Updates and downloads

lcdn-locator.apple.com

lcdn-locator.apple.com is Apple's Content Caching locator service. serverstatus.apple.com helps Macs find their public IP address for Content Caching.

Run by ApplePorts: 443 TCPChecked: 1 November 2026

Short answer

Apple's Content Caching locator, which devices ask to find a caching Mac on their network.

Safe to block

Safe to block if your network has no Content Caching Mac. Devices then download Apple content directly.

Matches
lcdn-locator.apple.com serverstatus.apple.com

A name with *. covers every name under it: *.push.apple.com matches 1-courier.push.apple.com.

What it serves

Apple's enterprise host list says that clients of macOS Content Caching need lcdn-locator.apple.com, the “Content caching locator service”, on every platform.

It lists serverstatus.apple.com for “Content caching client public IP determination”, on macOS.

A Mac that offers Content Caching runs AssetCache. Devices that find it download Apple content from it instead of from the internet.

Processes that use it

AssetCachePart of macOS. It is Content Caching. It keeps Apple downloads on this Mac and gives them to other Apple devices on the same network.Process →

What breaks if you block it

Safe to block

Safe to block if your network has no Content Caching Mac. Devices then download Apple content directly.

What breaks if you block it

  • Devices can't find a Content Caching Mac, so they download updates and apps from the internet instead.

With Kilobat Pro and the network filter, you can block a host for every app or for one app: in Connections, select a connection and choose Block. Apple’s own services are never blocked by Kilobat’s Protection lists.

Apple’s rules for its hosts

Apple’s list, Use Apple products on enterprise networks, says that devices open these connections, not Apple’s servers. Apple services fail any connection that uses HTTPS interception, so a proxy that inspects TLS should leave Apple’s hosts alone.

If a firewall allows hosts by name, allowing *.apple.com covers most Apple services, Apple says. A firewall that works only with addresses can allow 17.0.0.0/8 for IPv4, and 2403:300::/32, 2620:149::/32 and 2a01:b740::/32 for IPv6.

To see which app on your Mac opened a connection to this host, use Kilobat’s Connections tab, or the agent network log for AI agents.

Sources

Checked on 1 November 2026.