'iPhone Not Available' message on MacBook Pro after Sequoia update

I just had a half-hour call with AppleCare Support. Using screen sharing on my Mac mini and iPhone, the friendly Support Advisor checked and toggled numerous settings on both devices. The magic trick turned out to be turning off the System Settings → Network → Firewall setting.

I thanked the Advisor for restoring my ability to make calls from my Mac. He agreed to tell the Apple Developers that I'm uncomfortable leaving my Mac's Firewall off.

SOLVED – I missed the editing window to add a SOLVED flag to the beginning of my Jan 17, 2025 post.

The solution: The magic trick turned out to be turning off the System Settings → Network → Firewall setting.

Ward Clark wrote:

The magic trick turned out to be turning off the System Settings → Network → Firewall setting.

I thanked the Advisor for restoring my ability to make calls from my Mac. He agreed to tell the Apple Developers that I'm uncomfortable leaving my Mac's Firewall off.

The firewall is a feel good user option— with no real benefit

you can read more here

see etresoft post—

Sequoia firewall: unable to edit some ent… - Apple Community

macOS - Security - Apple  macOS - Security - Apple

Apple Platform Security - Apple Apple Platform Security - Apple Support

Protecting against malware in macOS

Protecting against malware in macOS - Apple Support

Effective defenses against malware and other threats… - Apple Community

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

if you are behind a wireless router it has a built-in firewall of it's own.

bramston74 wrote:

Since updating to Sequoia, I have received the message " I Phone Not Available. Your iPhone and Mac must be on the same Wi-Fi network."

I made all the updates and checked all the settings.

iPhone 13 IOS 18.2

MacBook Pro Sequoia 15.2

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

See if there is anything here in this new feature—

iPhone Mirroring: Use your iPhone from your Mac - Apple Support

A possible solution.

I have the Lulu App which acts as a firewall, of sorts. When I disabled Lulu (its icon is on the status menu bar is a shield) as was able to initiate a phone call from my address book - on my Mac Studio not my mirrored iPhone - and the phone was answered and I was able to clearly speak to a human!

I installed the Lulu App because the previous Apple program that was running iCloud Private Relay (I think) disappeared with the update to Sequoia. But I do not know if Sequoia 15.2 has fixed this problem and I do not know if the Lulu App is still required.

Agreed. I tried adding FaceTime to the list of allowed incoming connections and that did not help. Only turning off the firewall allowed me to make a FaceTime call initiated from my computer. Since I'm currently behind a firewall, turning off the firewall on my Mac is an option. However, if I had a laptop I would not want to disable the firewall, so I hope that Apple fixes this issue.

I encountered this "same Wi-Fi network" problem after upgrading my Mac mini M2 Pro from macOS Sonoma 14.7.2 to Sequoia.

I just had my first incoming call while sitting at Mac. The call was announced with a popup in the top-right corner of my screen, and I was able to Accept the call and talk through my Mac Studio Display microphone. Not only that, the caller was able to switch us from a voice call to FaceTime, with video in both directions.

After the call, I attempted to call the VoIP phone on my desk. The call started normally, and I heard the first ring sound, which was cut off by the "iPhone Not Available" error. The phone on my desk did not ring.

I have the same problem. I have reset the modem, reset Wi-Fi on my Mac Studio and iPhone, running Sequoia 15.2 and iOS 18.1.1 respectively. I just went into iPhone Mirroring: Use your iPhone from your Mac - Apple Support and have successfully set up iPhone Mirroring - which is nice. But I still get the same problem. When I initiate a call from my Mac Studio the call dialogue window opens in the top right corner, it rings once and I get the same message:

"iPhone Not Available.

Your iPhone and Mac must be on the same Wi-Fi network."

They are.

This is a major pain as I am used to making calls from my desktop Mac - probably as often as from my iPhone itself. With no response from the Community in nearly 2 weeks is there a way of escalating this problem?

So, interesting tidbit...I just made a call on my iPhone and transferred the sound to my desktop computer. It just can't initiate the call from my desktop. Weird.