Hotspots and data

Working from anywhere with a Mac: eSIMs, phone hotspots and making data last

A Mac on mobile data can empty a travel data pack in days. This guide explains how to get the Mac online, what uses the data and how to make a pack last.

Applies to: macOS 13 Ventura and later for the System Settings paths, checked against Apple's macOS 27 pages. iPhone paths are for iOS 26 and later.Checked: 29 October 2026

When this helps

  • You travel and your Mac gets its internet from a phone, an eSIM or a travel router.
  • A data pack that should last a month runs low in the first week.
  • You want to know, before you leave, what to change on the Mac.
  • You work from hotels and cafés and lose time on Wi-Fi sign-in pages.

eSIMs, local SIMs and roaming

There are three usual ways to get mobile data in another country. Each has a different cost and a different limit.

  • Roaming. Your home SIM keeps working abroad and your home carrier bills you. It needs no setup, but the price and the limits depend on your plan.
  • A local SIM. You buy a SIM card from a carrier in the country. You get a local number, and you must swap cards in your phone.
  • A travel eSIM. An eSIM is a digital SIM. You install the plan from a carrier or an eSIM seller, often before the trip.

Most travel eSIMs are data packs. You pay for a fixed amount of data, such as 10 GB, for a fixed number of days, such as 30. The pack ends when the data or the days run out, whichever comes first.

An iPhone can keep two eSIMs active, such as your home line and a travel eSIM. The phone must be unlocked to use another carrier.

To stop your home SIM from roaming, open Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options on the iPhone. Turn off Data Roaming for the home line.

Getting data to the Mac

A Mac has no SIM, so the data comes through another device. The usual ways are the phone's Personal Hotspot and a travel router.

  1. Personal Hotspot over Wi-Fi: on the iPhone, open Settings > Personal Hotspot. Turn on Allow Others to Join.

  2. If Personal Hotspot is not in Settings, tap Cellular, then tap Personal Hotspot.

  3. On the Mac, click Wi-Fi in the menu bar or in Control Center. Choose the iPhone.

  4. Instant Hotspot: sign in to the iPhone and the Mac with the same Apple Account. Turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both.

  5. With Instant Hotspot, the Mac shows the iPhone in the Wi-Fi menu. Allow Others to Join can stay off.

  6. USB: connect the iPhone to the Mac with a cable. Click Allow on the Mac and Trust on the iPhone.

  7. The Mac can connect again each time you charge the phone from it. Turn off Personal Hotspot when you do not need it.

  8. A travel router: some routers take a SIM card. Others share the connection of the phone.

A travel router gives all your devices one Wi-Fi network. Kilobat and macOS see it as usual Wi-Fi, so macOS may not know that the data costs money. See Make a Mac treat a network as metered.

If the iPhone does not appear in the Wi-Fi menu, see iPhone hotspot does not show on the Mac. For the cable, see Connect a Mac to an iPhone hotspot with a USB cable.

Why hotspot data disappears on a Mac

A Mac is built for fast home Wi-Fi. When it joins a new network, many apps catch up at the same time.

  • iCloud Photos. Photos uploads new pictures and videos, and can download originals. Apple notes that uploads may not work on a Personal Hotspot. A travel router looks like usual Wi-Fi, so uploads can run.
  • iCloud Drive and other sync folders. Files that you save, move or open from iCloud Drive upload or download. A large folder can use gigabytes.
  • Time Machine. Time Machine uses the network only when its backup disk is on the network, such as a NAS or another Mac. A disk that you plug into the Mac uses no data.
  • Software updates. macOS can download a large update in the background. App updaters do the same. See Stop Software Update downloading on a hotspot.
  • Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive. Sync apps upload what changed while you were offline. After a flight, that can be a lot.
  • Browsers that load pages early. Safari and Chrome can load a page before you open it, to make it faster. Each page that you do not open is data that you pay for.
  • Video calls in HD. Zoom lists 1.2 Mbps in each direction for a one-to-one call in 720p. That is about 1 GB in an hour, both directions together.

To see which apps use the data now, see Mac uses Personal Hotspot data in the background. For how Kilobat helps, see Kilobat for hotspot data.

Turn down what uses data

Make these changes before you use the hotspot. Undo them when you are back on home Wi-Fi.

  1. Updates: choose Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update.

  2. Click the Info button next to Automatic Updates. Turn off Download new updates when available.

  3. iCloud Photos: in Photos, select Library in the sidebar, then click All Photos. Scroll down and click Pause.

  4. The pause lasts one day. Do it again the next day if you are still on the hotspot.

  5. Dropbox: click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar. Click the sync status at the bottom and choose how long to pause.

  6. Time Machine: choose System Settings > General > Time Machine. Click Options and set Backup Frequency to Manually.

  7. Safari: choose Safari > Settings, then click Search. Turn off Preload Top Hit in the background.

  8. Chrome: choose More > Settings, then click Performance. Turn off Preload pages.

  9. Zoom: open Settings, then click Video & effects. Turn off the HD check box.

  10. Google Meet: click Settings > Video. Set Send resolution and Receive resolution to 360p.

What macOS Low Data Mode does and does not do

Low Data Mode is a setting for one network. It tells macOS and apps that the network has limited data.

Apple's Mac guide describes it only as a way to reduce data use on that network. It does not list what macOS pauses.

On the iPhone, Apple says Low Data Mode pauses iCloud Photos updates, automatic downloads and backups, and Background App Refresh.

On the Mac, each app decides what to do. Some apps reduce their data use. Others ignore the setting.

  1. For a Wi-Fi hotspot or a travel router: choose Apple menu > System Settings > Wi-Fi.

  2. Click Details next to the network that you use now. Turn on Low data mode. Click OK.

  3. For an iPhone on a cable: choose System Settings > Network, click the iPhone, then click Details.

Low Data Mode does not limit how much data the Mac uses, and it does not block any app. Ethernet has no Low Data Mode switch.

When you activate a travel eSIM on an iPhone with iOS 26 or later, the iPhone offers to turn on Low Data Mode. That setting is for the phone, not for the Mac. See Use Low Data Mode on a Mac.

Hotel and café Wi-Fi sign-ins

Hotel, café and airport Wi-Fi often shows a sign-in page before it lets you on the internet. Until you sign in, apps fail as if the internet were down.

Hotel Wi-Fi does not use your data pack. Sign in to it when it works, and save the pack for the times when it does not.

  1. Join the network. Wait a few seconds for the sign-in window.

  2. If no window opens, open a browser and go to a site that starts with http, not https.

  3. When the session ends, the sign-in page appears again. Sign in again.

If the page never appears, see Wi-Fi login page does not appear on a Mac. For signing in on a Mac in more detail, see Hotel Wi-Fi sign-ins on a Mac.

Calls on mobile data

Calls can work well on a hotspot. Video uses most of the data, so the settings decide how far the pack goes.

Zoom lists 60 to 80 kbps for audio. That is about 35 MB in an hour in each direction. A one-to-one call in 720p uses about 15 times more.

  • Turn off HD video, or send 360p, when the call does not need a sharp picture.
  • Turn your camera off in long meetings. In Google Meet, Audio Only uses the least data.
  • Stop large uploads before the call. An upload can freeze the call even when there is enough data.

For calls that freeze or stutter, see Video calls stutter or freeze on a Mac and Kilobat for video calls.

A pre-trip checklist

  • Check that your phone is unlocked and supports eSIM. Install the eSIM before you leave, while you have Wi-Fi.
  • Decide what happens to your home SIM. Turn off Data Roaming for it if you do not want roaming charges.
  • Test Personal Hotspot with the Mac at home. Learn where the iPhone appears in the Wi-Fi menu.
  • Turn off automatic update downloads on the Mac. Install pending updates at home first.
  • Let iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive and Dropbox finish syncing before you leave.
  • Download maps, music, films and large files while you are on home Wi-Fi.
  • Turn off page preloading in your browser, and HD video in your call apps.
  • Bring a USB cable for the phone. A cable charges the phone while it shares data.
  • In Kilobat, add the pack with its size and days. Kilobat then tells you if it will run out early. See Kilobat for digital nomads.

With Kilobat

  1. In Kilobat, open Settings and find Data packs. Click Add. This needs Pro.

  2. Enter the size and the number of days. Choose when the pack started.

  3. Choose the networks that use the pack, such as the phone's hotspot or the travel router.

  4. Or enter text that their names contain, such as iPhone, to count every hotspot of that phone.

  5. Kilobat now counts the Mac's data on those networks and treats them as metered.

  6. Read the forecast in the menu. For example, 6.2 GB left · runs out around 14 Nov, 5 days before the pack ends.

  7. Kilobat counts this Mac only. If the phone uses the same pack, less is left than Kilobat says.

  8. Open the carrier's app. Click Correct in Kilobat and enter the amount that the carrier shows.

  9. Turn on Hold big uploads until Wi-Fi. Send later then holds sync and backup uploads until an unmetered network.

  10. Do the same in Terminal. This command adds a 10 GB pack for 30 days on the network that you use now.

    kilobat pack add 10 30 --name "Japan eSIM"

  11. See what is left and when it runs out.

    kilobat pack

    Output Each pack with what is left, the pace of the last three days and the day it runs out.

  12. Enter the figure from the carrier's app.

    kilobat pack correct 5.1

  13. AI agents can read the same forecast with the get_data_pack MCP tool.

Questions

How does Kilobat know when the pack runs out?

Kilobat divides the data left by the Mac's use on the pack's networks in the last three days. A new pack counts as at least one day.

Why does the carrier show less data left than Kilobat?

The carrier counts every device on the pack, and the phone itself. Kilobat counts only this Mac. Use the carrier's figure to correct Kilobat.

Does Kilobat stop the internet when the pack is used up?

No. The pack sends alerts at 50, 80 and 95 percent and when it may run out early. To stop data use, see Block an app on metered networks.

Is a monthly budget the same as a data pack?

No. A budget starts again each day, week or month. A pack has a start and an end, and it does not start again. See Set a monthly data budget that resets on renewal day.

Sources

Checked on 29 October 2026.