Apple’s latest macOS updates are reportedly causing Wi-Fi connectivity issues for some M1 and M2 MacBook users. The issues center around internet connectivity being slower than expected, leading to drops in video calls and other issues. Some users are also reportedly experiencing complete drops in Wi-Fi connectivity.
M1 and M2 Macs facing Wi-Fi issues for some users
Meter, a company that manages Wi-Fi installations for businesses, recently published a blog post explaining the issue. The company has reportedly seen these issues emerge for its clients, as have other similar wireless vendors. These companies have filed reports with Apple, and it’s a “known issue on Apple’s end.”
“Although these issues can manifest in various ways, the underlying issue is the same: throughput and speeds drop, devices get disconnected randomly, and fail to rejoin the network,” Meter explains.
UCLA IT Services, for instance, has been tracking the problems via its service status dashboard. According to the university’s IT team, the upcoming release of macOS 13.1 (which could be released sometime this week) is expected to include a fix for the problems. UCLA appears to have worked closely with engineers at Apple to test and ultimately resolve this problem.
Apple has promoted the latest macOS Beta to a Release Candidate, addressing the peer-to-peer issue affecting Wi-Fi connectivity for Apple MacBook M1/M2 devices and Apple Mobiles devices. All testing with both the Beta and Release Candidate has been positive and IT Services, Apple, and other campus entities have not been able to reproduce the issue. We will provide another update once we are notified of an official release of macOS 13.1.
Top comment by Abito
I use Moonlight to stream games from my pc to my macbook and this definitely tracks, it's been an issue since Monterey iirc. There's constant microstutter with awdl on, but I haven't had issues with disconnecting. Hopefully this update addresses my issue lol
Apple also advised Meter, UCLA, and other vendors of a temporary fix. The initial problem was seemingly caused by the “Apple Wireless Direct Link” interface, which helps power features like AirDrop and AirPlay:
As an interim solution to improve the WiFi connection, Apple recommends that you turn off AWDL interface (this will disable AirDrop/AirPlay). There are a few ways you can do this — either by using the Terminal application and running a script or through the UI (provided below). We’ve run this intervention with a few customers now that have seen improved WiFi performance as a result.
It’s unclear how widespread these issues actually are. The majority of reports seem to come from users who are connected to Wi-Fi networks managed by enterprise or education teams. Oftentimes, these types of Wi-Fi networks have different security and management controls in place that can sometimes lead to unique problems that don’t affect other users.
Have you noticed these Wi-Fi connectivity issues on your M1 or M2 Mac? Let us know down in the comments.
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