iMac knows my wifi password???

[piattj]

I have a couple of MacBooks. Recently took delivery of an M1 iMac. I connected it up, switched on, went through setup, connected to LAN via Ethernet. Finished setup ... all excellent.
I disconnected the Ethernet cable to try connecting wirelessly and the iMac found my WLAN (of course) but then connected without me having to enter the wireless password.
Can someone please explain how it already knew the password? (I have iCloud Keychain set OFF)...
Thanks

 

[coso]

Yeah it gets passed from your other computers even without keychain

 

[piattj]

Yeah it gets passed from your other computers even without keychain

Really? What is the mechanism for that?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Use Migration Assistant at all?

 

[piattj]

Use Migration Assistant at all?

Nope. Fresh install.

 

[coso]

Really? What is the mechanism for that?

Something like Airdrop I think. Noticed the same thing when I changed router. One time it was automatic, another my iPhone asked do you want to share Wi-Fi password with MacBook?

 

[Kiimora]

I can’t recall when last I was prompted for my WiFi password when switching over to new iPhones or iPads. I always restore from backup so it restores everything I guess.

As for the new iMac ( first Mac) it might get picked up via setting up with one of the devices or just logging in with AppleID, I will see what happens when mine arrives.

 

[ivanwi11iams]

The unit validates itself on the 'network' via other Apple computers/devices. Same happened with my Mac Mini...