Some M1 Mac owners encounter Bluetooth connectivity issues

AppleInsider · November 25, 2020 2:12AM

A number of new M1 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini owners are facing Bluetooth connectivity issues, a particularly vexing situation for the standalone Mac mini.

As noted by YouTube creator Patrick Tomasso, the issues range from sporadic disconnections with peripherals to complete failures.

In a tweet, Tomasso outlined broad connectivity issues with his M1 Mac mini and pointed to forum posts that echo his concerns. He also posted a video detailing the Bluetooth difficulties.

"I'm going crazy trying to figure out the [B]luetooth issues with this machine. I thought maybe a few of us had an isolated issue but forums/reddit are popping up now all over," the tweet reads.

On Reddit, a handful of M1 Mac owners complained that both first- and third-party peripherals, including mice, keyboards and headphones, suffered from intermittent connectivity. The list of impacted devices includes Apple's AirPods.

The issue appears to lie in Apple's hardware or macOS Big Sur, as users were able to successfully connect Logitech accessories using that company's Unifying Receiver Bluetooth dongle. One Redditor contacted Apple to replace his Mac mini, but the substitute suffered from the same problem.

Apple is no stranger to Bluetooth woes. In 2014, for example, users complained of sluggish performance with the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, Apple wireless keyboard, and third-party wireless accessories after updating to the then-current OS X Yosemite.

It is unclear how many M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini units are impacted at this time, and Apple has yet to confirm the issue.

rmg007 · November 25, 2020 2:20AM

Anybody else having difficulty getting their MBA to Auto Unlock with their Apple Watch?

ivanh · November 25, 2020 3:13AM

I’ve been raising bluetooth issues since 2018, especially on iMac5K. Many issues.

bobod · November 25, 2020 3:47AM

I had difficulty getting my MBA to unlock with my Apple Watch until I moved my old MBA away from near the new MBA.

LenardH · November 25, 2020 4:13AM

Working fine for me, no problems. When I got the Mac mini I just restored everything from Time Machine backup. When that was done
everything looked just my old Mac (iMac 2017). Currently running a beta of Mac OS Big Sir 11.

ITGUYINSD · November 25, 2020 4:16AM

Just started noticing issues with Apple mini BT keyboard and Magic Mouse 2 (and a Logitech MX Master in BT mode). Works most of the time, but other times the mouse moves erratically or not at all, and twice I've seen the on-screen display of Mouse disconnected and keyboard disconnected, then both reconnected.

I thought it was just RF interference with the monitor or other peripherals, but I guess not.

Hopefully they will fix it soon.

ronn · November 25, 2020 4:17AM

rmg007 said:

Anybody else having difficulty getting their MBA to Auto Unlock with their Apple Watch?

I had issues a couple days ago. But had to reset my AW due to other issues. Has worked flawlessly since. Of course, now I'm having intermittent trouble connecting my Beats Flex headphones since yesterday.

MplsP · November 25, 2020 4:57AM

rmg007 said:

Anybody else having difficulty getting their MBA to Auto Unlock with their Apple Watch?

I’ve never had the Auto Unlock feature work reliably on either my MBP or my iMac. Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes it’s really slow and other times it doesn’t work at all.

Apple_Bar · November 25, 2020 5:29AM

rmg007 said:

Anybody else having difficulty getting their MBA to Auto Unlock with their Apple Watch?

I got a MBP and a MBA both are having the same issue. Both M1. The iMac 2020 still on Catalina and not experiencing the issue. So idk if its related to Big Sur or the M1. In my case the unlocking will start I will get the notification on my watch but even after an apparent successful “unlock” the display will still request the user password.

melotron · November 25, 2020 8:12AM

I have the same problem on my 2018 Mac Mini i7. Both Logitech MX Master mouse, Mx Keys and Apples Magic Trackpad stops responding for about 30 seconds and then becomes responsive again. This is not happening on my 2016 Mac Book Pro.

CheeseFreeze · November 25, 2020 9:10AM

My wireless Logitech MX Anywhere 2S mouse on Big Sur With Mac mini M1 is spotty. Sometimes it drops for half a second, and the initial setup was trial and error.

CheeseFreeze · November 25, 2020 9:10AM

Ps: AppleInsider, posting comments on the news article even when logging in seems buggy on Safari. It is loading the forum in an iframe. I have to go to the actual forum to post comments.

foregoneconclusion · November 25, 2020 11:53AM

I have a 2017 iMac and bluetooth peripherals will occasionally have connectivity problems. Usually it just requires turning the device on/off once or twice (with the physical power switch) before it stabilizes the connection again, but sometimes a system restart is needed. I tend to doubt that this is specific to M1 products. Bluetooth is susceptible to glitches every once in awhile.

orthosize · November 25, 2020 1:06PM

I received a M1 Mac Mini (8/256) and a new Magic Mouse with Magic Keyboard last week. I am having mouse disconnect/reconnect problems at a rate of approximately 5 every 10 minutes. This is confirmed by the display. However, this problem is not occurring with the keyboard so I assumed it was the new mouse. I still have to test older peripherals.

However, this is not the typical bluetooth random disconnection problem. I have had several MacBook Pros, iMacs, and Mac Minis along with several Apple Wireless Mice. While they all had randomly occurring disconnection problems, none were as frequent and typically had a stable connection most days. I cannot get a stable connect despite restarts and powering down the mouse.

22july2013 · November 25, 2020 1:35PM

I had to use a wireless keyboard because there are only two ports on the back of my M1 Mini for my three devices: a USB mouse, keyboard and speakers. However I do own an Apple Wireless Keyboard so I carry that keyboard around to any computer that needs it. The problem is that the keyboard can't be reassigned until you decouple it from whatever it's using, and to do that you need a mouse. So I'm doing a lot of reconnecting.

nicholfd · November 25, 2020 2:54PM

22july2013 said:

I had to use a wireless keyboard because there are only two ports on the back of my M1 Mini for my three devices: a USB mouse, keyboard and speakers. However I do own an Apple Wireless Keyboard so I carry that keyboard around to any computer that needs it. The problem is that the keyboard can't be reassigned until you decouple it from whatever it's using, and to do that you need a mouse. So I'm doing a lot of reconnecting.

Nope - temporarily connect the wireless keyboard to the "next" computer with the lightening cable it came with, and it will instantly pair with that computer. You can remove the cable.

foregoneconclusion · November 25, 2020 3:04PM

orthosize said: However, this is not the typical bluetooth random disconnection problem. I have had several MacBook Pros, iMacs, and Mac Minis along with several Apple Wireless Mice. While they all had randomly occurring disconnection problems, none were as frequent and typically had a stable connection most days. I cannot get a stable connect despite restarts and powering down the mouse.

Have you tried pressing shift + option and selecting the Bluetooth icon in the top menu bar? That should give you a drop down menu with a 'Reset the Bluetooth module' option. I've seen that recommended for helping to clear up Bluetooth issues in Big Sur.

scartart · November 25, 2020 7:00PM

MplsP said:

rmg007 said:

Anybody else having difficulty getting their MBA to Auto Unlock with their Apple Watch?

I’ve never had the Auto Unlock feature work reliably on either my MBP or my iMac. Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes it’s really slow and other times it doesn’t work at all.

Works for me the majority of the time. When it doesn't it seems to be when I've just walked into the room and immediately touch the Mac. I think my Watch hasn't roamed to the nearest AP and therefore has a poor/no signal. If I'm already in the room and try to unlock, it always seems to work. I have the same experience on my MBP and M1 Mini.

subangstrom · November 26, 2020 4:26AM

I’ve had very similar issues with my intel Mac mini. I resolved it by turning off the WiFi module and using a hardline network connection. My Bluetooth accessories now have a solid connection. The issue seems to arise from interference between the Bluetooth and WiFi modules.

CarmB · December 16, 2020 1:20PM

I’ve had my M1 mini running for about a week now and have had no issues with a magic keyboard and magic trackpad. The Intel Mini before it also worked fine with the Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. No difference.

Just my experience. By the way Bluetooth connectivity has been problematic at times with the old Mini (a 2011 unit) though not in the current setting where the new Mini has been slotted in (attached to a big-screen TV in a main-floor bedroom). It doesn’t appear that there is an issue distinct to the M1 re Bluetooth performance, at least not for me to date. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed it by posting this.

CheeseFreeze · December 17, 2020 10:54PM

I have a MacMini M1 16gb and I have Bluetooth issues all the time. It’s driving me crazy!

I have a wireless Logitech mouse and a wireless Apple keyboard. Both peripherals disconnect randomly, sometimes with 20-30 seconds of no connection, other times it just doesn’t work for a second or so.
Both situations are terrible when your work requires you to be ultra focused.

I hope Apple fixes this soon!

Some M1 Mac owners encounter Bluetooth connectivity issues

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