'Find my Mac' function's positioning is inaccurate.

Question

Level 1

1 points

'Find my Mac' function's positioning is inaccurate.

I tested out the 'Find my Mac'-function, and the position is a bit off, both my laptop and my iPad shows a different building than the one I am in.

It is off by 40-50 meters, but the green radius marker is bordering my buidling on the laptop, while the iPad is another 10m away from the laptop.

In reality they are both in the same room.

Is there a way to increase the precision, or is this what's to be expected from the function? Furthermore the position changes within a 10 meter radius when I refresh the page.

I do live in what was formely a concrete silo with pretty thick walls, is this perhaps the reason?

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013)

Posted on Nov 29, 2013 3:08 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 29, 2013 6:38 AM in response to Oitou

Welcome to the Apple Community.

Find my Mac is not supposed to work with pinpoint accuracy, 10 meters is about all you can really expect. However, it's also dependant on the reliability of the networks you connect to, so at times 10 meters can't be guaranteed either.

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Answer 2

Oitou Author

Level 1

1 points

Nov 29, 2013 8:51 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Thank you for your reply.
Just to clarify:
The 10 meter radius I was referring to, is the location it changes from when refreshing the page; the 40-50 meter off-position to the actual location of the devices, still applies.

I haven't tried out the find-function before, and, having heard little about it, I was a bit discouraged by the inaccuracy as I thought it would be precise down to the meter. I guess I was asking a bit much, hehe.
Overall it is a great application, and very helpful nonetheless.

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Answer 3

Nov 29, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Oitou

As your Mac does not have GPS and the locating feature works off the known location of nearby WiFI networks (which could extend up to 100m) the location could be off by up to 100m. The more WiFi networks there are around you and the more accurate the stored location of these network is, the more accurate the location of your Mac will be, but it will never be accurate to within a few meters - except by chance...

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Answer 4

Nov 29, 2013 9:08 AM in response to Oitou

The 10 metres I mentioned was my rough estimate, it's not pinpoint accurate as I stated, but there may be an official figure that doesn't exactly match my estimate.

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