Apple Watch not unlocking Mac (resolved)

Brilliant I cannot imagine how/why my watch had defaulted to a different wifi network I reset it and ll is good thanks very much.

I had the same problem but for some reason had the suspicion that my watch might be trying to communicate with other devices. I have an iPad on my desk all the time. I switched the iPad off and then did the sync again. Now all works as intended.

-Paul-

06DEC2024 - Thank you pars33ker! I was having the exact same issue. Your "recipe" worked for me as well. I followed the instructions exactly as written and I am writing this reply to confirm to other readers that your 7-step instructions do indeed work. Guess you can call this confirmation of step 7.

Thanks again and best wishes to others who have or are experiencing this problem.

Tried a number of these steps but then did something else. If like me you have multiple WIFI networks then double check to be sure that both the Mac and Watch are on the same one. Seems simple enough, however sometimes my devices will automatically switch networks when restarting. I checked and the Mac was logged in to a different one. I changed it now to match the watch. Doing this fixed my problem.

I also have multiple wifi networks/ssid's. As you do, I have to make sure everything is on the same net. For autoswitching, I changed some SSID's to remove auto-join since I don't often need to join those nets. That helped but I still experience the problem. Since this was not a problem with my Intel Mac I don't believe this is problem is my AP or other devices. Before I got the M4 Mini it rarely happened. And, all my devices are up to date with the most recent OS releases.

My most recent solution is to toggle off the wifi in the watch and iPhone. Then toggle on iPhone, and after that toggle on watch. Verify they are on same SSID. It has worked for me twice now but I need more fails to be sure this approach is a valid solution. Another time I also toggled wifi off my iMac and toggled it back on first. Not sure if this was necessary. Still experimenting.

Turn off password and watch activation from Settings, Quicken security. Close Quicken. Restart Quicken. Activate password and change it. Close Quicken and restart it. Activate watch setting. Close. It should work. :) Make sure watch activation is on in Mac OS settings, security first.

I have a 2018 Mac Mini and it has never been able to use my Apple Watch (Ultra 2 at this moment in time) to reliably Unlock my Mac. What I do know is that is a collection of strategies work for some and don't work for others regardiing this issue. So for those of you who are still looking for a resolution to this problem, I created a video of what FINALLY worked for me about a month ago and continues to work EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's a incredibly hidden setting. If you watch the video, you'll understand why it took me so long to discover it. https://youtu.be/1rkKNyg-d4U?si=8G-hFiRfsoIQg0M2

Hi,

this worked but only temporarily. When I shut down and then start iMac next time, the Watch doesn't unlock the screen again (even though the settings are unchanged).

Current software macOS Sequoia 15.2

Is there a permanent solution?

Many thanks,

Dee

Make sure your iMac, phone & watch are all on same network. I find my watch (watch is wifi only) is often not on a network at all. Toggle off the wifi in the watch and iPhone. Toggle the iMac wifi off wait a little bit and then on. Then toggle on iPhone, and after that toggle on watch. Verify they are on same SSID. It hasn't failed for me yet. It's only been a few weeks but that is much better than the every few days failure like it used to be.

Sequoia 15.2 on M4 mini, iOS 18.2.1 on 15PM, watch 11.2 on S8.

I have done everything listed here and it's good for one unlock and one unlock only. Touch ID is not a hassle but it's inconsistent that the watch doesn't work each and every time. There is another post on here that puts 2.4Ghz networking in the bullseye as not being fast enough (monitoring "time of flight" between devices, etc) but my router shows my Air as being on a wired connection (which it is not). So I can't even test that theory by toggling off 2.4 or 5Ghz to constrain them to the same network. Hard to believe this hasn't been observed at Infinite Loop…maybe it's like Theory, that famous place where everything works.

Make sure Apple’s setup instructions have been followed:

https://support.apple.com/en-lamr/102442

Make sure your Mac and your Apple Watch are using the same WiFi network

o Apple Watch -> Settings -> Wi-FI -> 2nd item is the WiFi name.

o Mac -> System Settings -> Wi-Fi -> 2nd item is the WiFi name.

Both should be using the same WiFi network

Make sure you have disabled “Log out automatically after inactivity”.

System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Advanced (at the very bottom) -> Log out automatically after inactivity -> disable [_]

I have tried all of that. This may be an artifact of running a single SSID across two different wifi networks but that's not something I care to change. As I mentioned, it works once and then doesn't work again. The only consistently repeatable part of this is turning it on, watching it work, and then watching it fail every other time.

pdb206 wrote:

This may be an artifact of running a single SSID across two different wifi networks but that's not something I care to change. …

Are you extending the first network with the 2nd WiFi router?

If you put the 2nd router into “Bridge” mode, they will have the same sub-net, and devices on each will no longer be isolated from each other. Putting a router into bridge mode is different, depending on the vendor. If there is no explicit bridge mode settings, then see about disabling DHCP and/or NAT routing, which is the other common way to merge the 2 subnets.

If you do not want to bridge your subnets, then at least turn off one of them for testing, and then you will know for sure if this is network related.

It's one network/SSID creating two networks (2.4GHz and 5GHz) with one device. I'll try turning off or other of the networks and see if it makes a difference.

Tried toggling each off in turns and I never got the option to unlock with my watch after locking the screen. It generally will say it's trying to for a moment and then going back to Touch ID/password.

So this is not 100% reliable. Maybe it will be fixed someday.

pdb206 wrote: It's one network/SSID creating two networks (2.4GHz and 5GHz) with one device.

You are saying two networks but unless you have set up different subnets the radio frequency does not make a difference, they are on the same subnet and thus the same network. My access point has both radios working on the same SSID (thus same network) and it works for me. I posted on Jan 13th how I got it working for me and so far, only a bit over 2 weeks, and my watch unlocks every time now. Before it rarely worked on a following day. Not saying my solution works for everyone but it works for me.