Block Mac (mini) from turning on HotSpot of iPhone 15

TidBITS Talk
1

I have a Mac mini running Sequoia 15.7.4 and an iPhone 15 running iOS 26.5

When I try to backup the iPhone using Imazing on the mac it automatically turns on HotSpot and then can’t use that to do backup and hangs.

I know that there is such an automatic function when both devices are connected to iCloud and the last Tidbits discussion in 2020 says there is no way to block this.

I am hoping that 6 years later there is some way – but I can find on on internet or here.

Help, suggestions, best Plan B, any and all welcome.

Thanks

Bob

2

How are you connecting the iPhone to iMazing on the Mac, USB or WiFi?

Plan A: If the former, put the iPhone in Airplane mode temporarily.

Plan B: If the latter, follow Plan A and use an USB cable.

Plan C: If the above fail, turn off WiFi & Bluetooth on the Mac, ditto on the iPhone, and use an USB cable.

2 Likes
3

Should I assume that the Mac is normally connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi to your broadband router and that the phone’s hotspot is taking over the connection?

If so, go to your Wi-Fi settings (System Settings → Network → Wi-Fi), and scroll to the bottom. Check the values of the “Ask to join networks” and “Ask to join hotspots” options:

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“Ask to join networks” may be one of:

  • Off: The Mac will auto-join known networks, but will ignore all others.
  • Notify: If none of your known networks are available, it will notify you if there are any open networks available, to which you can connect.
  • Ask: If none of your known networks are available, but there is an open networks available, it will ask you to join it.

“Ask to join hotspots” may be one of:

  • Never: If none of your known networks are available, but a hotspot is available, ignore it.
  • Ask to join: If none of your known networks are available, but a hotspot is available, ask to join it.
  • Automatic: If none if your known networks are avaiable, but a hotspot is available, automatically join it.

See also: Use Instant Hotspot to connect to your Personal Hotspot - Apple Support

It sounds like your Mac is configured to automatically join hotspots. What happens if you change that setting to “Never”? Or since you’re running macOS 15 (where these settings are just on/off), what if you turn them off?

Can you use the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar or control center to explicitly join your normal Wi-Fi network after this happens?

If your Mac’s normal network connection is Ethernet, not Wi-Fi, just disable the Wi-Fi interface. If your phone is connected to the same LAN via your Wi-Fi router, you should still have connectivity.

1 Like
4

I hit this too. macOS 26 Tahoe has a new option to “Auto-Join Hotspot”, but what happened to me was that my Mac running Ventura had unexpectedly joined a hotspot created by my iPhone running iOS 18. The iMac had “ask to join hotspots” on.

It should have prompted me before the iPhone started a hotspot and the iMac joined it. I think this is a bug. I had to disable it on the iPhone to keep this from happening again.

And note that /Instant Hotspot/ isn’t new, it is the feature since iOS 8.1 that allows password-less hotspots.

5

Dennic,

Plan A is what is applicable and the suggestion is clear and simple to implement and reverse

Thank you!!

Bob

6

David,

The screen shots you are showing appear to be from Tahoe macOS 26.x

They are not present in Sequoia 15.7.4 (the current version and what I have on my mac).

So it appears it is time for me to upgrade ;-))

Thanks for that key insight,

Best,

Bob

7

Dennis,

Although Airplane Mode on iPhone stopped auto-activation of HotSpot on iPhone, Imazing on the mac still failed to find the iPhone on WiFi even though both were connected to the same network.

There are some new sequoia updates and I am installing them now but I expect I have to go to Tahoe. The Apple support pages imply that now has additional settings to control “Instant Hotspot” and that is what is needed and seems to be missing from Sequoia.

Thanks

Bob

8

Yes. I realized that after I wrote the comment. I later edited it. On macOS 15, these settings are simple on/off settings instead of the three values I showed. Can you just turn them off? That’s how I have my devices configured. I can manually join my personal hotspots by connecting from the Wi-Fi screen