440]

I often see people use a "pin" on Windows and I never got it. What is the purpose of a pin makes it different from a password?

[djhn]

Wait, wasn’t touch id phased out together with the intel touch bar macbooks? I’ve never used anything but a long password to unlock.

[Wistar]

On my Macbook Pro, I usually need to use both touch and a password but that might be only when some hours have passed between log ins.

[NetMageSCW]

You can script a time out if desired.

[redeeman]

uhm, are you saying its not possible to require an actual password to unlock osx?

[thecapybara]

There's only ten possible guesses, and most people use their thumb and/or index finger, leaving four much likelier guesses.

Also, IANAL, but I'm pretty sure that if law enforcement has a warrant to seize property from you, they're not obligated to do so immediately the instant they see you - they could have someone follow you and watch to see how you unlock your phone before seizing it.

[z3phyr]

0.1 in itself is a very good odd, and 0.1 * n tries is even more laughable. Also most people have two fingers touchID, which makes this number close to half in reality.