iPhone 16 Hotspot Not Working With iMac 2020

Question

Level 1

8 points

iPhone 16 Hotspot Not Working With iMac 2020

I can connect my iPad Pro to my iPhone 16 using Personal Hotspot, both are OS 26. The iPad gets access to the internet via the iPhone 16's Personal Hotspot.

However I can't connect my iMac OS 26 to my iPhone 16 Personal Hotspot, the WiFi makes the contact and shows as being connected, but data does not flow, unlike the the iPad that works fine,

On the iMac the iPhoneA Hotspot is shown as a hidden network, it is worth noting that on the iPad the Hotspot is not shown as being a "hidden network", below is a screen dump of the iMac WiFi connection.

I've tried just about everything to sort this problem out, all to no avail.

I use terminal with the ping command to verify if there is any data exchange.

iMac 27″, macOS 26.3

Posted on Dec 21, 2025 7:53 AM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,476 points

Dec 21, 2025 10:39 AM in response to DougFo

We don't know what has been installed on the iMac so to help us see if there is a problem such as third party:

Antivirus
Cleaning
Security
VPN
Maintenance

apps that are installed please do the following.

It will help us get a good idea of what is causing your problem if you provide a report of your system, that way we do not have to play 20 questions with you. The report we are requesting does NOT provide any personal information and is extremely safe to use. Please navigate to www.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.

For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community It is helpful to us if you download the report to your Desktop.

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