Messages---contact Red on MacBook, Green on iPhone

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Level 1

17 points

Messages---contact Red on MacBook, Green on iPhone

Tried to text a contact from my MacBook today. The contact showed up in Red. All other contacts show up as Green. The text could not be sent. When I hit Return, there was no response of any kind...no messages, nothing. Rebooted, no change.

I went to my iPhone and the same contact was Green and I could text.

What has happened and how do I fix it?

MacBook Air M1

Monterey 12.6.7

16GB RAM 1TB SSD

iPhone SE (1st gen)

16GB

iOS 15.7.7

MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Posted on Jul 12, 2023 7:23 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 12, 2023 10:34 AM in response to mudbucker

This article is for the iPhone, but may help:

What is the difference between iMessage and SMS/MMS? - Apple Support

My understanding:

SMS messages use text message service from your phone company.
MMS messages use text message and cellular data service from your phone company.
SMS and MMS are a "lowest common denominator" between many kinds of cell phones, including Android phones, and even dumb phones (many of which can at least send or receive SMS).
iMessages are enhanced messages, between Apple devices, that travel over the Internet.
Your Mac needs help from your iPhone to send or receive SMS/MMS messages, because it does not have a cellular phone network connection of its own.
Your iPhone prefers to use iMessages when talking to other iPhones, but if either phone is offline, message delivery will fail, and then you'll get the option to retry or to fall back on SMS/MMS.

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Answer 2

mudbucker Author

Level 1

17 points

Jul 12, 2023 11:22 AM in response to mudbucker

I was able to clear the problem by signing out my Apple ID on the Mac then logging back in.

I did look at an Apple support article that suggested doing some things in the iPhone settings but for some reason my SE doesn't have those settings (sigh). The SMS/MMS forwarding settings were already set properly.

So I tried the Apple ID signout as a Hail Mary pass and it worked.

Thanks for the replies.

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Answer 3

Jul 12, 2023 7:58 AM in response to mudbucker

That person apparently does not use iMessages but only SMS messages. If that's the case, you need to connect your phone to your Mac to be able to message them from the Mac. On the iPhone, go to Settings>Messages>Text Message forwarding and select your Mac. Note that both devices must be signed into the same Apple ID.

Messages---contact Red on MacBook, Green on iPhone

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