IOS – Does iOS 8’s MAC address randomization give the actual MAC address once connected

iosmac address

iOS 8 is now implementing MAC address randomization, where it randomizes your MAC address to networks while searching for networks.

One article describes it as:

One of those features, which is new in iOS 8, is the automatic
randomization of MAC addresses when the device is searching for a
Wi-Fi network. This makes it much more difficult to track a device by
seeing which Wi-Fi networks have spotted its unique identifier.

However, once connected to a network, does it provide the true MAC address of the network card?

Best Answer

It should, but I have found no source that explicitely states it. Apple writes in its iOS Security Guide for September 2014 that

When iOS 8 is not associated with a Wi-Fi network and a device’s processor is asleep, iOS 8 uses a randomized Media Access Control (MAC) address when conducting PNO scans. When iOS 8 is not associated with a Wi-Fi network or a device’s processor is asleep, iOS 8 uses a randomized MAC address when conducting ePNO scans. Because a device's MAC address now changes when it's not connected to a network, it can’t be used to persistently track a device by passive observers of Wi-Fi traffic.

This is of course a bit ambigiuous because it doesn't explicitely describe the behaviour when the iDevice is connecting.

It should be noted that contrary to the statement above, the MAC address randomization currently only works if there is no cellular connection and Location Services are deactivated.

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