I am watching the current series on Mac Security. While I use a password manager to create and use passwords there are probably a couple of places where a random password is difficult to use. Two that quickly comes to mind is the login to the Mac itself and the password manager master password. What options are available in these circumstances?
Remembering long random passwords is unreasonable.
—–
Miles
You should still use a strong password, but keep the length reasonable. 8-11 characters should do it. It may seem awkward to type it when you use it the first time, but soon you'll have it memorized and your brain will treat it like a regular word. You'll be able to type it fairly quickly and remain secure.
Remember these are both two-factor situations. Either you need the two-factor code or physical access to the device. So that makes them more secure than just a plain password.
Having a physical key to your house or car and needing to remember to carry it with you and use it is an inconvenience too. But we are used to it. Having a couple of passwords you need to memorize is similar.
Entering a long password is reasonable if you were doing it a couple of times a day but I'm at home and as our area has people entering homes to get car keys to steal, I always sleep the Mac. If a short time a finger print ok but otherwise I have to type Mac and 1Password and a long random password unreasonable given the brain doesn't work as good as you age.
Our company suggested changing to a phrase (perhaps gibberish) as a strong password. It should be easy to remember and type, but wouldn't be easily guessable. Something like "tacos taste like 2 old leather boots". Testing this on a password estimator indicated 2 trillion years to crack, but complains about the length. Just a thought.
Ray: I'm not a fan of that. The first time you are asked to type that on a small mobile keyboard or using a TV remote you'll see. If you use a password manager you never have to type the password so making it easy to remember or type isn't an issue.