There's a perception of macOS that places it at a lower stature than Windows 11, especially when it comes to advanced features. On the surface, recent versions of macOS — like the current macOS Sonoma and upcoming macOS Sequoia — might appear underpowered and basic compared to Windows. That's truer than ever, because Apple is intentionally changing the look and interfaces of its desktop OS to match iOS and iPadOS. However, after many years as a macOS power user, I know that this perception is simply wrong. There are plenty of advanced features available on the best Macs, you just have to know where to find them — many are hidden behind settings menus, folders, or keyboard shortcuts.

Even still, I'm uncovering new macOS features that will be sure to come in handy for other power users and IT professionals. You might not know it, but the operating system has a slew of Wi-Fi management features. From a native Wi-Fi sniffer to a full-blown Wireless Diagnostics app, there's a lot to uncover here. We're going to break down six Wi-Fi management features Apple built right into macOS, and you might just learn something new.

6 Sidecar performance & diagnostic reports

Find out how well Continuity and Universal Control features are working over Wi-Fi

We often hear talk about the Apple ecosystem, and Wi-Fi is crucial to that ecosystem experience. Some of the company's best features, including AirDrop, AirPlay, Universal Control, Sidecar, and Continuity, rely on Wi-Fi for connection and data transmission. If some of those features aren't working properly, and you want to know why, macOS might be able to help. Specifically, there's an option in the Wireless Diagnostics app that can show you how Sidecar — the feature that uses your iPad as an extended or mirrored display for your Mac — is performing.

To get started, open the Wireless Diagnostics app on your Mac. Then, navigate to Window > Sidecar in the menu bar when Wireless Diagnostics is active. A new window will appear called Sidecar Diagnostics, and this will show you critical information about your Sidecar connection, like latency and congestion. This might come in handy, as a poor diagnostic report might prompt you to plug in a USB-C cable between your Mac and iPad, and use a wired connection instead. It's one of the coolest Wi-Fi management tools macOS has, and I'd love to see similar reports about features like AirPlay, Universal Control, and Continuity.

5 Advanced Wi-Fi menu bar module

Pressing one extra key can drastically change what you see in the menu bar

You probably know that there's a Wi-Fi module in the menu bar that gives you quick information and toggles for your wireless connections. However, you may not know that there's a quick way to see a much more advanced view of that same menu. Hover over the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar, but before you click it, hold down the option key. Click the icon while holding down the option key, and you'll see a whole new view of this menu.

There is a lot of information to see, from your network interface (like Wi-Fi or Ethernet) to your MAC address. On the network side of things, you can view your IP, security protocols, channels, and more. It's the first step in finding out more about your Wi-Fi connectivity, and there's a shortcut to launch Wireless Diagnostics straight from this menu bar page. Additionally, you can enable or disable Wi-Fi logging and start a diagnostic report right here.

4 Ipconfig and ifconfig commands

Use the Terminal to find network information and make changes

If you're a macOS power user, or are familiar with the Terminal, you may be familiar with this one. Using the suite of ipconfig and ifconfig commands in the macOS Terminal can uncover a bunch of information about your network connectivity options, from IP addresses to MAC addresses. My favorite way to use this functionality is with the following command:

sudo ifconfig <interface name> ether <MAC address>

This command will replace the MAC address of one of your connectivity interfaces with one of your choosing. For example, using the above template, you would replace interface name with either en0 or en1. If your Mac has Ethernet, the en0 moniker will generally refer to that; if it only has Wi-Fi, then en0 would represent Wi-Fi instead. You can find out by simply entering ifconfig in the Terminal and seeing what interfaces are available. After you've selected the interface, replace MAC address with your new desired MAC address, and your Mac's will be switched.

Why might you want to do this? For me, it's to authorize internet-connected devices that don't have user-interfaces to authenticate connections to secure wireless networks, like WPA3-Enterprise networks. But there are others, and there are many more features available through ipconfig and ifconfig commands in the Terminal. They're a must-have for your macOS networking arsenal.

3 Wireless Diagnostics report

Get advanced, detailed information about your network for diagnostics and troubleshooting

The key part of the Wireless Diagnostics app is the diagnostic reports themselves, which are crucial for troubleshooting. It can identify common problems with your network and monitor it for intermittent connectivity failures, Apple says. The report looks at your entire network and wireless environment settings, and saves all the data in short-term storage on your Mac under /var/tmp. You can start a diagnostic report by option-clicking the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar and selecting Create Diagnostics report. Alternatively, you can launch the Wireless Diagnostics app and follow the on-screen prompts to get started.

The diagnostic report will take a few minutes to complete, but when it's finished, you'll be greeted with a screen like the one above. It'll provide a quick summary of the findings, with the opportunity to learn and take action. Additionally, the full reports and files will be stored in that /var/tmp folder, so you can comb through them in-depth to find what you're looking for.

2 Wi-Fi logging

Log your network activity with a built-in tool

If you want to log traffic and activity on your network, you don't need a separate app or service for that. There's a Wi-Fi logger built right into macOS — you guessed it — built into the Wireless Diagnostics app. However, you don't need to go all the way there to start logging. You can option-click the Wi-Fi module in the macOS menu bar and click Enable Wi-Fi Logging to get started. To manually collect the logs and consolidate everything into a full report, navigate to Wireless Diagnostics > Window > Logs and select Collect logs. The full reports will be saved in that same /var/tmp folder, and you can review the details there.

1 Sniffer

Yes, there's a Wi-Fi sniffer right inside macOS

To round things out, there's a built-in Wi-Fi sniffer in macOS. This tool will let you detect and view Wi-Fi traffic on your network, and it's easy to start using in the Wireless Diagnostics app. Just open the program and go to Window > Sniffer. Then, select the channel and channel width and click Start to begin sniffing. The results will be stored in the /var/tmp folder for these reports, too. Otherwise known as a packet sniffer, a tool like this one can come in handy for Wi-Fi network management, security, and troubleshooting. They can be used for nefarious purposes, though, like hacking or collecting data from networks. Like many tech tools, it's all about how you use it. There are legitimate purposes for Wi-Fi sniffers, and it's nice to see one right in macOS.

Did you know there were this many Wi-Fi management tools in macOS?

There's even more to unpack in the Wireless Diagnostics app, but these are six of the most interesting and useful features available. You might think you need third-party apps to make yourself a Wi-Fi management pro on macOS; however, that isn't the case. There are plenty of built-in tools available, from diagnostic tools, to sniffers, to loggers. Will you need them all the time? Probably not, unless you're an IT professional. But they're always good to know in case you start having issues with your network or your Mac's wireless connectivity.