Macbook 12 & bluetooth headphones

[pjny]

Hi,

I tried to get connect my Macbook 12 and bluetooth headphones using bluetooth system preferences but don't see any options. Is the headphone jack the only way to listen to audio from the Macbook? I switched to bluetooth for my iPhone and don't carry the regular headphones anymore. Thanks,

 

[Queen6]

Nope Bluetooth works fine I use BT speakers majority of the time

Q-6

 

[CTU Kyoto]

Hi,

I tried to get connect my Macbook 12 and bluetooth headphones using bluetooth system preferences but don't see any options. Is the headphone jack the only way to listen to audio from the Macbook? I switched to bluetooth for my iPhone and don't carry the regular headphones anymore. Thanks,

The tricky thing is that most Bluetooth accessories can only be paired to one device at a time. This is probably why you weren't seeing your headphones on your Mac - they are likely already paired to your iPhone and therefore when you turn them on in range of your Mac, the Mac is not "seeing" them. I've seen a keyboard before that had a switch on it to move between three different stored pairings, but I don't know of any headphones that do it.

So to use your headphones with your Mac you will need to:

1. Open Bluetooth in the System Preferences and you'll see a list of devices already paired, probably blank if you haven't paired a keyboard or mouse.
2. Put your headphones in pairing mode rather than just turning them on. This is usually done by holding down one of the buttons on them, so check your instructions. They will probably beep and/or flash a light rapidly or some other sign that they are in this mode.
3. They should appear in that list on your Mac and have a Pair button. Click it to pair and you can use them right away.

While you're in this screen, tick the option to have Bluetooth show in the menu bar if you haven't already done so. When you turn your headphones on in range of your Mac they should connect automatically and you can see them in the menu bar list when you click that icon.

Also, you can option-click the speaker icon in your menu bar to see what is set as the current sound input and output device. This is useful if you are listening on your headphones but want to play something through the speakers e.g. for showing someone a video, and you don't want to have to disconnect and reconnect your headphones.

Hope this helps!