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New watch not showing up as option in unlock Mac with watch

I just got a new Apple Watch 8, but it is not unlocking my Mac. When I go to settings, I see my old watch listed (twice for some reason) but not the new one. The new watch does show up on list of devices when I look at the Apple ID section of settings.

Posted on Oct 6, 2022 2:02 PM

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Posted on Oct 9, 2022 9:52 AM

When you restore a new watch from the backup of another watch the new watch get the same name as the old watch. THe name that appears on the Mac is the name assigned to the old watch. Ifd the old watch is still pared to the iPhone then both watches will appear on the Mac with same name.


To change name of watch go to the watch app and go to General>About and and tap on the Name and edit the name. For me it only took seconds for the name to be updated on the Mac.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 9, 2022 9:52 AM in response to karlmosgofian

When you restore a new watch from the backup of another watch the new watch get the same name as the old watch. THe name that appears on the Mac is the name assigned to the old watch. Ifd the old watch is still pared to the iPhone then both watches will appear on the Mac with same name.


To change name of watch go to the watch app and go to General>About and and tap on the Name and edit the name. For me it only took seconds for the name to be updated on the Mac.

Oct 8, 2022 8:59 AM in response to karlmosgofian

Hi karlmosgofian,


We are posting some information from the Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch resource you might find helpful:


If you're having difficulty getting Auto Unlock to work, try these solutions:
In Security & Privacy preferences, deselect ”Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac,” then restart your Mac and turn this setting back on.
Make sure that your Mac isn't using Internet sharing or screen sharing.


If you still have difficulty with the feature we'd recommend reaching out for additional support here: Get Support


Take care.


Oct 9, 2022 12:00 AM in response to lllaass

Thanks confirmed both on same wifi network and restarted. When I set up the watch I said I was replacing an existing watch and told it to pull config from old watch. btw as a test I tried turning on the series 6 watches listed but both failed. Basically if my new series 8 watch would show up on the list, pretty sure I could click it and everything would be fine, not sure why it's not showing up on the list of available watches.

New watch not showing up as option in unlock Mac with watch

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