Stupid Simple Mac Tip #89 – New Hotness
Working at a smaller firm often means days spent hustling around town: from courthouse to clients to deps and discovery, dashing between spots lacking solid Wi-Fi.
The rise of remote working means even less predictable access. When most offices are closed, suddenly all the world’s a cubicle – so how do you keep your Mac connected?
I was raised to be self-reliant, so instead of depending on strangers’ Wi-Fi, I’m always ready to be my own hotspot and connect my Mac through my iPhone.
I know what you’re thinking: “C’mon Tom – even I know about tethering my Mac to my iPhone– that’s not much of a tip!”
OK, but did you know that Apple’s Instant Hotspot feature allows you to connect devices with one click and no setup or password? And by turning on Auto Hotspot, your Mac will automatically sync to your mobile connection when no familiar Wi-Fi is in range?
Now those are tips!
Apology accepted. 😉
Whenever your iPhone (or cellular iPad) and your Mac are signed into iCloud under the same Apple ID, and both have Wi-Fi & Bluetooth enabled, Instant Hotspot will connect your Mac to the cell signal with a single click on your Wi-Fi status.
Simply select your mobile device as the network; the Wi-Fi symbol 
will display as the Personal Hotspot icon
as long as your Mac remains tethered.
The Catalina iOS introduced an even easier way to stay connected: Auto Hotspot. Enabling this feature (System Preferences>Network>Auto Hotspot,) instructs your Mac to automatically connect to your cell signal whenever it can’t find a known Wi-Fi network – you don’t even need to click!
(NOTE: If you’re not on an unlimited data plan, you may want to set your Auto Hotspot connection to “Ask” instead of “Automatic” to avoid gobbling unnecessary gigs)
It’s that simple — once again, Apple’s cooperative ecosystem makes our lives more efficient.
With Instant/Auto Hotspot functionality, your Mac seamlessly connects to the web wherever your iPhone has bars (so long as you keep out of courthouse basements and never depose a witness in a cave, you should be good-to-go!) 👍
