Any Mac Studio bluetooth dropouts?

[MXBY]

Is the consensus so far that the Mac Studio is a bit better than the Mac Mini with Bluetooth issues, but still not great (just OK?).

I have the Mac Mini 2018 and I've been plagued by constant Bluetooth issues over the last 3 years. Random dropouts and the range is very, very poor.

I also have two MacBook Pros (Late 2013 and 2017) and they have very few Bluetooth dropouts and the Bluetooth range is incredibly much better. There is no comparison.

I'm interested in the Mac Studio, but reliable Bluetooth would be a big reason for buying one, because I am indeed fed up with the Mac Mini.

I've now owned the Mac Studio 2022 with M1 Max for a week, and it's a much improved Bluetooth experience over my Mac Mini 2018.

I think I've had one Bluetooth dropout so far, whereas my Mac Mini 2018 would have several dropouts per day while working at the computer.

The Bluetooth range is also much improved. With my Mac Mini 2018 I could virtually not leave the same room without Bluetooth disconnecting AirPods. I can now move to other rooms without problem. Because my living space is relatively small, I have not yet found the max range of Bluetooth while moving around at home.

 

[3460169]

Sorry to somewhat necro this thread. I have an M1 Max Mac Studio with the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID for M1 Macs as well as the current generation Magic Trackpad. I never have an issue with these devices dropping out during the day while they're in use. However there have been at least 3 different mornings where these devices have been disconnected from the Mac (I leave the Mac on overnight). The Mac is not configured to sleep so it's not due to that.

I've had the system a little over a month and this behavior is new, possibly since macOS 12.5. I'm not sure. FWIW the firmware version on the KB is 1.4.8 and on the mouse it's 1.9.2. This morning's incident was particularly strange because I could not get the KB to reconnect to and wake the Mac by pressing any of the keys on the KB. I had to power-cycle the KB to get it to reconnect.

Very odd.

 

[HazardousT]

Sorry to somewhat necro this thread. I have an M1 Max Mac Studio with the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID for M1 Macs as well as the current generation Magic Trackpad. I never have an issue with these devices dropping out during the day while they're in use. However there have been at least 3 different mornings where these devices have been disconnected from the Mac (I leave the Mac on overnight). The Mac is not configured to sleep so it's not due to that.

I've had the system a little over a month and this behavior is new, possibly since macOS 12.5. I'm not sure. FWIW the firmware version on the KB is 1.4.8 and on the mouse it's 1.9.2. This morning's incident was particularly strange because I could not get the KB to reconnect to and wake the Mac by pressing any of the keys on the KB. I had to power-cycle the KB to get it to reconnect.

Very odd.

I've experienced similar problems. The only way I could get the keyboard to be recognized again was by connecting it via USB. I also do not have my Mac sleep and it has these issues.

 

[Tagbert]

Anyone know how easy it is (or not) to dual purpose a trackpad and keyboard to more than one Mac. I have an older Mini and original gen 1 trackpad (with 2 AA batteries) as well as the matching keyboard and for my MBP I have the grey/black gen 2 magic trackpad and keyboard. Could I use those for a Studio or new Mini and still connect them to my MBP when I want to work on that?

With Universal control, you might be able to directly switch input from one device to the next.

Universal Control: Everything You Need to Know

iOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 introduce Universal Control, a long-awaited feature that Apple first previewed at the 2021 Worldwide Developers...

www.macrumors.com

Right after 121.3 came out, I did this accidentally between my work and personal laptops sitting next to each other. It was a surprise! Interesting feature though I haven’t felt the need to use it much.

 

[Super Mega]

Buyers, please report your experience of the Mac Studio with Bluetooth mouse/trackpad and keyboard when you get it. I'm curious to know whether this has the same bluetooth reliability/dropout issue that has plagued the Mini for so many years.

Wayne

I bought an M1 Max Studio to replace my mac mini. I completely stopped using my Mac Mini because the Bluetooth issues were unbearable. I also ways had my trackpad and keyboards dropping, and it was so frustrating. I ended up just leaving all of my things plugged in because it would freeze up and take like 30 seconds before I connect things again. I bought the MBP 16 and have loved it so much that I never used the mac mini again. Even though it was my desktop set up.

So now I have had the Mac Studio since it came out and all of the Bluetooth has worked really well ACCEPT AUDIO 😤.

Airpods Max, Airpods Pro, and Airpods 3 all have the same problem. It is so choppy and horrible I can't even use it. It intermittently got worse too. I started with no problems, and then I started getting a little static, then complete chops, and now, I am lucky if I can even get any sound. I seriously can not believe this. The only thing apple can do at this point is have me give them the computer so they can work on it.

I have an iPhone, an iPad, a Macbook Pro, and a MacBook Air all in the same space, and they all work perfectly fine with all 3 of the AirPods. But the Mac Studio does not. It makes me so mad that these problems started like three months into ownership too. Anyway, I am desperately looking for solutions and came across this thread and wanted to leave my experience.

✌️

 

[Super Mega]

WOW, I just solved the Mac Studio Bluetooth Audio issue

So I reached a level of frustration that put me into super unnecessary troubleshooting mode, and I was able to get the Bluetooth problem to stop completely. IT'S PERFECT NOW! I mean, I completely fixed it, and my mind is blown.

So here is what I have connected:

- Magic Keyboard with TouchID
- Magic Trackpad for my left hand
- Magic Trackpad for my right hand
- Epomaker TH80
- Airpods Pro Max

As soon as I disconnected the Magic Keyboard, the Bluetooth worked perfectly. I reconnected the Magic Keyboard, and the Bluetooth completely failed again. So, I did this with every single device to see if it was just that device or if it was maxing out the Bluetooth. It appears to be maxing out the Bluetooth because every time I disconnected just one Bluetooth device, the audio worked perfectly. I would reconnect the device, and it would fail again.

So, In conclusion, my Mac Studio can not have more than 3 Bluetooth devices connected (not including the AirPods), or the audio will not work. It doesn't matter what three devices it is. It seems to be a three-device max before the audio starts failing. None of the other devices fail. They all work perfectly. It's just the audio that requires three other devices or less in order for my Airpods to work.

I hope this works for everyone else having Bluetooth audio issues with the Mac Studio. It's a bummer, but I am so stoked it works now. Now, this makes so much sense of why this only happened sometimes, and other times, it was completely perfect.

🙌

 

[njarif]

Buyers, please report your experience of the Mac Studio with Bluetooth mouse/trackpad and keyboard when you get it. I'm curious to know whether this has the same bluetooth reliability/dropout issue that has plagued the Mini for so many years.

Wayne

I have a Mac Studio and using an Apple Magic Mouse II and an Apple Keyboard. I have drop out issues with the keyboard whin it is about 2 feet away from the mac but no issues with the mous. Both keyboard and Mouse are fully charged. Could it be the Apple Keyboard's bluetooth? I deleted the Bluetooth plist from the Library but it did not resolve the issue. Apple needs to step up and provide info or a fix

 

[rworne]

Buyers, please report your experience of the Mac Studio with Bluetooth mouse/trackpad and keyboard when you get it. I'm curious to know whether this has the same bluetooth reliability/dropout issue that has plagued the Mini for so many years.

Wayne

I live in a condo, and I have a very busy BT environment. Running my BT scanner right now, I see 47 BT devices near enough for my Studio to detect it. I'm sure there's more than 47, it appears this is all that can fit on the screen. My Wi-Fi identifies 15 nearby WiFi networks.

I've had no BT issues on the Studio, but the M1 iMac above me upstairs has the slow keyboard issue a lot. Note that I use both WiFi and Ethernet on the Studio. I am using the Apple KB and mouse that were released with the Studio.

 

[MacGizmo]

I haven't come across this issue at all with 4 BT devices connected (Logitech MX keyboard and mouse, Apple Magic trackpad and and Apple AirPods Pro or Beats headphones).

 

[rworne]

After posting my "No issues" a while back, I've had one occasion where I came back to the Mac Studio with a dead keyboard. Mouse worked fine, turning off keyboard and turning it on again did not help. Only when I plugged it in directly via the lightning cable did it come back. Disconnecting the cable and it ran happily off of bluetooth after that.

 

[haralds]

On my Mac Studio M1-Ultra, Ventura B8 is miserable right now for audio, laggy magic mouse, etc.

 

[w7ay]

In my case, the occasional lagginess from an MX Master 3 mouse for Mac appears to have vanished after I turned off Continuity (System Preferences > General > Allow Handoff... ) on the Mac and all nearby iOS devices. No idea why something like that helps, but it was a hint that I read in one of these threads.

The lagginess appeared to be dependent on where the mouse is on the table. It became laggy only when I move it to when I face a second display on the side.

My Mac Studio Ultra is on the floor under the desk, while there are two iPads (and an iPod touch) sitting right on the desk. Comically, the strongest Bluetooth signals I have in the house come from four Dyson air purifiers .

An Apple wireless keyboard didn't seem to have any problem. The Mac Studio's audio is directly wired to a USB DAC, so that had never been a problem.

Oddly, unlike others, I did not notice any lag with a Mac Mini M1 that the Studio replaced. Also never had a problem with an old 2009 cheesegrater Mac Pro.

 

[mikeka]

No dropouts using my cheapie Logitech M310 bluetooth mouse either with my Ultra or my previous 2018 Mini.

Did have occasional dropouts with Apple's Magic Mouse when using the Mini. Terrible battery life too. I replace the
Logitech battery once a year compared to monthly with the Magic Mouse. Not a fan of that product.

 

[HazardousT]

I am more frequently experiencing dropouts on Blutetooth.

Just this morning both my keyboard and trackpad stopped working abruptly and would not work until I hard connected the keyboard.

 

[3460169]

I am more frequently experiencing dropouts on Blutetooth.

Just this morning both my keyboard and trackpad stopped working abruptly and would not work until I hard connected the keyboard.

Same. It's becoming more problematic. It's almost daily for me now, with the same workaround of having to hard-connect the device to the Studio. I do have a lot of RF interference where I am though, considering I live in an apt building with a lot of RF saturation from so many devices; but this is getting ridiculous. My $$$ Apple-branded keyboard and $$$ Apple-branded trackpad are less than 2 feet away from this $$$$$$$$ Apple-branded system. Hoping it's more of an OS software thing than a hardware thing, and a fixable one...

 

[HazardousT]

Same. It's becoming more problematic. It's almost daily for me now, with the same workaround of having to hard-connect the device to the Studio. I do have a lot of RF interference where I am though, considering I live in an apt building with a lot of RF saturation from so many devices; but this is getting ridiculous. My $$$ Apple-branded keyboard and $$$ Apple-branded trackpad are less than 2 feet away from this $$$$$$$$ Apple-branded system. Hoping it's more of an OS software thing than a hardware thing, and a fixable one...

Have you called Apple? I spoke with them and if anyone else is reporting these issues they did not mention it in our conversation.

All they had me do was run Diagnostics which returned zero errors.

 

[3460169]

Have you called Apple? I spoke with them and if anyone else is reporting these issues they did not mention it in our conversation.

All they had me do was run Diagnostics which returned zero errors.

Admittedly I haven't yet called them about it. It's terrible to say this but the inconvenience of this BT issue is a bit lesser than the frustration of dealing with Apple frontline support. (I'm a veteran support engineer myself for a living and have opinions on the matter to say the least!) In the past I've definitely spend a ton of time trying to work issues with them only to make zero forward progress. Regardless I'll at least report it in various mediums so they at least have another data point.

 

[Horizon Man]

All my peripherals dropped out today. I decided to connect them via cable after, and even then I just had them go dead on me.

The studio has been a very mixed experience for me and overall, not super happy right now, due to what feels like constant niggling issues.

Anyway after this, I do plan to call Apple when I can next week.

 

[Horizon Man]

I bought an M1 Max Studio to replace my mac mini. I completely stopped using my Mac Mini because the Bluetooth issues were unbearable. I also ways had my trackpad and keyboards dropping, and it was so frustrating. I ended up just leaving all of my things plugged in because it would freeze up and take like 30 seconds before I connect things again. I bought the MBP 16 and have loved it so much that I never used the mac mini again. Even though it was my desktop set up.

So now I have had the Mac Studio since it came out and all of the Bluetooth has worked really well ACCEPT AUDIO 😤.

Airpods Max, Airpods Pro, and Airpods 3 all have the same problem. It is so choppy and horrible I can't even use it. It intermittently got worse too. I started with no problems, and then I started getting a little static, then complete chops, and now, I am lucky if I can even get any sound. I seriously can not believe this. The only thing apple can do at this point is have me give them the computer so they can work on it.

I have an iPhone, an iPad, a Macbook Pro, and a MacBook Air all in the same space, and they all work perfectly fine with all 3 of the AirPods. But the Mac Studio does not. It makes me so mad that these problems started like three months into ownership too. Anyway, I am desperately looking for solutions and came across this thread and wanted to leave my experience.

✌️

Yes, the audio experience is absolutely horrific if you have any other Bluetooth devices connected, the trackpad being the worst offender for me.

 

[3460169]

I had another keyboard disconnection event this morning. It was like a light flickering: disconnected & reconnected 3x in about as many seconds. On final reconnect the Touch ID wasn't functioning. I powered off and on the KB and it continued to not function (the button itself worked for locking the screen). Finally I power-cycled the KB again then logged out and back into macOS -- still no dice with Touch ID. It took a reboot to get it functioning once again.

Being a glutton for punishment I then checked out these claims about BlueTooth audio horrors. I connected my fancy 249USD AirPod Pro 2 earbuds to the Mac and tried to play some tunes in good ol' Music.app. NOTHING WORKED. Could not get a single track to play there! It would start then immediately stop and it would beachball. I even disconnected the trackpad and keyboard -- still no dice! How in the actual effing hell is it not possible to play music with Apple's own app thru their own expensive AF earbuds??? Ludicrous and 1000% unacceptable.

The kicker here is I use Sony XM5 headphones on the regular with this Mac. I live on Zooms all day, I play music all day, no issues. (To be clear though, my keyboard and trackpad disconnect woes occur then they are the only two BT devices connected, without the XM5 in use.) I also bought the AirPod Pro 2 for use with my mobile devices predominantly, though I gotta say I'm absolutely appalled at how poor the experience with them is with macOS, coming from this multi-trilliion dollar company and all.

 

[HazardousT]

I had another keyboard disconnection event this morning. It was like a light flickering: disconnected & reconnected 3x in about as many seconds. On final reconnect the Touch ID wasn't functioning. I powered off and on the KB and it continued to not function (the button itself worked for locking the screen). Finally I power-cycled the KB again then logged out and back into macOS -- still no dice with Touch ID. It took a reboot to get it functioning once again.

Being a glutton for punishment I then checked out these claims about BlueTooth audio horrors. I connected my fancy 249USD AirPod Pro 2 earbuds to the Mac and tried to play some tunes in good ol' Music.app. NOTHING WORKED. Could not get a single track to play there! It would start then immediately stop and it would beachball. I even disconnected the trackpad and keyboard -- still no dice! How in the actual effing hell is it not possible to play music with Apple's own app thru their own expensive AF earbuds??? Ludicrous and 1000% unacceptable.

The kicker here is I use Sony XM5 headphones on the regular with this Mac. I live on Zooms all day, I play music all day, no issues. (To be clear though, my keyboard and trackpad disconnect woes occur then they are the only two BT devices connected, without the XM5 in use.) I also bought the AirPod Pro 2 for use with my mobile devices predominantly, though I gotta say I'm absolutely appalled at how poor the experience with them is with macOS, coming from this multi-trilliion dollar company and all.

I truly hope that they figure out these issues and it's a simple firmware or software fix and not some hardware issue that can't be resolved without an upgrade to a newer machine.

This is maddening.

 

[zebullon290276]

On my Mac Studio M1-Ultra, Ventura B8 is miserable right now for audio, laggy magic mouse, etc.

"Happy" to hear that... I'm not the only one.
Not mac studio here but mac mini M1, but with latest Monterey I've no more bluetooth issue, specifically trackpad lags and cursor "jumping".
But since Ventura upgrade 2 days ago, the laggy bluetooth trackpad is back

It's clearly a software problem instead of harware issue. At least on Mx computers

 

[3460169]

"Happy" to hear that... I'm not the only one.
Not mac studio here but mac mini M1, but with latest Monterey I've no more bluetooth issue, specifically trackpad lags and cursor "jumping".
But since Ventura upgrade 2 days ago, the laggy bluetooth trackpad is back

It's clearly a software problem instead of harware issue. At least on Mx computers

I was literally about to ask how the BT behavior was on Ventura. I'm not at all surprised by your experience at this point. Perhaps Apple has their collective heads so far up their trillion-dollar a$$$es they just can't see this problem. Seems a reasonable working theory right? ;-)

Personally I've no plans to "upgrade" to Ventura until at least a dot-one or dot-two release and when I do that it'll be a clean install. I have the tiniest modicum of hope that maybe this BT thing will be handled in some useful way. Our collective voices maybe need to be louder on this subject. Besides spamming them with feedback at their Feedback portal and calling their support hotline -- is there any other meaningful ways to raise core issues like this?

 

[meboy]

There are reports all over saying that beyond 2 devices and it seems to have issues.
IE keyboard and mouse okay. Keyboard, mouse, earphones and earphones audio will drop out regularly.
Guess there are more dropouts on other devices but depends on the device and how noticable it is.

Either way pretty unacceptable.
It's Bluetooth 5.0 in the studio and yeah aluminum is pretty bad for antennas.
This is a design flaw.

Hopefully when the studio gets M2 the improve Bluetooth.

 

[HazardousT]

There are reports all over saying that beyond 2 devices and it seems to have issues.
IE keyboard and mouse okay. Keyboard, mouse, earphones and earphones audio will drop out regularly.
Guess there are more dropouts on other devices but depends on the device and how noticable it is.

Either way pretty unacceptable.
It's Bluetooth 5.0 in the studio and yeah aluminum is pretty bad for antennas.
This is a design flaw.

Hopefully when the studio gets M2 the improve Bluetooth.

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.