With macOS Sierra and watchOS 3.0, you can unlock your Mac using your Apple Watch. This is how you can set up your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac. To do this, you need to turn on Apple’s new two-factor authentication.
You need to update your Mac to macOS Sierra and your Apple Watch to watchOS 3.0. Both are free updates. The macOS Sierra update is available on most Macs, but you need a 2013 or newer model to use Apple Watch unlock.
Unlock your Mac or MacBook with Apple Watch.
The watchOS 3.0 update and unlock feature works with Apple Watch, Apple Watch series 1 and Apple Watch series 2.
Once you’ve set this up, you can open your laptop or tap your keyboard to wake your Mac and unlock it.
How to Unlock Your Mac with Apple Watch
After installing all updates, you can turn on this new feature. You need to do this for every Mac you want to unlock.
Unlock my Mac to unlock Apple Watch, .
How to set the option to unlock your Mac with Apple Watch
You need to make sure you have the latest Apple two-factor authentication setup. If you don’t, this screen will ask you to install it. You may need to turn off and set the two-step authentication you are using.
Use the video below to see how you can set this up. It’s important to make sure you have several trusted devices and phone numbers so you don’t lose access to your account.
Once this is set go back and check the box on your Mac. Open the same Security settings on other Macs where you want to use this and open it there too.
The Apple Watch must be unlocked for this to work. Now all you have to do is open the lid of your MacBook and it will automatically unlock. Wake the computer from sleep on a desktop and it will be unlocked.
You will receive a notification on your Watch when unlocked. The notification lags a bit in some cases, but real unlocking your Mac is faster than typing a password.
Remember your password, as you’ll need it to unlock your Mac from time to time. We found that we had to enter the password at least twice to use the feature again. It’s similar to using Touch ID on your iPhone. Sometimes you need to enter a password for it to start working again.
