AirDrop
AirDrop is a proprietary wireless ad hoc service in Apple Inc.'s iOS, macOS, and visionOS operating systems, introduced in Mac OS X Lion (Mac OS X 10.7) and iOS 7, which can transfer files among supported Macintosh computers and iOS devices by means of close-range wireless communication. This communication takes place over Apple Wireless Direct Link 'Action Frames' and 'Data Frames' using generated link-local IPv6 addresses instead of the Wi-Fi chip's fixed MAC address.
AirDrop on macOS | |
| Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | July 20, 2011 |
| Operating system | iOS 7 and later iPadOS OS X 10.7 Lion and later visionOS |
| Platform | iPhone 5 and later iPad (4th generation) and later iPad Mini (1st generation) and later iPad Pro (1st generation) and later iPod Touch (5th generation) and later MacBook Pro MacBook Air MacBook iMac iMac Pro Mac Mini Mac Studio Vision Pro |
| Type | Utility software |
| License | Bundled proprietary software |
| Website | AirDrop on iOS and iPadOS AirDrop on macOS |
Prior to OS X Yosemite (OS X 10.10), and under OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks (OS X 10.7–10.9, respectively) the AirDrop protocol in macOS was different from the AirDrop protocol of iOS, and the two were therefore not interoperable. OS X Yosemite and later support the iOS AirDrop protocol, which is used for transfers between a Mac and an iOS device as well as between two 2012 or newer Mac computers, and which uses both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Legacy mode for the old AirDrop protocol (which only uses Wi-Fi) between a 2012 or older Mac computer (or a computer running OS X Lion through OS X Mavericks) and another Mac computer was also available until macOS Mojave.
Apple reveals no limit on the size of the file which AirDrop can transfer. However, some Apple users have indicated that oversized files are almost impossible to transfer, with a high probability of failure.