To communicate with a Wi-Fi network, a device must identify itself to the network using a unique network address called a media access control (MAC) address. If the device always uses the same Wi-Fi MAC address across all networks, network operators and other network observers can more easily relate that address to the device's network activity and location over time. This allows a kind of user tracking or profiling, and it applies to all devices on all Wi-Fi networks.

• Mac Address For Apple Tv
• Apple Mac Address Range

To reduce this privacy risk, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 use a different MAC address for each Wi-Fi network. This unique, static MAC address is your device's private Wi-Fi address for that network only.

Apple Online Store. Apple.com is a convenient place to purchase Apple products and accessories. MAC Address or media access control address is a unique ID assigned to network interface cards (NICs). It is also known as a physical or hardware address. It identifies the hardware manufacturer and is used for network communication between devices in a network segment. MAC Address usually consists of six groups of two hexadecimal digits. Apple Watch Series 6 review: The best new features are the boring ones Come for the blood oxygen sensor, stay for the zippier performance and faster charging. Wollman, 13h ago.

Join Wi-Fi networks with a private address

Using a private Wi-Fi address doesn't affect how you join or use most Wi-Fi networks. Connect to Wi-Fi as you normally do.

• If your Wi-Fi router is configured to notify you whenever a new device joins the network, you will be notified when your device first joins with a private address.
• If a network can't use a private address to provide parental controls or identify your device as authorized to join, you can stop using a private address with that network.
• Rarely, a network might allow you to join with a private address, but won't allow internet access. If that happens, you can stop using a private address with that network.

Turn private address off or on for a network

You can stop or resume using a private address with any network. For better privacy, leave the setting on for all networks that support it.

iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

1. Open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi.
2. Tap the information button next to a network.
3. Tap Private Address. If your device joined the network without using a private address, a privacy warning explains why.
   

Apple Watch

Mac Address For Apple Tv

1. Open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi.
2. Tap the name of the network you joined. If you haven't joined the network yet, swipe left on its name and tap more .
   
3. Tap Private Address.
   

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• If you erase all content and settings from your device, or you use the Reset Network Settings feature, your device will use a different private Wi-Fi address the next time it connects to the Wi-Fi network.

With per-network MAC addresses in iOS 14, will there be user-facing controls to turn this on or off on a network-by-network basis?
Some networks may use DHCP reservations or MAC Access Controls for example and need an unchanging MAC, while for other networks privacy may be the strongly preferred mode for the user.

Apple Mac Address Range

Also, how are the MAC addresses generated? Is a server involved? MAC addresses will change daily for each device-network pairing and need to be unpredictable to network observers, but can't be the same as other devices' current set of MAC addresses.