apple watch can't open MacBook air M1 (opens iMac)

since updating apple watch 5 and MacBook air M1 will not allow me to set up and get the following message

Your Apple Watch must be signed in to iCloud to allow it to unlock your Mac.

I have checked and all seems fine, watch will unlock iMac no problem

Apple watch 7.6.1

Iphone 12 14.7.1

MacBook Air 11.5.1

Posted on Aug 6, 2021 4:57 AM

Similar questions

Can't Unlock MacBookPro with Apple Watch After Update to 12.6.3 Dear All, Two days ago I ran the MacOs update to 12.6.3 and since then I have been unable to use my Apple Watch to unlock the MacBook. This is a really handy feature. Everytime I check the option of 'Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac', I get the error message 'Your Mac must be signed in to iCloud.' even though my Mac, iPhone and Watch are all signed in using the same AppleID. No other solutions suggest in Internetland have yielded a solution, so I am turning to the smart people of this forum. Any help is appreciated.
2742 2
MacBook Air running latest OS not recognizing that Apple Watch is signed to iCloud. Even though all permissions are in place, and I've triple checked that everything (watch, phone, laptop) are signed in to iCloud, the laptop is not recognizing that watch is signed in so can't activate "unlock with Apple Watch." What am I missing or is it a bug in the latest OS as it was fine before? jboltwv
295 3
Apple Watch Series 8 Doesn't Unlock Macbook Air 15" My series 8 watch (running 10.0.1) will work for awhile unlocking my Macbook Air 15" (running 13.6), but after an overnight of being asleep this feature seems to turn off automatically. When I try to turn it back on in settings, the computer says that the watch needs to be signed in to icloud. But my watch IS signed in to icloud. I've restarted both my watch and my computer to no avail. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.
1078 7

1 reply

golf18 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 6, 2021 5:54 AM in response to golf18

restarted apple watch an dit now works do not know why it took several attempts to resolve

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

apple watch can't open MacBook air M1 (opens iMac)

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more Sign up