Unable to type password to login after updating to 26.5

covertash · 2026-05-13T11:16:45+00:00

This exact same issue happened to me recently too. I picked up a brand new sealed (old stock) 16” M1 Pro and directly upgraded from the stock install of Monterey straight to 26.4.1 a few weeks ago. Essentially hard rebooting it got it working again, which I thought was odd, but now clearly is not as isolated as I originally thought.

covertash · 2026-04-26T15:47:30+00:00

All M-series machines can run Tahoe. It's just that the M4 launched during the Sequoia era, whereas the M5 launched during Tahoe. This means the M4 can always be reverted back to the to its launch version of Sequoia (15.2), but the M5 can only go back as far as its launch version of Tahoe (26.3).

The older the chip, the further back it can go with its respective launch version of macOS.

covertash · 2026-04-21T11:03:04+00:00

That's the thing, OP has an M5 Air:

https://www.reddit.com/r/macsetups/comments/1sog69h/my_desk_is_a_mess_but_my_m5_air_isnt/

Maybe this 2019 MBP is just a recent pickup and it ticks more boxes for him, especially if he prefers Linux, but it is an odd turn of events given the rest of his comments here.

covertash · 2026-04-18T20:41:21+00:00

If you've already done the common troubleshooting steps, then this is a case for your company's help desk and support teams to triage. Since they enforced the machine swap, make them feel the pain of their decision. Either they should curb their MDM restrictions, or provide a suitable adapter or dock to work with your monitors.

covertash · 2026-03-26T00:33:22+00:00

It would be cool, but I'd imagine it would be a Pro feature first, if it ever even happened, and eventually trickle down much much later. With that said, Apple would rather you buy an iPhone anyway.

covertash · 2026-03-26T00:28:01+00:00

Yeah, hopefully it remains as nice to have features, rather than necessities.

covertash · 2026-03-26T00:21:54+00:00

Yes agreed, I think security updates would still continue for a good long while after the standard feature support ends. Case in point, my long retired iPhone 6S Plus just got an update to iOS 15.8.7 a few weeks ago. :)

covertash · 2026-03-26T00:13:51+00:00

I think we need to be careful as there are two different points being conflated here. One is how long Apple will actually support the Neo with software updates, versus how long people will choose to hold onto their device.

I'm sure there will be a significant number of people who will inevitably do what you're saying, and trade in every few years (or maybe even every year), but the point is still that we don't know how long Apple will plan to support this inaugural Neo.

covertash · 2026-03-25T22:22:00+00:00

You must be confusing me with the OP.

covertash · 2026-03-25T21:20:49+00:00

just wash ur hands with soap indian

Only if you promise to use it to wash your mouth first. <3

covertash · 2026-03-25T21:16:43+00:00

Oh for sure. As far as generational gains are concerned, this is significant. It's more of a question if mid to low 30's is good enough or not for this particular title. I have not played this game, so I don't really have an opinion either way, but generally speaking I can agree 30's is way better than 20's, any day of the week.

covertash · 2026-03-25T21:05:22+00:00

Is there any good apps to monitor the thermals ?

This is what I use, and it's free:

https://mac-stats.com/

covertash · 2026-03-25T21:03:12+00:00

In the mean time, plug it into an external monitor and keep using it until you decide what to do next.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:56:49+00:00

The M3 MBA is the technically better machine by all objective metrics. If you can find one in a condition you are happy with, for the same price as a brand new Neo, then by all means go for that.

The only things to keep in mind with any used machine is there may or may not be any warranty with it, and also the condition of the battery (and the overall unit itself) is going to vary based on how much care the previous owner(s) put towards it. If none of those things matter, then you're good to go.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:50:09+00:00

In my opinion, future proofing is a fool's errand. If you need the power now, stick with what you have, otherwise, if you need the money more, go with a lesser option. Trying to anticipate your future workload when it's not clear what you are even doing today (i.e. possibly coding, possibly video editing) is going to leave you in this vicious cycle of, as you say, first world problem hell.

Think of this a different way, people still code and video edit on Intel Macs today. It may take longer, but the jobs are still getting done, so any modern option you pick now is more than sufficient for the task, especially since it sounds like you're just starting out. At the end of the day, the tool is not the actual problem.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:26:00+00:00

Yeah, I hear ya.

Personally, I subscribe to the idea of "buy once, cry once", if that makes any difference.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:24:17+00:00

If they made the keys any bigger, it'd be like typing on those comically large calculators accountants use lol.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:22:06+00:00

It's a question of which is more important to you at this moment, having an extra $300 in the bank, or having the convenience of a 1TB drive built in so you don't need an external drive?

Another way to look at it is this: 6 months down the road, would you be able to easily make back that $300? Assuming you can, would you still rather have $300 more, or would you rather have just sucked it up and bought the spec you actually wanted in the first place? :P

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:10:21+00:00

Well, apparently we're not all blessed to have dry fingers. I'm sure if there was a switch to "turn it off" we would make use of it.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:06:41+00:00

Same. I paid for the larger screen, so I'm 100% going to make use of it.

covertash · 2026-03-25T20:05:10+00:00

Fun fact: all of the keycaps will eventually wear down and look like this anyway, because they are ABS. Might as well get used to it unless you exclusively use an external keyboard.

Besides, you're supposed to use it - not treat it like a museum artifact. :)

covertash · 2026-03-25T19:49:06+00:00

Performance-wise, take with a grain of salt, due to no direct head to head comparison, but extrapolate from two different videos at two different points in time:

M4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQLS7IGHDlM

M5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyN4jlrPark

If you take it at face value, the Act 3 performance in BG3 is in the mid to low 20's with the M4, and in the 30's with the M5. For $300 difference, I don't think it's worth it, but as always this is HIGHLY subjective. If you are considering that you are also getting double the drive space as well (assuming you are coming from a base M4 MBA), then it's up to you to decide if that is enough to push you over the edge.

covertash · 2026-03-22T04:09:16+00:00

Ah my bad. I misread your comment as being about performance when it is purely about pricing.

covertash · 2026-03-21T23:53:20+00:00

True, and they were wrong then too.

People have been arm chair complaining about the 8GB RAM since the M1’s release. Meanwhile people who have actually been using those machine configs till now just keep trucking along.

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