Every Mac includes a password manager service built into macOS by the name of Keychain Access, an app that stores your password and account information, and helps you to reduce the number of passwords that you have to remember when using Apple's default web browser, Safari.
Since it is part of the operating system, the only thing Mac owners need to do is use the computer so long as autofill is enabled – which it is by default. If the user has multiple devices – such as smartphones, tablets and/or other Macs – then the system will enable iCloud Keychain, Apple's cloud-based password management service. The problem with this is that iCloud Keychain only works within the Apple ecosystem, so users with an Android phone or a non-Safari browser won’t benefit from this cross-platform service.
I would need to purchase 2 new licenses, one for me and one for my wife. We both share the same 1Password vault, using Dropbox, on 2 different computers. 1Password 6 still works great even on Catalina and iOS 14. 1Password can even put your passwords on your Apple Watch, if you are a Pro user, and LastPass has an Apple Watch app too. The cross-platform situation is much worse. Apple doesn’t make iCloud. I'm on the Catalina beta and the Safari Extension for 1Password 6 doesn't work (Apple only allows extensions from the App Store starting with Safari 13 - so it's not really AgileBits fault). I chose to migrate to storing everything in iCloud Keychain instead. I understand why companies want to move to the subscription model, but I can't justify. There is an incompatibility between 1Password 7.4 and Royal TSX v.4.2. We have already identified the issue and have created a fix for it. This fix is already included in the latest beta version which was released yesterday! I am using still 1Password 6.2.1 with OS Sierra. I am planning to update to either Mojave or Catalina. Which 1Password version would you recommend me to install, that is Hassle free? I don’t care much about iCloud or Safari (or other browsers) extensions. Thanks in advance!
Password managers complement Apple's built-in service by enabling cross-platform synchronization and giving the user the choice of selecting their preferred web browser while still protecting the data with strong encryption both on the server and while it is in transit. Password management apps also provide better tools to manage your passwords, such as those that help separate work credentials from personal life.
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Top Mac Password Manager Apps
Forgetting passwords can be part of the daily routine thanks to the password management services available for Mac users. This way it’s possible to forget having to use mind trickery to generate and recall unique, strong passwords for any number of online accounts – a feat that only the likes of Superman or Einstein could successfully achieve – since the average internet user can use technology to serve these needs. We've picked three of the best password managers available for the Mac, but you can always check out our review page to read up on all the password managers that have been released for Apple users.
LastPass
Be it Safari, Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox, LastPass has all your passwords covered across any of your favorite browsers. What makes this password manager unique is its focus on web browsers, since it is entirely web-based. After signing up for the service, it will always be there in your default web browser and even translate itself to the default language, which is quite convenient if you aren't a native English speaker.
Folder Organization in LastPass
Password Editing
While it doesn't have a dedicated macOS app, it does still travel everywhere with the user thanks to the iOS and watchOS apps. The passwords, sites, insurance cards, Wi-Fi passwords, or whatever it may be are well organized, providing easy access to them whenever they are needed.
LastPass has three price tiers: the basic package for one user is available for free, and it includes a free 30-day trial of the Premium package, which costs $2 per month for one user. For up to six users, LastPass recommends the Family package for $4 per month, with all plans being billed annually.
Dashlane
With its dedicated macOS and iOS apps, Dashlane has expressed its commitment to serving Apple product owners. Once the password manager is installed, it automatically collects existing credentials and saves the data when creating a new account. The data stored in the secure vault is organized into three categories: Password Manager, where all the passwords and secure notes are saved; Wallet, where financial information goes; and finally Contacts, which contains shared passwords.
Password Analysis and Evaluation
A quick glance at the Security Dashboard reveals those nasty weak passwords, and the Password Changer feature will help users automatically update their poorer passwords to much stronger ones. Dashlane is available as a free service with the unlimited storage of password data and more, but if you need to manage passwords across all your devices and keep them in sync then you should consider the Premium plan for $3.33 per month. Business users get additional features – especially for sharing – at $4 per month, all of which priced at an annual cost.
1Password
A while ago, 1Password was one of the more popular password managers preferred by many security experts due to its support for a locally stored vault. This all changed when the developer, AgileBits, moved to a cloud-based vault, but in spite of this 1Password still continues to be one of the most convenient and secure password managers for Mac.
What may confuse the user at first is its dual-pricing strategy – where there is one price for the standalone app and another for the cross-platform syncing service – but if you are after local vault support then it may be worth paying the hefty price for that macOS app.
Additional Settings in the Password Generator
Syncing With Wi-Fi
The data entrusted with 1Password is organized by the user by selecting any of the default categories, but manually created folders and tags can be used to streamline the retrieval of any specific credential when needed.
1Password does offer a one-month free trial, after which the service costs $2.99 per month for one user, or $4.99 per month for the Family plan, which includes up to five users. For this price you’ll get cross-platform syncing and web access. The standalone Mac app license costs $64.99 and the iOS app is free, but users will need to sync the devices manually.
Password Managers vs Keychain
Apple's own solution for password management is Keychain Access for the Mac, which adds cross-device syncing with the introduction of iCloud Keychain, making it highly convenient for the user to generate and/or save one password on an iOS device and have it automatically recalled on a Mac when needed.
The feature only works with Apple's native web browser, Safari, so if you prefer Firefox or Google Chrome then you are out of luck. Apple also has a native app for storing notes, and if the user encrypts the SSD or HDD of the Mac using FileVault, then he or she will have full protection of their data.
Having access to all that data, however, is not possible, because the user still needs to launch the Safari app to view the passwords and saved credit card data, or the Notes app to view the stored notes. Password management apps, by comparison, store all the data in one place – passwords, secure notes, credit card details, or whatever – all kept in the cloud, encrypted and accessible to the user as soon as he or she types in the master password.
In addition, password manager services are usually available on all major platforms, whether desktop or mobile, so users won't be locked into the Apple ecosystem and can take advantage of other platforms that they might use.
Best Password Managers of 2021
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Mac and iOS Password Manager
Having immediate access to all your passwords on both Mac and iOS devices wasn't easy before cloud-based syncing came into the picture, since users had to type in and save the credentials separately. As cloud-based services such as Dropbox and iCloud became more widespread, password managers like 1Password added these tools into their apps to enable cross-device syncing.
WLAN Server Settings 1Password
Before then each device had its own locally-stored vault, accessible by the user on that specific device only. To share data across their other devices, users had to find a way to sync it effectively. 1Password users did this by either setting up a WLAN server – to ensure the data didn't leave the local network – or by keeping a copy of the standalone vault in a folder. They then had to configure the preferred syncing solution to keep it up-to-date with other Macs or iOS handsets.
This all changed with iCloud Keychain and cloud-based password management services. Fortunately, nowadays all password managers provide secure cross-platform syncing, making it easier to access sensitive data on all used devices.
1password 6 Macos Catalina
Password Security on the Mac
Despite the recent rise in attacks targeting Mac users, macOS still remains one of the most secure operating systems. Still, the security of your Mac depends primarily on how well you secure passwords, especially in certain key areas.
The first level of security is the login or user password, which gives users a certain level of access on the Mac – with administrator users have different privileges than standard user accounts.
With the introduction of biometrics on the Mac, MacBook Pro with Touch Bar users can log in using Touch ID. The same biometric identification is used on iPhone and iPad devices that are equipped with a fingerprint reader while, with the introduction of iPhone X, your own face can be used to unlock the device with Face ID, thanks to the TrueDepth camera system built into the handset.
From the start Apple had high aims for its security goals when considering its cloud-based password management system, but the road to that goal was long and rocky, and it hasn't finished yet – at least as of writing, and perhaps never will.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database notes a handful of security vulnerabilities that iCloud Keychain has faced and Apple has subsequently patched. The most recent iCloud Keychain security flaw allowed man-in-the-middle attackers to bypass an iCloud Keychain secret protection mechanism by leveraging a lack of authentication required for OTR packets. Apple confirmed and patched this flaw with a software update and credited Alex Radocea of Longterm Security, Inc. for discovering it.
In the end, it all comes down to trust, and Apple's communication on the matter emphasizes its efforts to continue to earn the trust of the millions of users the company serves via its mobile platform and macOS. To address potential security vulnerabilities, Apple has launched a bug bounty program, although that still needs some work to make it more attractive to security researchers considering that a zero-day iOS flaw could sell for more than a million dollars.
Best Password Managers of 2021
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As we warned in “Security Update 2020-005 (Mojave and High Sierra),” (28 September 2020), users of macOS 10.14 Mojave who installed Security Update 2020-005 experienced numerous problems, as well-documented by Mr. Macintosh. Issues included large increases in memory usage, slow boots, overall system slowness, the inability to create new users, and more. Further discussion suggested that the problems might have been related to installing Safari 14.0 (released the previous week) before Security Update 2020-005.
On 30 September 2020, Apple pulled the updates for both Safari 14.0 and Security Update 2020-005. Then, late in the day on 1 October 2020, the company released macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update that, in fact, installs only a fixed version of Safari 14.0 and requires a restart. Apple also re-released Security Update 2020-005 with no changes.
Coverage from Mr. Macintosh suggests that the supplemental update fixes all the previous problems.
Precisely what you’ll see in Software Update depends on what you have already installed. Regardless, the practical upshot is that installing Security Update 2020-005 (if available) and macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update will give you both the updated Safari 14.0 and security update code. If you previously installed Safari 14.0, with or without Security Update 2020-005, we recommend installing this supplemental update immediately.
However, if you want to stay on an earlier version of Safari for some reason, you should be able to install Security Update 2020-005. Just don’t install the supplemental update, which will give you Safari 14.0.
We suspect that the new version of Safari 14.0 installed by the supplemental update addresses only the bugs that triggered problems once Security Update 2020-005 was installed. Quite a few people have reported separate troubles with Safari 14.0, and we’re guessing that Safari 14.0.1, now in beta testing, will address those.
Although Apple responded fairly quickly, it’s still a black eye for the company to ship a security update that caused such problems. In Apple’s defense, the situation was unusual, with the problems originating with the separate Safari 14.0 update and being revealed only after the user installed Security Update 2020-005. Nevertheless, we hope Apple is investigating how such major issues slipped through internal testing.
When we write about Apple’s operating system updates, we always try to offer advice about when to install. It’s now clear that we’ll need to make such recommendations for Safari and security updates in the future as well. The specifics may vary with the severity of the fixed vulnerabilities, but in general, we currently suggest that you should wait at least a week before installing updates like these.