Mac unable to communicate with your Apple Watch

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Level 1

19 points

Mac unable to communicate with your Apple Watch

This seems to be a constant problem. I have been stuck with this many times, but since upgrading to apple watch 9.2 (I have an apple watch 5) nothing seems to fix it. I have tried all the suggestions that I've found on line. Trashing the key chain entries etc. I have disconnected the ethernet, and restarted, re-paired etc. etc. etc. I get the same message every time when I try to turn on "Use your apple watch to unlock your mac". I'm desperate. Is apple ever going to fix this?

Posted on Jan 7, 2023 04:10 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

David East Author

Level 1

19 points

Jan 8, 2023 06:06 PM in response to brbo

My Mac is an iMac Retina 27 inch 2020 running Monterey 12.2.1. My watch was opening it perfectly fine until I updated the watch OS to 9.2. I have been through the steps in the Apple Support list - nothing works.

Thank you,

David

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Answer 2

brbo

Level 8

38,137 points

Jan 8, 2023 10:08 PM in response to David East

If you haven't already:

There's another Mac setting that may be worth checking:

System Preferences > Users & Groups >

Choose "Login-in Options" in the left sidebar, at the bottom.

Could the "Automatic login" there have been accidentally turned off (or have returned to a default off).

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Answer 3

brbo

Level 8

38,137 points

Jan 8, 2023 05:02 PM in response to David East

Hi David East,

Welcome to the Apple (user-to-user) Community.

Wondering which Mac model you are using, and which MacOS version is installed.

ie: We can not tell if there is an incompatibility issue, or not.

This is the up-to-date Apple Support article on the issue:

How to: Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch - Apple Support

All the best :-)

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Answer 4

brbo

Level 8

38,137 points

Jan 8, 2023 06:33 PM in response to David East

Thank you for your reply, and added info., David.

The below should not be necessary, as you have used auto-unlock previously:

Yet in the circumstances, wondering if you also checked your Mac for Auto Unlock :

Eg: System requirements for Continuity on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch – Apple Support

says:

"press and hold the Option key while choosing Apple menu  > System Information. Select Wi-Fi in the sidebar of System Information.

On the right side, look for ”Auto Unlock: Supported.”

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Answer 5

brbo

Level 8

38,137 points

Jan 8, 2023 08:42 PM in response to David East

Thank you David,

Re: my iMac tends to switch to 5G sometimes

So, seems anytime your Mac had switched to 5G then Watch was unable to auto-unlock.

Apple support's info. on wi-fi settings for Mac Monterey may be useful:

Change Wi-Fi settings in Network preferences on Mac – Apple Support

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Answer 6

brbo

Level 8

38,137 points

Jan 8, 2023 10:46 PM in response to David East

Re: I don't know why that changed

You might want to reach out to the Apple Watch Support Team.

There is a "Get Support" link (scroll to the very bottom) on their webpage (link below)

Apple Watch - Official Apple Support

And /or

You may want to send feedback to Apple, to reach the software engineers.

They will likely not reply, yet your feedback will reach those who can make changes.

If others are also experiencing this issue, there may be changes in a future update by those working behind-the-scenes.

Feedback - Watch - Apple

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Answer 7

David East Author

Level 1

19 points

Jan 8, 2023 07:26 PM in response to brbo

Thanks for trying, but no. My router provides two

Wake On Wireless: Supported

AirDrop: Supported

AirDrop Channel: 149

Auto Unlock: Supported

Status: Connected

Current Network Information:

pluto_5G:

PHY Mode: 802.11ac

Channel: 149

Country Code: SG

Network Type: Infrastructure

Security: WPA2 Personal

Still can't get them to talk to each other...

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Answer 8

David East Author

Level 1

19 points

Jan 8, 2023 07:28 PM in response to David East

Sorry - I didn't finish the sentence - my router provides two WiFi networks for some reason. My mac and iPhone can connect to either of them (I call them Pluto and Pluto 5G) but the watch will only see Pluto. I have made sure that all devices are using Pluto, but my iMac tends to switch to 5G sometimes.

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Answer 9

David East Author

Level 1

19 points

Jan 8, 2023 09:27 PM in response to brbo

But no. This is not the case. Sometimes it switches to the 5G by itself, but right now all my devices are set to Pluto and auto unlock is not working. It used to work fine like this, but not any more... I know how to set the correct wireless, but the watch only recognises one of the 2. I don't think the 5G actually is 5G - as far as I can tell it is just what the router calls it.

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Answer 10

David East Author

Level 1

19 points

Jan 8, 2023 10:30 PM in response to brbo

Well that discussion thread was more about the feature not working when it was switched on. But I can't switch it on. I used to be able to but now I can't communicate with the watch.

But also I am not sure I want to have automatic login enabled because that means anyone can start up my mac and get in without entering a password. I have never had this enabled in the past. And in the past I could open my mac with my watch. But what is different from before on the iMac is that previously when I restarted, I would see my name already there. I just had to enter a password. That is what I want. But now I have to enter both name and password. I don't know why that changed.

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Answer 11

brbo

Level 8

38,137 points

Jan 8, 2023 10:17 PM in response to David East

There's a discussion thread from a few months ago, trouble-shooting this issue.

May be there is something there we are not considering:

Unlock Mac with Apple Watch not working - Apple Community

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Answer 12

David East Author

Level 1

19 points

Jan 8, 2023 10:14 PM in response to brbo

I appreciate your patience. But alas no. It was on already. I toggled it off and on again but to no avail. I will try restarting (for the 100th time) but I doubt it will make any difference.

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Mac unable to communicate with your Apple Watch

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