2018 13-inch MacBook Pro refuses to connect to AirPods

[anshuvorty]

Didn't know where to put this, so putting it here.

Got my 13" MBP on Friday and I was having a great time with it. Jump to yesterday and tried to pair my AirPods to it just because I was curious. A strange thing happened. The AirPods would connect but when I put them in my ears, they would disconnect.

They connect perfectly with my iPhone X and Windows 10 PC, but for some reason, the MBP doesn't want to maintain the connection with the AirPods.

I got in touch with Apple Support and my case got escalated to their Engineering Dept who will contact me later tonight. Bummer my AirPods aren't working with my new MBP.

I have tried everything that Apple Support recommended me to do: reset the AirPods, reset the Bluetooth module on the Mac, reset the SMC, and restart in Safe Mode and try to pair. Nothing worked.

Does anyone else have any similar experiences with their new 2018 MacBook Pros and the AirPods?

Edit: I am also running the latest version of macOS High Sierra - 10.13.6.

 

[afir93]

I might be asking the obvious here but how did you try to pair them, i.e. did you always pair them with the iPhone or another device and used the W1-chip's auto-pairing with other iCloud devices to select them as an output device on your Mac, or did you pair them with the MBP itself right away? If it's the former, then maybe the device-switching feature is malfunctioning; that was a common issue back when the AirPods first launched (though I don't think it's that frequent anymore).

I've had it happen myself plenty of times back then – AirPods paired via an iOS device would show up in the volume menubar entry on the Mac, but when I select them, it wouldn't do it for some reason until I put them back into the case and back into my ears. Sounds a bit like the issue you're describing, though for me it usually worked after doing that.

 

[Marketh]

Just tried out mine for you and (sorry to report!) they seem to work fine. Had to manually connect them as they auto-connected to my iPhone, but once connected they work as expected. Hope you get to the bottom of it!

 

[anshuvorty]

I might be asking the obvious here but how did you try to pair them, i.e. did you always pair them with the iPhone or another device and used the W1-chip's auto-pairing with other iCloud devices to select them as an output device on your Mac, or did you pair them with the MBP itself right away? If it's the former, then maybe the device-switching feature is malfunctioning; that was a common issue back when the AirPods first launched (though I don't think it's that frequent anymore).

I've had it happen myself plenty of times back then – AirPods paired via an iOS device would show up in the volume menubar entry on the Mac, but when I select them, it wouldn't do it for some reason until I put them back into the case and back into my ears. Sounds a bit like the issue you're describing, though for me it usually worked after doing that.

At first, I connected the AirPods to my iPhone and then let the W1 chip auto pair it to my MacBook Pro. When this didn't work, I tried to manually pair them with my MacBook Pro using Bluetooth. It worked....in the sense that when the AirPods are in the case, the AirPods connect. As soon as I even take 1 AirPod/earbud out of the case, it disconnects. Could be user error, but if Apple is escalating the case to their Engineering team, then something could be wrong with my MacBook Pro.

Another reason why I think my MacBook Pro is having Bluetooth issues is that I tried to pair my MacBook Pro with a Bluetooth speaker, and it wouldn't connect. My iPhone connects just fine to the Bluetooth speaker, so there is nothing wrong with the speaker. In addition, the AirPods connects fine to my Windows 10 PC via Bluetooth, so if this works, this must mean something is wrong with the Bluetooth connection on my Macbook Pro. Right?

Thanks for reaching out and giving me some suggestions. Might go to the Apple Store tomorrow and help them help me pair my AirPods if it does indeed turn out to be user error, however, I don't think this is the case.

 

[anshuvorty]

Didn't know where to put this, so putting it here.

Got my 13" MBP on Friday and I was having a great time with it. Jump to yesterday and tried to pair my AirPods to it just because I was curious. A strange thing happened. The AirPods would connect but when I put them in my ears, they would disconnect.

They connect perfectly with my iPhone X and Windows 10 PC, but for some reason, the MBP doesn't want to maintain the connection with the AirPods.

I got in touch with Apple Support and my case got escalated to their Engineering Dept who will contact me later tonight. Bummer my AirPods aren't working with my new MBP.

I have tried everything that Apple Support recommended me to do: reset the AirPods, reset the Bluetooth module on the Mac, reset the SMC, and restart in Safe Mode and try to pair. Nothing worked.

Does anyone else have any similar experiences with their new 2018 MacBook Pros and the AirPods?

Edit: I am also running the latest version of macOS High Sierra - 10.13.6.

Guess what. Apple engineering didn't get back to me. I went to a local Apple Store and they ran diagnostics. They discovered that the Bluetooth Module is being wonky and the laptop requires a motherboard replacement. Apple techs gave me 2 options:


1. Return the laptop and get a replacement from Apple (can't replace the motherboard on this new machine because the parts aren't in yet). Getting this replacement will take 3-4 weeks.

2. Return the laptop for a refund and order the same config again and get the laptop in 10 business days.


Obviously chose the 2nd option. I am disappointed that my 1st MBP experience turned out this bad of an experience. PCs have never let me down like this.