💻 ⭐ Solution to Not Being Able to Log In on an M1/Apple Silicon Mac with Correct Password (Even After Restart/Shutdown/Etc.)

I understand many may be in a rush to perhaps fulfill deadlines, or are in a panic over not being able to log into their Macintosh machine despite utilizing the correct password, so let me be of immediate aid—here’s the solution, and I’ll give an overview of why this occurs after.

➡️ ✅ At the very top of the login screen, towards the right but to the direct left of the battery and other system icons: Click the keyboard icon ⌨️ > “Other Input Sources” > “🅰 ABC - Extended”—now type your (correct) password.

Also, this keyboard menu may get stuck sometimes or won’t respond, so just move the cursor to and from the menu; i.e., re-hover over the “Other Input Sources” submenu or re-click on that same keyboard icon.

So, after a little trial-and-error at my own M1’s login screen after just experiencing this myself, I discovered the solution. Now, here's why this happens.

❓ The reason? You are, most likely—as I was—using multiple languages as part of your input menu options within your "Keyboard" > "Input Sources" preferences. (And it seems that, currently, switching at least to "U.S." won't realign the layout—hence the above.)

 
✴️ I also, importantly, noticed that, after booting into the Recovery Mode for an Apple Silicon machine and clicking the cog/settings icon labeled “Options” > “Continue,” my correct password is actually accepted on that recovery screen—just not on the login screen. What this means for you is that you are, in fact, typing your password correctly—don't worry. The above just fixes that so it actually works on the login screen, too.
 

ℹ️ Some important notes:

• It seems that, if you return to the login screen only after logging in initially, the input source/locale is—in my case, for example—set to “U.S.,” or whichever your default language is. And it seems that it will now work regardless of whether or not it’s set to “🅰 ABC - Extended” as an input source.
• ❗ One more important anomaly I noticed: actually setting it to “U.S.” or your default language after shutting down or restarting—i.e., in the login screen before you’ve even first logged in—will still not accept your correct password even though it accepts it after the fact (meaning, once again, after you’ve already logged in and choose to return to the login screen). This means it needs to first be set to “🅰 ABC - Extended” in order for you to log in properly, which is why we need this workaround. This is the main issue that everyone is experiencing with this situation, and where things can get caught up, so I wanted to point this out to explain what's actually happening.
• If you were curious or thinking the NVRAM/SMC may have somehow been the issue: there is no way for you, the end user, to actually reset the SMC or NVRAM components of these  Silicon machines as they are managed as part of an automated startup process (which in this case is not actually the issue—but I still wanted to clear this point up, as well, to further dissipate any confusion).
• On an Apple Silicon or M1 Mac/MacBook, ⌘ R or ⌘ ⌥ R (signifying Command + R and Command + Alt + R) on startup will not work/boot into Recovery Mode or Internet Recovery Mode, respectively.
• ✳️ Therefore, the way to do this is instead by shutting down the computer and holding the power/Touch ID button for at least 8 seconds while it is already shut down/after shutting it down or until you see the text which states “Loading startup options…” (at which point you can let go of the button).

So don’t panic—you don’t need to reset your password or wipe your machine clean with a factory reset (especially if you haven’t backed it up externally with a flash drive, external hard drive, or SSD yet).

You don’t need to take the machine to the Apple Store for repair or speak with Apple Support.

And you don’t need to think about buying another machine.

All is well. 🙂

As an aside, I’m also currently thinking of writing (and actively developing whenever I have time aside from my studies) a few different articles—one topic of interest and pertinence to me is the current status of digital art & NFTs + cryptocurrency (such as Ethereum’s Ether or ETH denomination, etc.). Stay tuned for this (and more music, designs, and animations of mine—especially once I finish my final undergrad semester in about a month) in the future.

Thanks.

—K-D