Any Mac Studio bluetooth dropouts?

[haralds]

Ventura 13.1b3 cropped up with really bad behavior on my Studio M1 Ultra. This is ridiculous. I provided "Feedback."
It could also be the new FW in AirPods, which try to reduce latency.

 

[haralds]

It's limited to two extra devices with ****** performance (Magic Mouse and Keyboard) before sinking to unusablity To trackpad or anything else.

 

[Horizon Man]

Doesn't do anything for those of us with M1 though. They need to fix this issue instead of ignoring it. We can't be the only ones with the problem. I highly recommend anyone having Bluetooth issues to contact Apple so that they are aware of it.

Also being an issue that seems to go way back, I wouldn't expect there to be any major improvement, though of course it's great if there is.

FWIW I've also had audio interference with my iPad when using the ProMax headphones and pencil.

 

[upritbass]

FWIW I've also had audio interference with my iPad when using the ProMax headphones and pencil.

Huh, I've never tried both at once. Which iPad?

 

[haralds]

BlueTooth has stayed a huge issue exacerbated by connected Game Controller.

 

[siddhartha]

I've had consistent Bluetooth audio issues with my Studio, but to be fair, somewhat the same experience on my Trashcan. Even to the point that while the Studio is mounted right under my desk, right next to me, if I am using one earbud vs the other, the "far side" earbud will have disconnection/static issues, where the "same side" one will not. It's ridiculous-is BT that underpowered?

 

[haralds]

Ventura 13.1 RC1 is still problematic.

 

[haralds]

I am now trying everything wired except a late-model Magic Mouse and AirPods 3 and it works passably. Not as solid as my iPhone 3 mini, but ok.

 

[Horizon Man]

I found that turning spacial audio off made a huge improvement using Bluetooth headphones, far fewer audio micro drops.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I sent a support message to Keychron about the poor connectivity of my K5 SE keyboard via BT to my Mac Studio (MS) but it's probably the MS.

Has anyone tested their troublesome connectivity by changing the orientation of the computer or the location of the BT device?

Moving the above described keyboard around mine seemed to show that the signal was better on the power light side of the MS.

 

[Giant_enemy_crab]

My Keychron K2 became essentially unusable once I mounted my Mac Studio under the desk. I can only use peripherals with dongles now (MX Mechanical Mini w/ Logi Bolt and G703 w/ usb dongle).

 

[haralds]

Ventura 13.2RC shows some improvement. On first testing, I can have three "Magic" devices (keyboard, mouse, trackpad,) and one set of AirPods.
Adding a PS5 controller kills it, but plugging in the trackpad it seems to be fine. For added margin in boss fights I not only plug in the trackpad, but also turn off the mouse.
The BLE hardware design looks marginal.

 

[pappl]

This reminds me of Mac Mini 2009 Toslink optical out not working. Apple released a fix after almost two years, even there were a ton of reports about this issue on the net.

 

[Horizon Man]

Just posted another thread, as I just had my first wired drop out! This is a very fussy machine for me, great when it works, but I'm having these little frictions on a daily basis, usually many a day.

 

[diegog]

Is there an external antenna one can buy to solve this?

 

[haralds]

I suspect it's a hardware limitation. 3-4 devices max. It's not a range issue.

 

[diegog]

I suspect it's a hardware limitation. 3-4 devices max. It's not a range issue.

Thank you,
I have only the mouse and the keyboard. I started to think is the latest update of the OS.

 

[Fishrrman]

diegog asks:
"Is there an external antenna one can buy to solve this?"

No.
What you CAN buy is a 3rd-party USBa adapter/dongle. Numerous ones are available. Not all of them seem compatible with Macs, read the reviews carefully. There are also threads here on how to get a 3rd-party bt adapter up-and-running. Some terminal commands may be needed.

If you get a 3rd-party adapter, you should also get a 3'-6' USB "extension" cable, like this:

Amazon.com: Usb Extension Cable 3ft

Amazon.com: usb extension cable 3ft

www.amazon.com

Plug the adapter into the female end.
Plug the other end into an available USBa port.
Now, "loop it around" so that the adapter is closer to the bt devices you'll be using.
This "gets it away from" the metallic (case) and electrical interference at the back of the Mac...

 

[shadowmatt]

My Studio has started messing up Bluetooth audio, one headset now will not connect and the others disconnect randomly.

That being said, I remember back on the 12" G4 when Apple introduced Bluetooth along with the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Their implementation back then was severely flawed and hasn't really got much better all these generation later.

They still value design over things actually working properly.

 

[diegog]

diegog asks:
"Is there an external antenna one can buy to solve this?"

No.
What you CAN buy is a 3rd-party USBa adapter/dongle. Numerous ones are available. Not all of them seem compatible with Macs, read the reviews carefully. There are also threads here on how to get a 3rd-party bt adapter up-and-running. Some terminal commands may be needed.

If you get a 3rd-party adapter, you should also get a 3'-6' USB "extension" cable, like this:

Amazon.com: Usb Extension Cable 3ft

Amazon.com: usb extension cable 3ft

www.amazon.com

Plug the adapter into the female end.
Plug the other end into an available USBa port.
Now, "loop it around" so that the adapter is closer to the bt devices you'll be using.
This "gets it away from" the metallic (case) and electrical interference at the back of the Mac...

Thanks,
I guess the part about the cable, but after trying three different dongles, I am deciding to take the computer to the shop. I did the process of assigning the dungle through the terminal, but it might be an issue with Ventura.
Also, there's no dungle with Bluetooth 5. Only 4.

 

[er-minio]

I have a base Studio/Max. No bluetooth issues whatsoever. The only "issue" is a very limited range with Airpods (same as the previous Intel Mini).
Not a problem with my M1 MacBook Pro though.

But I still have to verify how much the position affects it (haven't really placed the MBP in the same spot to check).

 

[Luis Glez]

No bluetooth dropouts on my base Studio. I have the Magic Mouse, extended Magic keyboard, Airpods Pro 2 and a Sony DualShock 4 controller connected via Bluetooth with no issues.

 

[3460169]

Sorry to necro this thread but this still, to this date, happens from time to time -- and, as far as I can tell, exclusively with Apple hardware like "Magic" keyboards and "Magic" trackpads. Granted it's sporadic and granted I do work in an environment saturated radio frequencies in 2.4 and 5GHz spectrums (apartment complex), it's still rather frustrating when there's no more than 2 feet of separation between the devices and the Mac Studio.

Also I'm still rocking Ventura 13.6 until Sonoma hits 14.2 or so. I work from home and my employer's IT people won't allow updating my work systems to Sonoma yet, so I'm holding off on all of my systems for the moment. Can anyone comment if these BT dropouts are a thing or not on Sonoma? Thanks!

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

Sorry to necro this thread but this still, to this date, happens from time to time -- and, as far as I can tell, exclusively with Apple hardware like "Magic" keyboards and "Magic" trackpads. Granted it's sporadic and granted I do work in an environment saturated radio frequencies in 2.4 and 5GHz spectrums (apartment complex), it's still rather frustrating when there's no more than 2 feet of separation between the devices and the Mac Studio.

Also I'm still rocking Ventura 13.6 until Sonoma hits 14.2 or so. I work from home and my employer's IT people won't allow updating my work systems to Sonoma yet, so I'm holding off on all of my systems for the moment. Can anyone comment if these BT dropouts are a thing or not on Sonoma? Thanks!

I have installed Sonoma on a external SSD. When it was the Acasis thunderbolt, often bluetooth didn't connect at startup (no keyboard and mouse) but a minute or less later and startup lasted three minutes before the login window appeared. When I boot from a Samsung T7 under Sonoma, I have no problems.

 

[Fishrrman]

f00f wrote:
"I'm still rocking Ventura 13.6 until Sonoma hits 14.2 or so. I work from home and my employer's IT people won't allow updating my work systems to Sonoma yet, so I'm holding off on all of my systems for the moment. Can anyone comment if these BT dropouts are a thing or not on Sonoma?"

Software updates aren't going to fix problems that are rooted "in the hardware".

It's the physical design of the Studio (and also the Mini) that impacts the performance of both BT and wifi...