Apple Watch Ultra not unlocking MacBook Pro

[snerkler]

I’ve just bought the ultra and it’s not unlocking my M1 16” MBP. I’ve gone into settings on my MBP and tried checking and unchecking the box for the Apple Watch to unlock the MBP, I’ve also done this but restarted the computer between each step.

The computer shows as though it’s connected but it never unlocks and I have to use fingerprint ID/password.

Anyone having the same issue and know of a fix please? I’m running OS Monterey.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Make sure your iPhone is unlocked while you are going through the steps.

 

[snerkler]

Make sure your iPhone is unlocked while you are going through the steps.

That appears to have worked, thanks very much 👍🏻

 

[snerkler]

Well it worked for a while not it's stopped unlocking it again 🙄

 

[coolbreeze2]

Well it worked for a while not it's stopped unlocking it again 🙄

I am sorry this is not working for you. Mine works all the time. When strange this happens with my Apple devices I always call Apple if I can't find a solution online. Since the Ultra is new, they will be eager to help. (800) 692-7753‬.

 

[NoBoMac]

Might try these steps.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-cant-find-apple-watch-to-set-up-unlocking.2341728/post-31022086

This issue (and fix) has been around for a number of years now (3+?).

 

[Toratek]

While you seem to have resolved your issue, I would also point out that both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi connection at the same time for unlocking to work properly. Sometimes my Mac is on my 5 ghz connection to my Airport while the watch is on the 2.5 ghz connection to the same router, and it won’t work until I get both devices on the same connection.

 

[snerkler]

I am sorry this is not working for you. Mine works all the time. When strange this happens with my Apple devices I always call Apple if I can't find a solution online. Since the Ultra is new, they will be eager to help. (800) 692-7753‬.

Thanks, I’m in the UK but will find a UK number to give them a call.

Might try these steps.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-cant-find-apple-watch-to-set-up-unlocking.2341728/post-31022086

This issue (and fix) has been around for a number of years now (3+?).

Thanks however that seems to be if you can’t get it to connect/recognise the Watch from the outset and later in the thread someone says it fails again after a short while like mine does. I’ll talk to Apple first but if they can’t help I’ll try this.

While you seem to have resolved your issue, I would also point out that both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi connection at the same time for unlocking to work properly. Sometimes my Mac is on my 5 ghz connection to my Airport while the watch is on the 2.5 ghz connection to the same router, and it won’t work until I get both devices on the same connection.

With my old watch I sometimes got the message that the Wi-Fi signal is too weak to unlock with the watch, would this be due to this issue? With my Ultra it doesn’t even appear to try to unlock, it’s as though the feature isn’t enabled.

How do I know which Wi-Fi band the devices are on?

 

[mzanker]

I'm having a similar problem with my Ultra and my iMac Pro. For a few days I couldn't get the Ultra to unlock the iMac Pro at all. It would say "Unlocking with Apple Watch" but after a couple of seconds it would bring up the password prompt.

I unpaired and re-paired the Ultra and now it unlocks the iMac Pro every time - until I take the Ultra off to charge it. Then it behaves as above - "Unlocking with Apple Watch" followed almost immediately by the password prompt. If I toggle unlocking with the watch in the macOS settings then it works fine again - until I take the watch off.

This is entirely reproducible.

I've also set up the Ultra to unlock my iPhone when wearing a mask and that works every time, even after taking the watch off to charge it, so I'm wondering if it's a macOS Monterey issue rather than an Ultra issue. Incidentally, my previous Series 7 watch worked fine with my iMac Pro.

 

[mzanker]

A bit more testing today. Tried the removal of "auto unlock" and "autounlock" entries from Keychain, along with removing the files as mentioned above but makes no difference.

Also discovered that I don't even need to take the watch off to hit this bug. Simply locking it then unlocking it is enough to stop the iMac Pro unlocking automatically.

 

[mzanker]

This morning the Ultra is unlocking my Mac without any problems, even after taking it off. I've changed nothing since last night and I even forgot to shut down my Mac, so that's not had a reboot. Very strange.

 

[Stefan G]

I have also been having trouble unlocking M1 with my ultra Watch and have tried just about everything,
Strangely though I was just messing with my watch and renamed it from my phone and it has started unlocking the Mac.
Hopefully this may help someone.