I am experiencing a system-wide Location Services failure on my MacBook running macOS 27.0.1. Several days after the problem first appeared on the Mac, my iPad Pro (Wi-Fi-only model) developed a very similar issue.
Both devices are in Ukraine and should use the Europe/Kyiv time zone.
The Mac unexpectedly selected Cupertino, PDT, while the iPad selected a Chinese time zone. Location detection is now failing in Apple Maps, Weather, browsers, and other applications using Core Location.
My iPhone continues to determine its location correctly.
The macOS locationd diagnostic logs show that Wi-Fi access points are being discovered but none are recognized as known references in the observed positioning check.
Steps to reproduce
Connect the affected Mac to a working Wi-Fi network with internet access.
Ensure Location Services are enabled.
Open Apple Maps and request the current location.
Attempt browser-based geolocation using a website that requests the current location.
Open System Settings → General → Date & Time and enable automatic time-zone detection.
Observe the inability to determine the correct location and the incorrect automatic time-zone selection.
The failure persists across multiple Wi-Fi networks, including an iPhone Personal Hotspot.
Expected result
Core Location should correctly determine the approximate physical location in Ukraine using available positioning information.
Apple Maps, Weather, browsers, and other applications should receive valid location data.
Automatic time-zone detection should select Europe/Kyiv.
Actual result
Apple Maps cannot correctly determine the current location.
Browser geolocation fails.
Weather displays incorrect location-dependent information.
Automatic time-zone detection selected Cupertino (PDT) on the Mac instead of Europe/Kyiv.
The Wi-Fi-only iPad Pro independently selected a Chinese time zone instead of Europe/Kyiv.
Automatic location detection remains unusable across applications.
The problem persists after connecting to different Wi-Fi networks.
The Mac problem began suddenly during normal use. Around that time, the system automatically transitioned to dark appearance for the evening (as expected), but the automatic time zone also changed unexpectedly.
The iPad developed similar symptoms several days later.
Troubleshooting already performed
Tested multiple Wi-Fi networks.
Tested internet access through an iPhone Personal Hotspot.
Checked IP-based geolocation using external services; these correctly identify the geographic region.
Considered VPN-related causes; the behavior is not explained by the IP geolocation results.
Confirmed that Location Services work correctly on my iPhone.
The simultaneous involvement of two independent devices, combined with normal iPhone positioning, suggests a possible failure in Wi-Fi-based positioning or the associated system services rather than an isolated hardware issue.
Technical diagnostics
On October 22, 2026, the following message was obtained from the macOS locationd unified log:
2026-10-22 22:31:00.638 Df locationd[387:2755b6] [com.apple.locationd.Position:GeneralCLX] WifiAps, querycheck, knownCount, 0, unknownCount, 17, knownCountTile, 0, knownToUnknownRatio, 0.0, queryMacAddresses.size, 34, sinceLastServerQuery, 187.15, isQueryNeeded, 1, forceQuery, 0, queryType, 0, reqType, 0
Important diagnostic fields:
knownCount = 0
unknownCount = 17
knownCountTile = 0
knownToUnknownRatio = 0.0
queryMacAddresses.size = 34
isQueryNeeded = 1
These values indicate that the positioning subsystem is discovering Wi-Fi access points but has no recognized positioning references in this particular check.
This resembles a previously reported Core Location / GeoServices failure.
Potentially related existing reports
Apple Developer Forums:
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/835896
The discussion documents a similar system-wide location failure with knownCount = 0 despite successful Wi-Fi scanning.
Feedback IDs submitted by another affected user:
FB23196632
FB23366087
There are also independent reports from Ukrainian users whose Macs incorrectly determine their location or time zone as China:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/1nt0lli/location_glitch/
These reports may involve the same underlying issue, but a common root cause has not been confirmed.
Request for investigation
Please investigate whether this issue is related to:
Apple's Wi-Fi positioning database or lookup service.
Core Location / GeoServices processing of Wi-Fi-based location results.
Incorrect, missing, or stale Wi-Fi access-point location records.
Local positioning cache or Wi-Fi regulatory-domain problems.
I would particularly appreciate investigation of the knownCount = 0 condition and whether it can explain the incorrect time-zone selection on two separate devices.
Please route this report to the appropriate macOS Core Location / GeoServices engineering team.
I can provide additional diagnostic logs and sysdiagnose data if required.