You probably know what an IP address is and how to find it, right? Just type what is my IP address in Google and you’ll see a series of digits and dots.
But what about the MAC address of your computer? How to find it on a Macbook Pro?
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What is MAC address? (vs. IP address)
There are lots of resources on the Internet explaining the two terms and their difference. I found this article most useful and to the point.
Just a note – don’t get confused by the term MAC (short for Media Access Control). It actually has nothing to do with Apple’s Mac computers. Every network device has a unique MAC address, including a Windows PC.
When You May Need to Know Your MAC Address?
There are a number of situations you may have to know your MAC address. For example, you want to get authorized to access certain servers in your company or organization.
For me, the motivation was different. The other day the Internet on my apartment was super slow, I suspected somebody was stealing my network and draining the limited brand-width.
So I went to the router and followed my Internet provider’s instructions to look up devices connected to my line. I did see several devices connected to my Internet router.
But surprisingly, it didn’t show me the names of each device. Instead, all I saw was a series of digits and characters which later I figured out are the MAC (Wi-Fi) addresses. But which one represented my MacBook Pro? I was confused.
It’s not rocket science to find it out!
How to Find MAC Address of a MacBook Pro
Step 1: Click on the Apple logo, and then System Preferences…
Step 2: On System Preferences pane, click Network.
Step 3: now check the Wi-Fi tab on the left panel. And then click the Advanced button.
Step 4: in the new window, go to the Wi-Fi tab, find this line Wi-Fi Address at the bottom. Here we go, the series of characters is your MAC Address (aka, Wi-Fi Address).
Pretty easy, right? Hope you find this quick tip useful. Let me know if you have any further issues.
