AW3 (watchOS7) not auto-unlocking Macs (catalina) anymore

[NervousFish2]

Soon as I updated my Apple Watch 3 to watchOS7, I could no longer auto-unlock my MacBook Pro (2018) or my iMac (2019). Both are running latest versions of catalina.

Was also having the problem on my AW3 that it was no longer mapping runs in the fitness app.

So per recent public advisories, I reinstalled my phone and my watch from scratch. This seems to have solved the mapping issue on my runs, but it is not unlocking the catalina Macs.

Is there a solution to this, or do I just have to wait for Big Sur?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[glenthompson]

Did you try turning off that option in System Preferences then turning it back on? The updates may have made something look different to the Mac.

 

[Alicia1]

Had the same issue with my series 5. I found this online and it seemed to work - shift+Option+BT in menubar->debug->Reset all connected Apple-Devices to factory settings

 

[bobjonesco]

Same problem here. "Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch."

Apple Watch SE. I reset it, and paired it with a new MacBook Air today (didn't work on my previous MBP either). Tried the suggestion above by Alicia1, also didn't work.

 

[NervousFish2]

Did you try turning off that option in System Preferences then turning it back on? The updates may have made something look different to the Mac.

Thanks. That option is not actually currently on, on either of my systems. I don't remember if it was ever on, since the update, but its not on now.

 

[NervousFish2]

Had the same issue with my series 5. I found this online and it seemed to work - shift+Option+BT in menubar->debug->Reset all connected Apple-Devices to factory settings

Thank you for the suggestion. But it did not appear to work.

 

[NervousFish2]

FYI: just updated to the new WatchOS 7.0.2, and no change in the status of the issue.

 

[Alicia1]

Thank you for the suggestion. But it did not appear to work.

Bugger, worked perfectly for me. Also tried the other method that some people have had luck with but didn't work for me.

Mac unlock not working on watchOS 7

I thought I'd share a few fixes I found because I know someone else has this problem. 1. Open "Keychain Access" 2. In "View", enable "Show Invisible Items" 3. Search for "Auto Unlock" 4. You should see a whole bunch of application passwords for "Auto Unlock: XXXX's ..." 5. Select all records...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[NervousFish2]

Bugger, worked perfectly for me. Also tried the other method that some people have had luck with but didn't work for me.

Mac unlock not working on watchOS 7

I thought I'd share a few fixes I found because I know someone else has this problem. 1. Open "Keychain Access" 2. In "View", enable "Show Invisible Items" 3. Search for "Auto Unlock" 4. You should see a whole bunch of application passwords for "Auto Unlock: XXXX's ..." 5. Select all records...

forums.macrumors.com

Will try this

 

[sixtydashone]

At risk of sounding like a level 1 tech support, can I assume you've rebooted the laptop? Reason I ask is my watch wouldn't unlock my Macbook Pro after I installed watch OS7 on my series 3, but after rebooting the laptop it "just worked".

 

[NervousFish2]

At risk of sounding like a level 1 tech support, can I assume you've rebooted the laptop? Reason I ask is my watch wouldn't unlock my Macbook Pro after I installed watch OS7 on my series 3, but after rebooting the laptop it "just worked".

No worries! I'm down to try everything, honestly. But yes, have tried reboots. Have tried all the stuff on Alicia1's suggested thread at this rate, too. It ain't budging. At this rate, I'm thinking I'll hold off exploring further until Big Sur is out. If the problem persists at that point, I'll take it up with Apple. On Alicia1's thread, there are some ppl saying its a known bug, and apple engineers are working on it.

 

[NervousFish2]

And all of a sudden, it works! No idea why. But I did the stuff at Alicia1's link about 3 hours ago, and it wasn't working. Then went out to do some errands. Came back 3 hours later, and boom.

 

[RPhoto]

I have a S6 that works without problem unlocking my laptop and iMac however I also have a S5 that flat out refuses to work with either. Also I can't get my credit card to connect to Apple Pay, despite it working fine on the S6 also.