According to Tom’s Guide, Surfshark has launched its new Multi IP feature that assigns users a separate IP address for every single online session they initiate. The company has also upgraded its existing rotating IP feature, which now changes your IP address every five minutes within selected geographic areas. Both features are currently Mac-exclusive and appear to still be in beta testing phase. Surfshark’s system engineer Karolis Kaciulis described Multi IP as an “industry-first solution” that routes traffic to different destinations using different IP addresses simultaneously. The features aim to make cross-site correlation more difficult and reduce tracking for users needing maximum anonymity. However, Surfshark warns that frequent IP changes may impact site performance and the global IP option could degrade internet experience.
The anonymity arms race heats up
Here’s the thing about VPNs – they’ve always been better at privacy than true anonymity. Most VPN services give you a single masked IP that you use for everything during your session. That’s fine for hiding from your ISP or accessing geo-blocked content, but it doesn’t make you anonymous. Anyone watching could still connect your different activities back to that same IP address.
Surfshark‘s approach is interesting because it attacks the correlation problem head-on. If you’re checking your bank account, then shopping, then reading news – each activity appears to come from a completely different user. That’s genuinely useful for people who actually need anonymity rather than just privacy.
But what’s the catch?
Now, the obvious question: how much does this slow things down? Surfshark admits right in their warning that “frequent IP address changes may cause site and app performance to suffer.” I can already imagine the loading screens and CAPTCHA hell this might create. Websites hate when IPs jump around – they see it as suspicious behavior.
And let’s talk about that Mac-exclusive limitation. Why start with only Apple users? Probably because they’re testing this on a more controlled platform first. But it makes you wonder about the infrastructure requirements. How many IP addresses does Surfshark need to maintain to make this work at scale? The technical implementation must be pretty complex.
Who actually needs this level of anonymity?
Surfshark says these features “aren’t designed for every user” and they’re right. Most people just want to stream Netflix from other countries or avoid their ISP snooping. But for journalists, activists, researchers, or anyone dealing with sensitive information? This could be a game-changer.
The rotating IP feature changing addresses every five minutes is particularly aggressive. Basically, you’d be a moving target that’s incredibly hard to pin down. But is that overkill for 99% of users? Probably. And the performance hit might not be worth it for casual browsing.
Where does this leave the VPN industry?
This feels like the next evolution in the VPN feature wars. We’ve seen the big players compete on speed, server count, and streaming compatibility. Now we’re moving into advanced anonymity features. I wouldn’t be surprised to see NordVPN and ExpressVPN rolling out similar capabilities soon.
But here’s my skepticism: true anonymity online is incredibly difficult to achieve. While these features make tracking harder, they don’t solve the fingerprinting problem completely. Your browser, device characteristics, and behavior patterns can still identify you. Still, it’s a step in the right direction for those who need it most.
So should you rush to enable these features? If you’re a Mac user needing maximum anonymity – maybe. For everyone else? Wait until they’re out of beta and available on more platforms. The performance tradeoffs might not be worth it yet for regular use.
