Unlock with Apple Watch

[robertk328]

I've been using MacID but this is a welcome update! Native is better than 3rd party! Yay!

Being able to unlock my MacBook Pro with my watch is a huge time saver. I'm thinking this will be more efficient than MacID.

 

[iOS Gravity]

The fact that it does it automatically, but securely is a big plus for this feature.

 

[eyecrispy]

Yes, very nice feature. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[robertk328]

Yeah I'm excited. MacID works great but hiccups now and then. May be the same this way but who knows. We will see!

 

[eyecrispy]

Yeah I'm excited. MacID works great but hiccups now and then. May be the same this way but who knows. We will see!

I can't get MacID to work right for me, esp the proximity feature. I hope the native functionality works better.

 

[Rob Phillips]

MacID has been spotty for me, at best. I'm excited about native support.

 

[TurboTiger]

I don't understand how  Pay on the Mac with use the fingerprint recognition feature on you iPhone to authenticate the transactions but not be able to use it to unlock the Mac.
Only on the Watch.
Good Luck

 

[robertk328]

I don't understand how  Pay on the Mac with use the fingerprint recognition feature on you iPhone to authenticate the transactions but not be able to use it to unlock the Mac.
Only on the Watch.
Good Luck

MacID can unlock the Mac with either the watch or the phone. You do need to tell your watch to unlock (or ignore) and on the phone the notification pops up asking if you want to unlock. The way I understand the new system is the watch is automatically authenticated (without an additional step) while you wear it without needing to interface with the watch itself.

There are also rumors of TouchID on the new MBP as well, so we'll have to see if they announce phone support at that time as well.

 

[twinlight]

This actually makes me speculate that touchid may not turn up on the new macs. One more reason to get a watch instead.

 

[robertk328]

This actually makes me speculate that touchid may not turn up on the new macs. One more reason to get a watch instead.

Won't be too much longer before we find out

 

[OZsMac]

I've been using TokenLock for years to achieve this kind of functionality. I tried MacID, however the fact the app needs to always be running on iOS (unless I missed something) didn't appeal to me. Whilst TokenLock isn't pretty, it doesn't require any software on your Bluetooth device, so it supports anything that pairs.

If we see a hardware update to Apple Watch that allows for always visibile time and built in GPS, then I'll make a purchase and then get to use this feature.

I've not seen any screen shots or other info on the auto unlock feature, is it currently implemented in the Beta or are we still waiting for this feature to be released in a future beta?

Happy testing everyone.

 

[pappy53]

I have iOS 10, watchOS 3, and macOS Sierra. How do I set up to unlock with the watch?

 

[anon(5217265)]

wondering about this also!

 

[LeoJavi]

I have iOS 10, watchOS 3, and macOS Sierra. How do I set up to unlock with the watch?

Me too! Maybe not available yet?

 

[OZsMac]

Sadly no unlock yet, the following is from the release noes

Functionality not in macOS 10.12 beta
Faces in the Photos app do not sync across your devices.
The ability for your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac is not in this seed.

Here is a link to the release notes, as if you are running Sierra beta, a few other things might be interesting to you (some nasty things might bite you, specifically with contacts+3rd part apps, notes folders re-appearing, SMB changes, VPN changes etc).

http://adcdownload.apple.com/WWDC_2...ease_Notes/macOS_10.12_beta_Release_Notes.pdf

For once I'm actually waiting a bit to see these things cleared up, as to be honest most of the space saving improvements & other features I wouldn't look to use with un-reliable (or more importantly un-supported) beta code. But that decision could change at any moment......because I'm a little crazy like that.

 

[swarlos]

So apparently with beta 2 of Sierra the unlock with Apple Watch feature is now live but where the setting is supposed to be it's not there and this is what I see when searching in system preferences.



This is is what comes up when searching settings and the option isn't there. I have my watch paired to my phone, passcode on my watch, everything signed into the same iCloud account and 2FA setup so I don't get it.

GRR so I guess I didn't see this but you need a MacBook from 2013 or newer to use the Auto Unlock with Apple Watch! That sucks! I have a Mid-2012 MBP