Hello, I am tracking a severe local networking regression on macOS Golden Gate 27.2 Developer Beta (build 26B5086k) running on MacBook Pro M4 Pro hardware.
Despite negotiating a strong physical Wi-Fi connection with high PHY rates (1200+ Mbps) and excellent RSSI, actual throughput collapses dramatically and local gateway latency spikes uncontrollably whenever AWDL and AirDrop discovery are actively processing.
Key Diagnostic Metrics Observed
- AWDL Manually Disabled: Executing
sudo ifconfig awdl0 downcompletely drops packet loss to 0%, stabilizes gateway latency entirely, and restores baseline throughput. - AirDrop Turned Off (AWDL Active): Disabling AirDrop via System Settings while keeping AWDL active stops the catastrophic latency spikes. This strongly suggests the trigger is linked directly to AirDrop's continuous background discovery/scanning activity rather than basic AWDL link states.
Environment Isolation Performed
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Safe Mode: The issue persists cleanly while booted into macOS Safe Mode, ruling out third-party launch kexts, background daemons, or custom VPN software.
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Cross-AP Testing: The behavior follows the Mac across completely different access points, occurring on a dedicated Wi-Fi 7 home environment (tested across 5GHz and 6GHz channels) as well as an iPhone Personal Hotspot over cellular.
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Control Device: Same-location control testing with an iPhone shows perfect gigabit-class speeds, confirming the RF environment and network backhaul are perfectly healthy.
I have already submitted a comprehensive sysdiagnose archive and wireless diagnostic log package directly to Apple.
Feedback ID: FB24842970
Curious if anyone else with an M4 Pro on this build is seeing similar behavior. If this is happening on your end too, it might be worth submitting a bug report and referencing FB24842970 so Apple can group our logs together and look into a patch.