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User profile for user: Murph Sewall
Murph Sewall Author
User level: Level 1
88 points

Watch cannot unlock MacOS 12.1

Mac OS 12.1, Watch OS 8.3. Apple Watch successfully unlocked my MacBook Pro M1 UNTIL the 12.1 update. Now it will not.. I've restarted the Watch (twice). Restarted the MacBook. Turned the setting in Privacy off and back on (that acts as if it is restoring the setting, but the Watch will still not unlock the Mac).


Yes, Touch-ID does unlock the Mac; so expecting the Watch to do it also may be somewhat redundant, but 1) the Watch is faster, and 2) it's supposed to work.


Have I overlooked something, or must I (we) await a further OS update?

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Dec 17, 2021 5:01 AM

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User profile for user: genieen16
genieen16
User level: Community Specialist

Dec 18, 2021 8:15 AM in response to Murph Sewall

Hey there, Murph Sewall!


Welcome to Apple Support Communities! We understand that you're running into issues with unlocking your Mac with your Apple Watch. We can understand wanting to find out why. We want to help ensure you get pointed in the right direction.


We're glad to see that the Apple Watch and Mac are up-to-date. To verify, is the iPhone also on the latest version of the software? You can verify by going to Settings > General > About > Version. Does the iPhone show iOS 15.2? If not, you'll want to create a backup of your iPhone, then update the software. Here's how:



If all the devices are up-to-date and having the issue, you may want to power off and restart each device to see if this helps to correct the problem. Please also keep in mind that Auto Unlock does not allow you to log into the computer upon a fresh boot, restart, or if the if you've logged out of your User Name prior to the Mac going into Sleep Mode.


We hope this helps!


Kind regards.

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Watch cannot unlock MacOS 12.1

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