OS X Lion Developer Preview 4 Adds 'Find My Mac'

Alongside yesterday's announcements related to OS X Lion, Apple pushed out a fourth developer preview version of the next-generation operation system set to make its public launch next month. Among the new features in this build of Lion is "Find My Mac", a feature similar to the one already in use for iOS devices.

Evidence for Find My Mac functionality in Lion had been building, but the actual service is now finally showing its face. One user has provided screenshots of the system in action, showing first of all how Find My Mac can be enabled in System Preferences, revealing that feature allows users to lock the screen of a lost machine while allowing guest access only to Safari in order to help facilitate recovery of the machine.

find my mac dialog

The user also reveals how his MacBook Air could be located using the Find My iPhone app on his iPhone, offering the option to simply to play a sound or send a message to whoever may have found the machine or remotely lock or even wipe the machine.

find my mac found

And finally, the user shows what happens to a machine once remote lock has been initiated, displaying a gray screen with boxes to input the security code to unlock the machine.

find my mac lock screen
OS X Lion is set to debut sometime next month as a Mac App Store exclusive priced at $29.99. The full suite of iCloud features is not set to debut until this fall alongside iOS 5, but some features such as purchased music/app/book histories are already rolling out and Find My Mac will presumably follow suit next month.

Popular Stories

Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...

Top Rated Comments

Dr McKay Avatar
189 months ago
who loses a mac?

When the thief takes it off you.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TallGuy1970 Avatar
189 months ago
Finding my mac is one thing. Actually getting police interested enough is another.

Case in point - http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/

This guy gave the police all the information they needed to find the person who stole his laptop. The police did nothing until this guy's story went viral and was picked up by the national media. One call from Good Morning America and guess what? Police miraculously arrested the laptop thief.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jsw Avatar
189 months ago
Can I ask how MR was able to secure exemption from the NDA?
You assume they signed an NDA. Why would they need to?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aduntu Avatar
189 months ago
The user providing the screenshots -- assuming they are a registered developer -- is subject to the developer NDA, not MacRumors.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
marksman Avatar
189 months ago
Why do you think Mac Rumors is a prty to the developers NDA?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
189 months ago
how would this work? wouldn't a laptop need either gps, cellular data, or be located within a public wifi area in order to be found? no current mac has gps antennas, do they?

Many wifi networks know where they are. My wifi-only iPad can be found using 'find my iPhone' because it knows what network it's on. It's not exact but it's good enough to realize "oh, I accidentally left it at my mom's house when I left."

And really, the map function isn't all that important most of the time. When another family member has been using my iPad I usually have no clue what room it's in. I could wander around the house or I can just use the 'find' feature to make it play a sound.

It's super useful and I'll love it when I can do this with the Macbook too.



Apple should at least terminate "developer accounts" of those who violate the terms they agreed. In the past Apple would really have made an example of some people.

Ok, you figure out who captured those screen-shots and I'm sure Apple would love to hear from you.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)