I'm sure this question has been asked somewhere, but I've been unable to quickly find an answer...anybody have this problem that has resolved it?
I’ve been trying to figure it out, and I just got it to work recently. First, make sure everything is updated to is latest update. Then, make sure Iphone Detetion in the Apple Watch passcode settings on your phone is turned off. Then, try restarting the watch, your phone, and your computer. Then try it out. If it still doesn’t work, unpair and repair your Apple Watch and try again. If that doesn’t work, put your phone to airplane mode, and make sure your watch isn’t on airplane mode. Then try. Also try turning handoff on and off on your Mac and phone. If it still doesn’t work, please let me know.
The problem is back, after updating to iOS 10.2, except now the error on my MacBook Pro is "Your Apple Watch must be signed in to iCloud to allow it to unlock your Mac."
Had the same issue after upgrading my iPhone to a 7. The fix was to turn off the "Handoff" function in the watch app. My Mac connected instantly. Thanks to everyone here for posting, help drive me to a solution that worked for me.
I did ALL of the above, and then I changed my lame Mac account password to match my strong iCloud password, and now it works.
Thanks for sharing @tuaregm. It worked. Spot on.
Don't use non-ASCII characters in the macOS account password. My password had Norwegian letters.
This worked - odd enough - it really did.
Good tip, this is what worked for me too.
This worked for me after the second time. Thank you! Such a convoluted way of getting what should be a simple added convenience working. Apple - please get sort this out!
This helped a lot! Thank you!
That fixed me! Thanks JUK!
Nothing else worked, except the 'Disable' and 'Enable' iCloud Keychain on iPhone. Works flawlessly now. Dumb fix, but a fix nonetheless...
Thanks, I turned off/on the handoff on the mbp general settings, and was able to enable the unlock w/ watch setting immediately afterwards.
I tried EVERYTHING else and this one actually did the trick! Thanks!!!
I managed to fixed it by turning off the bluetooth on iPhone (this should make your Watch connect to the cloud) then checked the "Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac"
Yep - changing the password in keychain access worked for me - it had fallen out of sync with my login to the mac and the knock on effect was apple watch login failed. Nice tip, thanks.
Just had this problem after updating to macOS 10.12.4, iOS 10.3 and watchOS 3.2. Toggling handoff off and on on the phone was all it took.
The message "Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch" Keeps appearing when I try to set up my Watch to unlock my MacBook Pro
