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El Cap GM - No AirDrop

T

Tomkins!

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2012
120
20
AirDrop no longer works between my MacBook Pro Retina running El Capitan GM and iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.4.1. It used to work when the Mac was running Yosemite, though not consistently. Handoff works fine.

Anybody else experiencing issues regarding AirDrop?
 
Last edited:
Just performed a quick test and it seemed ok. Sent PDF from iMac to iPhone and JPG from iPhone to iMac. iMac with El Cap GM & iPhone 6 with 8.4.1.
 
I just tried the "Older Mac" option and that works instantly. So there's something wrong with the "newer" method.
 
Update: it saw my mom's iPad for about 5 seconds...
Guess we'll have to wait for another update/fix. Maybe it's better with iOS 9?
 
Most likely not. AirDrop has never worked properly. Apparently it is better to forget about it entirely and use something else.
 
It worked almost every time for me while running 10.10.4, so there's hope. I've found a better alternative, though: Infinit.
 
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Airdrop between El Capitan GM (15A282A) and iOS 8.4.1 doesn't work. With Yosemite it works without problems...

Do you know if Airdrop works good between El Capitan GM and iOS 9 GM ?
 
idark77 said:
Airdrop between El Capitan GM (15A282A) and iOS 8.4.1 doesn't work. With Yosemite it works without problems...

Do you know if Airdrop works good between El Capitan GM and iOS 9 GM ?
Click to expand...

I do not. I hope it does. It's weird that other features that rely on Bluetooth discovery work fine.
By the way, the option to have AirDrop work with "Older Macs" works really well. So it's definitely Bluetooth related and specific to AirDrop.
 
Update: I turned off the Firewall on my Mac and tried again, it immediately saw my iPhone. Couldn't transfer anything though, and attempts after the initial one were unsuccessful.
 
The problem is os x related, cause i have an iPhone 5/ios 8.4 which can airdrop to an iPhone 6/ios 9.1 and vice versa, whereas el capitan can't airdop anything to anyone since its first beta.
 
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Lem3ssie said:
The problem is os x related, cause i have an iPhone 5/ios 8.4 which can airdrop to an iPhone 6/ios 9.1 and vice versa, whereas el capitan can't airdop anything to anyone since its first beta.
Click to expand...

airdrop was previously working think i was running Mavericks or Yosemite.

It was brill when my electricity switched off, I used iPhone torch took a photo of fuse box on hall cupboard, and drove to local shop who identified which type of fuse to get..and it worked.

Maybe airdrop will begin working when El Capitan is officially released.

I've tried the workarounds to no avail.

It amazes me how I can make and receive phone calls and text's and yet Macbook refuses to 'see' my iPhone via airdrop (all be it via bluetooth)
 
My Macbook pro can see my Macbook Air (both running El Cap GM), but neither can see my iPhone, iPad or an older mac running Yosemite. My iPhone and iPad can see each other (both running 9.0 GM) and my Yosemite mac can't see anything unless I do a "search for older macs" in one of the El Cap ones and it then shows up

TL;DR;
Airdrop seems as broken as it's ever been for me!
 
I just sent a bug report. Probably a known issue but I'm betting most Public Beta users aren't reporting anything. I don't have another OS X computer to test that part on.
 
Lem3ssie said:
The problem is os x related, cause i have an iPhone 5/ios 8.4 which can airdrop to an iPhone 6/ios 9.1 and vice versa, whereas el capitan can't airdop anything to anyone since its first beta.
Click to expand...
Sorry to disappoint you but it is both OS X and iOS related. I have 1 Mac that doesn't want to see any of my iOS devices, yet I have 1 Mac that does and has done so from the beginning without any issues (firewall turned on). My iPhone and iPad were able to see each other as well until recently. So it's not just Macs not being able to see others, it's iOS devices too.

All devices work fine with handoff/continuity. The problem seems to be Airdrop itself and it has been since it was introduced. Just check out all the issues on various forums with various configurations. The only thing that they all have in common is Airdrop, everything else differs, even OS X and iOS versions. I'm going to see if my problems are solved once OS X El Capitan and iOS9 are out but I highly doubt that these will have resolved the issue.
 
dyn said:
Sorry to disappoint you but it is both OS X and iOS related. I have 1 Mac that doesn't want to see any of my iOS devices, yet I have 1 Mac that does and has done so from the beginning without any issues (firewall turned on). My iPhone and iPad were able to see each other as well until recently. So it's not just Macs not being able to see others, it's iOS devices too.

All devices work fine with handoff/continuity. The problem seems to be Airdrop itself and it has been since it was introduced. Just check out all the issues on various forums with various configurations. The only thing that they all have in common is Airdrop, everything else differs, even OS X and iOS versions. I'm going to see if my problems are solved once OS X El Capitan and iOS9 are out but I highly doubt that these will have resolved the issue.
Click to expand...

You have to say more about your Mac, which version and iOS device(s). Cause I have many Mac and devices I can run tests on, many combo : Yosemite, iOS 8.4, 8.4.1, El Capitan, iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iOS 9 and 9.1b, and airdrop works until el capitan is in the loop.
 
What I've found is:
iOS 8 <--> iOS 9 = works
iOS 8 <--> iOS 8 = works
iOS 8 <--> Yosemite = works, but takes a little longer sometimes
iOS 9 <--> Yosemite = works, but takes a little longer sometimes
iOS 9 </> El Capitan = doesn't work at all
Yosemite </> El Capitan = doesn't work at all (unless you turn on the "Search for Older Macs" option on both Macs)
 
Lem3ssie said:
You have to say more about your Mac, which version and iOS device(s). Cause I have many Mac and devices I can run tests on, many combo : Yosemite, iOS 8.4, 8.4.1, El Capitan, iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iOS 9 and 9.1b, and airdrop works until el capitan is in the loop.
Click to expand...
If you read the general experiences with Airdrop since its first release you see that hardware and software doesn't matter. It is with any software/hardware combination and it can suddenly stop working and suddenly start working. There is no common denominator which is the exact problem. I've seen it with the various iOS devices and Macs that I have and it is something that I've seen from the very first release of Airdrop.
 
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