Mac users unable to change Location Services settings in macOS Ventura 13.5

August 11, 2023

2 min read

Apple released macOS Ventura 13.5 last month alongside iOS 16.6 and other updates. While the macOS update doesn’t add any major new features, it does come with multiple security patches, but it seems one of them resulted in an annoying bug. Reportedly, some Mac users are unable to change Location Services settings after installing macOS Ventura 13.5.

macOS bug breaks Location Services settings

As noted by multiple users (via MacRumors), the macOS Ventura 13.5 update broke Location Services settings. As a result, it’s no longer possible to edit location permissions for current apps or even authorize a new app to access the current location.

It’s unclear at this point whether the bug affects every Mac running macOS Ventura 13.5 or only a small number of users. Even so, the bug is certainly concerning as there’s no way to remove permission from an app that currently has access to Location Services, for example. And if you install a new app, it can’t access your current location.

It’s hard to say what exactly is causing this bug, but we have a guess. As we previously reported, both iOS 16.6 and macOS Ventura 13.5 fixed a security exploit that allowed third-party apps to determine the user’s current location without permission. Apple provided more details about this specific exploit on its security webpage.

It’s not hard to imagine that the fix for this bug ended up affecting macOS Location Services settings. Unfortunately, there are no known workarounds for this issue, and Apple has not yet publicly acknowledged the bug. Most likely, Apple will have to release a new version of macOS to fix this particular error.

If you have not yet installed macOS Ventura 13.5 on your Mac, it may be best to wait until another update becomes available. Have you been affected by this bug? Let us know in the comments section below.