How to Verify and Enable TLS Versions on macOS for Network Connection?

Apple's macOS, Safari, and Apple Mail use the current TLS (1.3) and I don't believe there is any means to downgrade that to use a deprecated older version of TLS to accommodate outdated customer security equipment.

Just be aware that both TLS 1.0 & 1.1 are no longer considered secure. Apple added TLS 1.2 support way back with OS X 10.9 Mavericks. I believe all current macOS releases now support TLS 1.3. Your client should be very wary at using a security device that only supports TLS 1.x.

To verify which versions of TLS are supported on a Mac, you have at least two options:

Option #1: Use the openssl command in the Terminal app

• Open Terminal on your Mac.
• Type one of the following commands:
  • For TLSv1: openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -tls1
  • For TLSv1.1: openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -tls1_1
  • For TLSv1.2: openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -tls1_2
  • For TLSv1.3: openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -tls1_3
• If the connection is successful, you will see the last line in the results as: Verify return code: 0 (ok)
• Use <ctrl><C> to exit the command, or just wait for it to exit by itself.
• Enter exit, then press the <enter> key to close the Terminal window.

Option #2: Using a web browser

1. Open your preferred web browser.
2. Navigate to a website like https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html. This site will analyze the connection and report the highest version of TLS that your browser supports.
3. This method reflects the TLS support of your browser rather than the entire operating system, but since browsers use system libraries for TLS, it's a good approximation.

JCtech2025 wrote:

In the example above where it says example.com, I'm guessing I replace that with the ip of the device?

No, it's an actual "placeholder" website that you can test TLS connectivity to ... and, yes, you can certainly substitute the IP address of the device you want to the test. This command is checking to see if the test "site" will allow TLS connectivity between the Mac and the site for each TLS version.

FWIW, I just tested it from my Mac for all versions and it was successful. That Mac is a 2023 M2 Pro Mac mini, running macOS Sonoma 14.4.1.

Also if a version of tis does not work, does that mean there is no way to (enable support) if you will?

If a particular version does not work, that would mean that version is currently not supported. All variations of the command can be found in the MAN.