Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

mac666er

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 7, 2008
240
185
San Francisco, CA
If you have more than one Apple Watch (and macOS Sierra), you can choose which ones unlock your Mac:

1.jpeg
 
Last edited:
For a lot of us the watches don't show up at all
Your Mac needs to be new enough, 2013 or newer I think. That feature requires Bluetooth LE. Also your iCloud account needs to have 2 Factor Authentication turned on.
 
Your Mac needs to be new enough, 2013 or newer I think. That feature requires Bluetooth LE. Also your iCloud account needs to have 2 Factor Authentication turned on.
Ah, dangit. My MBP is from mid-2012. It shows support for Bluetooth LE (and Handoff, if it matters) in System Information, though, and even shows my AW as being a paired device.
 
Your Mac needs to be new enough, 2013 or newer I think. That feature requires Bluetooth LE. Also your iCloud account needs to have 2 Factor Authentication turned on.

I meet all of the above, still nothing shows. Many others have reported the same thing.
 
Your watch has passcode enabled as well?
Yes both of them, neither shows up on the Macs security settings. Even more odd, they did show up when I had two step enabled. After changing to two factor, the watches were no longer there.
 
Yes both of them, neither shows up on the Macs security settings. Even more odd, they did show up when I had two step enabled. After changing to two factor, the watches were no longer there.

You sure you have Two Factor enabled and not Two Step? (There is a difference)

(Not assuming user error, just thinking of possibilities it could be)
 
You sure you have Two Factor enabled and not Two Step? (There is a difference)

(Not assuming user error, just thinking of possibilities it could be)
Fair question of course. In fact I had to disable Two Step and then Enable Two Factor. It was interesting because the screen shot above is what I had with Two Step, when I tried to select a watch it gave me a message saying I needed Two Factor. After enabling Two Factor, the watches no longer appeared on the security page. This is the case on both my Mac Book Pro (Late 2013, Sierra Beta 2) and My iMac (Late 2014, Sierra Beta 2)
 
Fair question of course. In fact I had to disable Two Step and then Enable Two Factor. It was interesting because the screen shot above is what I had with Two Step, when I tried to select a watch it gave me a message saying I needed Two Factor. After enabling Two Factor, the watches no longer appeared on the security page. This is the case on both my Mac Book Pro (Late 2013, Sierra Beta 2) and My iMac (Late 2014, Sierra Beta 2)

Did you reboot everything after switching to Two Factor? Maybe even a watch in-pairing and re-pairing is in order.
 
Did you reboot everything after switching to Two Factor? Maybe even a watch in-pairing and re-pairing is in order.
Rebooting everything didnt help. I suppose un and re pairing is worth a shot. When I can stand doing it! :)
 
Rebooting everything didnt help. I suppose un and re pairing is worth a shot. When I can stand doing it! :)
You could also try logging out and back in to your iCloud account in that Mac. Sometimes solves iCloud related issues.
 
Can you unlock your iMac as well or just MacBook. If yes how does it work on iMac?
 
Does anyone have any information about the Bluetooth version needed? or the Mac version needed? I upgraded an old 2012 Air - and would like to get this to work...

Another idea - has anyone tried using a bluetooth dongle? I have a couple laying around in Raspberry PIs
 
Ok, I give up. Apple will fix it for you.
I turned off 2FA and now the option to use the watch shows up...saying I need to turn on 2FA! In light of the issues some have had with 2FA locking them out of their Apple ID accounts, I think I'll wait on this one.
 
Haven't been able to get the System Preference option to show up on my Late 2013 15" MBP. I saw the build numbers are different between the Beta 2 and PB. Maybe they disabled the feature in Public Beta? Can anyone confirm it works for them on the PB build? I've tried the basics like rebooting all devices and signing out-in of my iCloud account on the Mac. Any suggestions?

Btw, I'm not quite as excited for the feature because I want it to unlock my Mac after the screensaver has locked the screen. Don't want to put my Mac to sleep every time I leave my desk at work.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.