Mac Mini M4 Wi-Fi CN country code blocks 6GHz band

alek105 wrote:

Update: Found the root cause.

After more investigation, I traced the issue to iMazing — a third-party iOS device management app I had installed. It had modified something at a very deep system level: even after creating a new user account, I was unable to enable Location Services. System Preferences showed Location Services as permanently off with no option to turn it on.

The only fix that worked was a full erase and clean reinstall of macOS. After that, everything — including the Wi-Fi country code — returned to normal (US instead of CN), and 6GHz band is now available.

So if you have iMazing installed (or recently uninstalled it), that may be the culprit. A simple uninstall is not enough — it leaves behind system-level configuration that survives even new user creation.

Hope this helps someone!

You mean this application

https://imazing.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=108127759&gbraid=0AAAAADytgEGHKkpl4_2UlfT0M5xJkTWT2

Highly doubting that application would have changed the Router / Access Point to Broadcast as being in China ( CN )

Normally, the user " YOU " would have to Log Into the Web Interface to the Router / Access Point and fiddle with some Internal Setting of that device ( Router )

Try again

If this computer had been Marketed for the Chinese Market

The Model Number would have had a code something like MU9E3VCH/A at the end

In which case, the Firmware of the computer would be Region Locked

Meaning that even Wiping the Drive and reinstalling from Scratch would not have changed the Wifi Region from China back to USA

First letter is device sales type

MU9E3VC/A of my Canadian M4 Mac Mini purchased Directly from Applet on-line Nov 1, 2024

M >> Brand-new retail unit sold by Apple or authorized retailers.

Other possibilities:

F >> Refurbished unit

N >> Replacement unit (from AppleCare service)

P >> Personalized/engraved device

Middle code: product configuration

MU9E3

This portion identifies the exact hardware configuration of the Mac:

For this specific SKU it corresponds to a configuration like:

M4 chip

10-core CPU / 10-core GPU

16 GB unified memory

512 GB SSD

Apple assigns these codes internally; they change if RAM, storage, or chip variant changes.

Region / distribution code

VC

This is the regional sales identifier.

It indicates the market the device was packaged for (keyboard layout, documentation, regulatory packaging).

Common Apple region suffixes include:

So VC/A generally indicates Canadian distribution (consistent with it being sold by Canadian retailers).

alek105 wrote:

Hi,

My Mac Mini M4 shows CN (China) as Wi-Fi country code, which blocks 6GHz band completely.

Confirmed via terminal:

system_profiler SPAirPortDataType | grep "Country Code"

Returns CN on any network including iPhone hotspot.

What I tried:

Region set to United States

Deleted NetworkInterfaces.plist

Tested on multiple networks and hotspots

Restarted multiple times

macOS: 26.3.1 (Build 25D2128)

Has anyone experienced this? Any fix?

A Wi-Fi router broadcasting with the "CN" (China) country code indicates that its regulatory domain is set to China, which restricts 5GHz channels to 149-165, potentially causing slower speeds or connection issues in other regions.

This often happens because many routers default to CN or are manufactured for that market

Can you edit the router settings?

AFAIR my previous Apple's AirPort Wi-Fi routers could be adjusted to the correct Country Code. But the current TP-Link Deco XE75 uses "Country Code: DE" although I live elsewhere in Europe. AFAIK there is no way to change that but I guess that is only a cosmetic issue because we are using the same Wi-Fi standard as Germany anyway.

alek105 wrote:

Update: Found the root cause.

After more investigation, I traced the issue to iMazing — a third-party iOS device management app I had installed. It had modified something at a very deep system level

What, exactly, led you to suspect iMazing? What evidence was there and where did it lead? What do you believe it modified?

This is to help others who may encounter this thread in the future

It had modified something at a very deep system level: even after creating a new user account, I was unable to enable Location Services. System Preferences showed Location Services as permanently off with no option to turn it on.

I cannot imagine how the application could have changed something "at a very deep system level" in a modern macOS implementation (Tahoe) where the system is locked in a read-only Signed System Volume.

Where are you currently located?