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Beats X Headphones won't connect to Retina MacBook

Hankster

Hankster

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 30, 2008
2,475
440
Washington DC
OS 10.11.5 on my Retina MacBook. I just purchased the Beats X headphones and it connects to my iPhone right away. However, it will not display on my MacBook at all. My MacBook keeps "looking" but nothing appears. I've pressed the white light button on the headphones, tried everything...thoughts?
 
if your macbook is on your iphones icloud account, then check the volume icon on your mac (top right corner). On Sierra you get all of your wireless devices there,just make sure to turn on your beats
 
Easy one...it's connecting to you iPhone first every time....

Click on Bluetooth on your iPhone, click on the Beats X, click on the little "i" information button and "forget this device".

Then try to connect to your rMB and it will come up right away.
 
Hankster said:
OS 10.11.5 on my Retina MacBook. I just purchased the Beats X headphones and it connects to my iPhone right away. However, it will not display on my MacBook at all. My MacBook keeps "looking" but nothing appears. I've pressed the white light button on the headphones, tried everything...thoughts?
Click to expand...
You'll most likely need to upgrade your Mac to 10.12 Sierra. Sierra is listed as a system requirement to use the headphones the way you'd like.
https://www.beatsbydre.com/earphones/beats-x and scroll down to the "Apple W1 chip" section.
With Sierra you will easily be able to use the headphones with all your devices without having to manually change any settings aside from the output settings.
 
TommyBoy5 said:
Easy one...it's connecting to you iPhone first every time....

Click on Bluetooth on your iPhone, click on the Beats X, click on the little "i" information button and "forget this device".

Then try to connect to your rMB and it will come up right away.
Click to expand...

My iPhone is not using Beats X. That's no the issue. I have everything turned off on my iPhone and the MacBook still will not even recognize the device. I'm wondering if there is a bluetooth issue with the laptop. And yes, I have the headset turned on.
[doublepost=1488903967][/doublepost]
chrfr said:
You'll most likely need to upgrade your Mac to 10.12 Sierra. Sierra is listed as a system requirement to use the headphones the way you'd like.
https://www.beatsbydre.com/earphones/beats-x and scroll down to the "Apple W1 chip" section.
With Sierra you will easily be able to use the headphones with all your devices without having to manually change any settings aside from the output settings.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm updated my laptop now. However, my concern is even with my current OS it doesn't even recognize the device. That's a problem with the laptop's bluetooth. I hope the update works.
 
Hankster said:
Thanks. I'm updated my laptop now. However, my concern is even with my current OS it doesn't even recognize the device. That's a problem with the laptop's bluetooth. I hope the update works.
Click to expand...
Even if you're not using them with the iPhone, pair them with the iPhone once. Maybe that will propagate the setup to other devices. The iPhone is also how the headphones get firmware updates so that might make things work better in general, if there's an update available.
 
I just updated my MacBook to Sierra but nothing has changed. The laptop does not recognize the headset. It has nothing to do with my iPhone. I have 100% removed the iPhone from the Beats X and the laptop will not even discover the device. The laptop's bluetooth is broken. That's disappointing since this laptop is less than two months old.

Also, just to share I know how bluetooth works. I've used bluetooth on all my MacBooks which is about six in the last nine years. This is the first time the laptop won't recognize a device. I'll have to set up a Genius appointment. Oddly, I had the same bluetooth issue on my last Retina MacBook (the early 2015 model).

Thanks for the feedback all.
 
Hankster said:
Also, just to share I know how bluetooth works. I've used bluetooth on all my MacBooks which is about six in the last nine years. This is the first time the laptop won't recognize a device. I'll have to set up a Genius appointment. Oddly, I had the same bluetooth issue on my last Retina MacBook (the early 2015 model).

Thanks for the feedback all.
Click to expand...
Before you take it in for repair, you might try this one last process to reset the bluetooth hardware:
http://osxdaily.com/2015/12/15/reset-bluetooth-hardware-module-mac-osx/
 
chrfr said:
Before you take it in for repair, you might try this one last process to reset the bluetooth hardware:
http://osxdaily.com/2015/12/15/reset-bluetooth-hardware-module-mac-osx/
Click to expand...

I've seen that already. Didn't work. It's clear the laptop's bluetooth is broken. I even brought out my old Jawbones and they aren't even showing up on the bluetooth list. A bit annoying since I had this same issue on my last Retina MacBook. My appointment is in an hour so will see what's wrong soon.
 
Update: For those who may have this issue.

Just returned from the Apple store. The issue is software with both my Retina MacBook and the Beats X headphones. They used three laptops and none were able to connect successfully to the Beats X. They would appear as discovered, but the connection would loop and then lag out. After diagnostics the only way to repair this is to perform a full reinstall of the OS on my laptop.

So, for now Beats X only connects to my iPhone 7. It will not connect to anything else (iPad, MacBooks). At the same time the bluetooth on my laptop is broken. It will not connect to anything without timing out.
 
chrfr said:
I'll bet that won't fix it either.
Click to expand...

Apple needs a software patch. My prior Retina MacBook had the same issue after one year. The Bluetooth just stopped working completely. The issue is the Beats X software is not compatible with Bluetooth it seems and the Bluetooth software in the Retina MacBooks have serious issues. I have a friend who has these headphones, he uses a Lenovo laptop and says he cannot get the laptop to recognize the headphones either. It seems these only work with the iPhone. Sort of sad.
 
Hankster said:
My iPhone is not using Beats X. That's no the issue. I have everything turned off on my iPhone and the MacBook still will not even recognize the device. I'm wondering if there is a bluetooth issue with the laptop. And yes, I have the headset turned on.
[doublepost=1488903967][/doublepost]

Thanks. I'm updated my laptop now. However, my concern is even with my current OS it doesn't even recognize the device. That's a problem with the laptop's bluetooth. I hope the update works.
Click to expand...

The reason I thought it could be an issue is because of this statement in your original post:

"I just purchased the Beats X headphones and it connects to my iPhone right away."
 
Hankster said:
Update: For those who may have this issue.

Just returned from the Apple store. The issue is software with both my Retina MacBook and the Beats X headphones. They used three laptops and none were able to connect successfully to the Beats X. They would appear as discovered, but the connection would loop and then lag out. After diagnostics the only way to repair this is to perform a full reinstall of the OS on my laptop.

So, for now Beats X only connects to my iPhone 7. It will not connect to anything else (iPad, MacBooks). At the same time the bluetooth on my laptop is broken. It will not connect to anything without timing out.
Click to expand...


I'm having the same problem - after reinstalling the OS, did it make a difference?
 
i have the solution you need to press the power button of your beats x 10s not just make it on
it works for me
 
Hankster said:
Apple needs a software patch. My prior Retina MacBook had the same issue after one year. The Bluetooth just stopped working completely. The issue is the Beats X software is not compatible with Bluetooth it seems and the Bluetooth software in the Retina MacBooks have serious issues. I have a friend who has these headphones, he uses a Lenovo laptop and says he cannot get the laptop to recognize the headphones either. It seems these only work with the iPhone. Sort of sad.
Click to expand...

plug the beats into your computer through the usb...then power on and it should appear in the bluetooth...that worked for me as i was having the same issue
 
omg that worked!!! thanks so much btw I'm using sony headphone but it worked as well. Thank you so much!!!
 
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