Apple released iOS 18 in September 2024. It includes many new features to improve user experience, security, and privacy. One of the updates is the introduction of a MAC address rotation strategy. Apple calls this the Private Wi-Fi address. MAC rotation is a feature aiming to boost user privacy on insecure networks. It makes it harder for public networks to track users and their devices by their MAC addresses.
MAC address rotation is a feature introduced by Apple triggering your phone to periodically change the ID with which the network identifies the device. A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a unique ID for network interfaces. It helps devices communicate on a physical network. Historically, every device had a single MAC address. It was used to coordinate network activity and authorization across the network. Starting with iOS 14, Apple created virtual MAC addresses for each network. Android devices soon adopted this feature, too.
In iOS18, however, this rotation happens every two weeks, ensuring the device’s MAC address is not static and thus harder to track. IOS18 takes it further by making the rotation more frequent and seamless. iPhone users have the flexibility to select between three options for their MAC address settings:
It’s worth noting that on secure networks, like those at home or in offices, Apple uses a fixed MAC address for each Wi-Fi network (SSID) you connect to.
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