Apple introduced a feature that would hide a user’s permanent MAC address in 2020, but it’s been virtually useless until iOS 17.1 thanks to a now patched vulnerability.
Private Wi-Fi address
When a device connects to a network, it performs a necessary handshake, sharing its unique MAC address. If an entity can access the MAC addresses accessing networks at a large enough scale, they could track users as they move between networks.
Apple’s private Wi-Fi MAC addresses were security theater until iOS 17.1
Apple’s private Wi-Fi MAC addresses were security theater until iOS 17.1