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M1 and bluetooth issues

what bluetooth issues are you experiencing?

  • apple mouse/keyboard/trackpad

    Votes: 154 39.8%

  • 3rd party mouse/keyboard devices

    Votes: 81 20.9%

  • airpods (any)

    Votes: 86 22.2%

  • 3rd party headphones/devices

    Votes: 57 14.7%

  • nothing

    Votes: 87 22.5%

  • i love lamp

    Votes: 18 4.7%
  • Total voters
    387
That's exactly what I did. I disconnected everything and even did a clean install. Nothing worked.
Because people with Intel Macs have this issue too I'm inclined to believe it's a software issue that just occurs more on Mac mini. Especially since people with replacement still had the issue.
 
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The Bluetooth spectrum (2.4GHz) is getting pretty crowded these days, so who knows what's interfering with what. We have a mesh network in the house with an undivided 2.4GHz/5GHz SSID, so I can't have my Mac connect to the 5GHz to take it 'off' the potentially interfering spectrum. Even then, who knows.
 
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For me it‘s very strange, i just found out a way to avoid any magic keyboard/mouse disconnects i was experiencing.

1. Set my wifi router (located in another room) to 2.4 ghz band 10 (band 6 was a nightmare with the mac mini bluetooth)
2. Connect my mac mini to the 2.4 ghz ssid.
I am using a LAN cable to it anyway so i’m not using wifi for actual data traffic.

Initially i was using the mac mini without connecting the wifi to anything, that is when my mouse would drop connectivity 4-5 times an hour.
Connecting the wifi to 2.4 band 10 made a big improvement.

I tried using all other bands, I couldn’t even connect to bands 3 or 6 that my router automatically picked.

Luckly, i use the 5ghz band in AX mode for the rest of my devices, 5 ghz AX is insane, 800mbps from my total 1gbps fiber link to the internet.
 
The bluetooth technology is very mature these days. It works wonderfully on the PC side, so there is no excuse for not working on the Mac side where the problem is especially severe on the M1 Macs.

Those of you who are thinking of doing a clean install of OS in the hope of fixing it, don't bother. It won't help. This is either a software/hardware issue or both. Whatever fix you can come up with will only be a temporary fix until  issues a software patch.
 
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macnmac said:
anyone having BT issues with their new machines, more specifically with the apple mouse? it keeps disconnecting


Moderator Note:

Also see the discussion in the news thread:

forums.macrumors.com

Some Apple M1 Mac Owners Reporting Bluetooth Connectivity Issues

A number of M1 Mac owners are reporting problems with Bluetooth connectivity on the new machines, ranging from intermittent disconnects of wireless peripherals to completely non-functional Bluetooth connections. Some users with M1 MacBook Air, M1 MacBook Pro 13-inch, and M1 Mac mini models...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...
I'm constantly losing the bluetooth connection with my headphones (Sony WH1000MX3)
 
For me the biggest frustration at this point is the inconsistency of my Apple Watch communicating with my Mac (e.g. for Apple Pay, Apple Watch Unlock). AirPods Max seem to work fine. I switched my mouse (Logitech MX Master 3) to the USB RF receiver because I got tired of the problems with using that over Bluetooth.
 
bwoodruff said:
I switched my mouse (Logitech MX Master 3) to the USB RF receiver because I got tired of the problems with using that over Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
To this point, I'd like to try this but I have security/privacy concerns about Logitech's software on my Mac, with direct access to input (at least in the case of keyboards). Is this something I should be worried about? Alternatively, can the receiver be plugged in and paired without the software?

Second, does the Unifying Receiver really improve reliability of connection, as opposed to Bluetooth? They both operate on the 2.4 GHz spectrum from what I understand. Are there that many separate channels on that spectrum?
 
dukee101 said:
To this point, I'd like to try this but I have security/privacy concerns about Logitech's software on my Mac, with direct access to input (at least in the case of keyboards). Is this something I should be worried about? Alternatively, can the receiver be plugged in and paired without the software?

Second, does the Unifying Receiver really improve reliability of connection, as opposed to Bluetooth? They both operate on the 2.4 GHz spectrum from what I understand. Are there that many separate channels on that spectrum?
Click to expand...
You do not need their software in order to use the receiver. It did work better than Bluetooth for me but YMMV.
 
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dukee101 said:
To this point, I'd like to try this but I have security/privacy concerns about Logitech's software on my Mac, with direct access to input (at least in the case of keyboards). Is this something I should be worried about? Alternatively, can the receiver be plugged in and paired without the software?

Second, does the Unifying Receiver really improve reliability of connection, as opposed to Bluetooth? They both operate on the 2.4 GHz spectrum from what I understand. Are there that many separate channels on that spectrum?
Click to expand...

I use the Logitech unifying receiver with PC for my MX keys. It connects instantly and haven't had any reliability issues with this.

I connect my MX keys to my macbook using bluetooth. With the M1 MBA it connects fairly quickly and so far it's been decently reliable...
 
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I recently upgraded my 2020 iMac to Big Sur 11.1. Now, my Logitech MX 3 Master mouse frequently stops moving the pointer, while a Magic Trackpad 2 seems to work reliably. This isn’t just an M1 problem.
 
MiltonThales said:
I recently upgraded my 2020 iMac to Big Sur 11.1. Now, my Logitech MX 3 Master mouse frequently stops moving the pointer, while a Magic Trackpad 2 seems to work reliably. This isn’t just an M1 problem.
Click to expand...
Hopefully help is on the way for both M1 and Intel users, per this recent post.
 
darngooddesign said:
FWIW. Brand new MBA. Been using a Logitech Mouse with its USB-A BT dongle all day without any issues.
Click to expand...
Just to dig in to this workaround, is your dongle plugged in directly to your MBA using a USB-C adapter, or to a hub/dock with a USB-A port?
 
I had issues with AirPods. (Mouse and keyboard are wired.) Just about every song would have some glitching. I saw people mentioned FileVault, so I turned it off. So far no more problems, but it's only been a few hours. I'm using 11.1 atm.

ETA: My AirPods are still working great. Listened to several albums and not a single skip.
 
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paledale said:
I had issues with AirPods. (Mouse and keyboard are wired.) Just about every song would have some glitching. I saw people mentioned FileVault, so I turned it off. So far no more problems, but it's only been a few hours. I'm using 11.1 atm.
Click to expand...
It's fascinating that disabling FileVault is what seems to fix the problem. Now, I find it unlikely that FileVault itself is the culprit, but rather that something coincident with disabling FileVault is what fixes the problem. For example, maybe disabling FileVault triggers some kind of low-level cache cleaning that wipes out some Bluetooth-related cruft.
 
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dukee101 said:
It's fascinating that disabling FileVault is what seems to fix the problem. Now, I find it unlikely that FileVault itself is the culprit, but rather that something coincident with disabling FileVault is what fixes the problem. For example, maybe disabling FileVault triggers some kind of low-level cache cleaning that wipes out some Bluetooth-related cruft.
Click to expand...
So what happens when you turn FV back on?
 
AirPods Max + my iPhone 12: Rock Solid
AirPods Max + my (3rd Gen) iPad Pro: Rock Solid
AirPods Max + my 2015 iMac: Rock Solid
AirPods Max + my 2020 M1 MacBook Air: Pure Cr@p. Drops all over the place - horrible
 
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mini m1 16gb 512:
Big Sur 11.1. Magic Mouse gen1 disconnects.
Apple Trackpad gen1 always stays connected.
No usb devices on mini, wi-fi OFF, File Vault OFF
Ethernet cable connected to mini.
Thunderbolt Display with wired Apple keyboard.

Now, updated to Big Sur 11.2 Beta 20D5029f
So far, all good. -- NO bluetooth issues
Will post more results if any bluetooth device fails.

edit: Using wi-fi 5 ghz, still good.

Install Beta:
sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Resources/seedutil enroll DeveloperSeed

EDIT: Did not fix issue. Magic Mouse disconnects.

Back on wired working so far - wifi =off
 
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M1 mini 16Gb/1TB and iMac 2017 quad i7

I have had continuing problems with both Magic Mouse 2 and Apple BT keyboard disconnecting intermittently.
problems occur with 11.1 and with latest 11.2 beta. Same devices work without a problem on the Intel iMac also running 11.2 beta. Another mouse and keyboard exhibit same problems, but only on M1.
I have swapped devices between machines several times over last few weeks and only have problems with M1 mini and never with Intel iMac, so it definitely seems to be specific to M1. Have an open support call with Apple, tried Safe Mode, deleting plist files, moving other devices as far away from mini as possible, no obstructions etc, but makes no difference.

Interestingly, I also have an older Magic Mouse with the replaceable batteries and this does not have the hanging issues on the M1, so it sounds like it could be some software settings?
 
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I was having Bluetooth connection issues with my new M1 Mac mini. I had several conversations with Apple, who had me reset the SMC and boot into safe mode, neither of which addressed the issue. Although the issue was intermittent, I found it trying to connect to my Apple TV via Airplay through Music would usually cause the Bluetooth connection to fail.

However, I have stumbled upon a workaround until Apple update the software to fix this. I found that if I didn't connect anything to the USB 3.0 ports and only used the USB-C ports, my Apple keyboard and mouse work perfectly. I have a USB-C hub with three USB 3.0 ports that everything is plugged into.

Since I stopped using the USB 3.0 ports, I've had no problems connecting to Airplay, in fact, I've had no disconnections at all for two days now.

Not a perfect solution, but I can deal with it until Apple comes up with an update.
 
So I guess the M1 is a hard skip then for someone that uses bluetooth devices?
 
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