macOS 12.4 and bluetooth problems

[project_2501]

MacOS 12.4 has made the reliability of m Apple Wireless Keyboard and Trackpad much worse.

I had almost no problems with my 2015 MBP and first/second gen keyboard and trackpad (clamshell mode).

The Apple 2021 14" MBP M1 Max and new wireless keyboard and trackpad were far less reliable, with a 5-10 second connection time on power and then occasional dropouts.

Upgrading to MacOS 12.4 has made this worse - the trackpad rarely connects now - and a

sudo pkill bluetoothd

is required to get things working almost every time I boot up.

Any suggestions?

 

[project_2501]

Oddly the bluetooth connection to my Bose QC 35ii has improved with the M1 Max over my 2015 MBP.

The signal strength seems stronger and works over a larger range.

But initial connections can be a pain and this is less reliable than the 2015 MBP.

 

[rbart]

Have you noticed (like me) that your BT problems occur when CPU load is high ?
On my iMac 27-2015, it's always the case, all is smooth when I have a light usage, and the mouse starts to stutter when I run heavy tasks (or when the OS has a lot of activity, at startup for example).
I am on a clean install.
I have tried again with Big Sur, and I don't have this problem.
It's linked to the new bluetooth stack in Monterey

 

[project_2501]

Thanks @rbart - that's useful.

I am surprised by the high CPU issue - would have thought the CPU load was low when booting up and not really "doing anything".

Still - the new bluetooth stack seems a real regression.

 

[theipodgod16]

Noticeable right away after upgrading...is there a way to reset something on BT to fix this?

 

[rbart]

Unfortunately, there is no working solution for me (mouse lag).
I have tried all the usual tips:
- clear NVRAM/SMC
- boot in safe mode
- reset BT settings (with command line, remove BT plist)
- unpair/pair
- clean install
...
The only fix is to go back to Big Sur, but I don't want...

 

[project_2501]

I'm going to compete Apple's feedback form - who knows if they read such submissions...

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

 

[netnothing]

I'm having issues as well. Mac Studio + Studio Display + Magic Keyboard + Magic Mouse.

In the last few days, it seems that when I log my Mac and the display turns off - after some amount of time, maybe 30 minutes or more, I believe both devices are disconnected.

Why do I think this? It takes a couple keyboard presses to get the screen to wake up.
When the screen wakes up, I am forced to enter my password (can't use TouchID).
I have to click the mouse to have it connect.

Generally while the Mac is on and unlocked, the connections are fine.

Not idea how to fix or why it's happening now.

 

[project_2501]

hi @netnothing - I too get the same issue.

Do you use a Thunderbolt dock? I do, and some suspect the issue is related to that.

 

[netnothing]

Nope, no dock - but I have heard similar things from people.

I have the following plugged directly into my Mac Studio

- Studio Display
- USB C Thunderbolt to OWC 4 Bay Enclosure
- Cable to UPS battery backup
- USB C to Headphone adapter to speakers

I just went through the process of removing both my Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse and re-pairing them. We'll see if that changes anything. I'll report back if it does.

What's weird is this only started happening a couple days ago, about a week after 12.4 came out (I updated on release day).

 

[leon.guan]

I have excately the same issue recently, the magic mouse began lagging time to time, especially the CPU usage is higher. The problem went worse if I connect an external display to my iMac.

If I have the external display connected, my CPU usages went worse time to time, especially the WindowServer thread, I tried a lot of ways, even reinstall Montenery, no luck.

Thinking about upgraded to M1 mac, but just saw same issue above from @netnothings's Mac Studio, speechless.

 

[netnothing]

I have excately the same issue recently, the magic mouse began lagging time to time, especially the CPU usage is higher. The problem went worse if I connect an external display to my iMac.

If I have the external display connected, my CPU usages went worse time to time, especially the WindowServer thread, I tried a lot of ways, even reinstall Montenery, no luck.

Thinking about upgraded to M1 mac, but just saw same issue above from @netnothings's Mac Studio, speechless.

Yeah, from time to time my Magic Mouse will lag. It's not a lot, but noticeable when it happens. My Mac Studio is only about 2 ft away from the mouse.

Update on my bluetooth disconnecting when the display is locked and screen off - after removing both the Magic Keyboard and Mouse and re-pairing them - this morning every was working as it should. One click of the keyboard woke the screen and I was able to use TouchID. Will keep checking to see if this sticks.

 

[project_2501]

Today the MBP 14" M1 Max threw up a dialogue asking me to configure the unknown keyboard.

That keyboard being the Apple Wireless keyboard that is about 4 inches from the laptop.

 

[netnothing]

Well, looks like my un-pairing and re-pairing lasted a little over a week. During this week they have been perfect. Never disconnecting and always connected to wake the screen.

After doing that on 5/27, I woke up this morning to the keyboard taking multiple presses to wake the display, meaning it was disconnected and had to reconnect. The mouse was disconnected as well. And of course because of that TouchID wasn’t enabled to login and I needed my password.

So I just removed both and reconnected and we’ll see if it lasts another week or so.

 

[netnothing]

Well, looks like my un-pairing and re-pairing lasted a little over a week. During this week they have been perfect. Never disconnecting and always connected to wake the screen.

After doing that on 5/27, I woke up this morning to the keyboard taking multiple presses to wake the display, meaning it was disconnected and had to reconnect. The mouse was disconnected as well. And of course because of that TouchID wasn’t enabled to login and I needed my password.

So I just removed both and reconnected and we’ll see if it lasts another week or so.

Nope....only Wednesday and it's acting up again. Was disconnected this morning.

 

[project_2501]

mine is getting worse - I have to do a

pkill bluetoothd

more often

 

[netnothing]

So I’m trying something new. Usually I charge both the magic keyboard and Magic Mouse using lighting cables that are plugged into a charging brick.

This week I tried charging each using a lighting cable plugged into my Mac Studio. This way I’m hoping it sort of keeps the connection or re-pairs the device again. No idea if it’ll work but at this point I’m out of ideas.

 

[netnothing]

So I’m trying something new. Usually I charge both the magic keyboard and Magic Mouse using lighting cables that are plugged into a charging brick.

This week I tried charging each using a lighting cable plugged into my Mac Studio. This way I’m hoping it sort of keeps the connection or re-pairs the device again. No idea if it’ll work but at this point I’m out of ideas.

Welp, that didn't work. I woke up this morning to both the keyboard and mouse disconnected.

Wonder if Apple actually uses their own hardware and software?!?

 

[mikederaco]

So I have been having this issue for over a month now. I'm on a macbook pro 2018-15". I typically have a magic mouse, wireless keyboard and Airpod pros connected. I have two monitors connected via HDMI and I keep my macbook closed all day.

So the lag issue happens periodically throughout the day and the only "fix" I have found is to crack open my laptop screen just enough for the monitor activate, once I do that I still have the issue but it is much less frequent. I also recently disconnected my Airpods so now it's just my mouse and keyboard and that seems to be a little better but not a total fix.

Like everyone else I have tried a disconnecting and reconnecting, the terminal sudo kill with a restart, and a fresh install and I still am having the issue.

I hope Apple figures this out soon because as you all know it is incredibly annoying/frustrating. If I find any other temporary solutions I will post them.

 

[project_2501]

So I have been having this issue for over a month now. I'm on a macbook pro 2018-15". I typically have a magic mouse, wireless keyboard and Airpod pros connected. I have two monitors connected via HDMI and I keep my macbook closed all day.

So the lag issue happens periodically throughout the day and the only "fix" I have found is to crack open my laptop screen just enough for the monitor activate, once I do that I still have the issue but it is much less frequent. I also recently disconnected my Airpods so now it's just my mouse and keyboard and that seems to be a little better but not a total fix.

Like everyone else I have tried a disconnecting and reconnecting, the terminal sudo kill with a restart, and a fresh install and I still am having the issue.

I hope Apple figures this out soon because as you all know it is incredibly annoying/frustrating. If I find any other temporary solutions I will post them.

I was going to do a wipe and fresh install of the OS but your comment suggests it doesn't help.

Is there any way of checking to see if the Bluetooth hardware used by Apple is at fault?

My other laptops have no problem. My 2015 mbp had no problem. My Google pixel 4a is extremely reliable with Bluetooth...

 

[mikederaco]

I was going to do a wipe and fresh install of the OS but your comment suggests it doesn't help.

Is there any way of checking to see if the Bluetooth hardware used by Apple is at fault?

My other laptops have no problem. My 2015 mbp had no problem. My Google pixel 4a is extremely reliable with Bluetooth...

From what I am reading on this thread and other sites is that it seems to be a Monterey OS issue but not for all users which is the hardest thing to troubleshoot and fix for software developers. If everyone was having the issue it would be easier for them to find and identify the issue and resolve it.

I think the only thing we can all do is report the issue to Apple and hope enough users report it.

 

[mikederaco]

I have an update for everyone. I am not guaranteeing this is a fix for everyone, but about a month (after I did a full factory reset) I decided to be pretty picky about what devices I had connected with bluetooth to my laptop. At first it was just my magic mouse, keyboard and airpod pros. I went from having 5-10 lag issues a day (before reset) to maybe 1 minor lag issue in the past month.

This morning was the first time I connected my cell phone (iPhone 13) to my laptop via Bluetooth and I have had 4 bluetooth lagging issues with my magic mouse already today. I just removed my cell phone from my laptop's bluetooth connected devices and so far so good.

So again I am not 100% sure that is the fix but I wanted to at least pass it along.

 

[rbart]

In my case, I have disabled continuity and universal control and I don’t have problems anymore.
These features have probably a very intensive usage of BT and can cause lags
Since I have disabled this (I don’t really use that), it works really better (iMac 5k 2015)

 

[mikederaco]

In my case, I have disabled continuity and universal control and I don’t have problems anymore.
These features have probably a very intensive usage of BT and can cause lags
Since I have disabled this (I don’t really use that), it works really better (iMac 5k 2015)

Thank you rbart! I just did both those things on my mac (macbook pro 2018) so hopefully that helps as well.

For anyone that wants to try adjusting your preferences to match what rbart is suggestion (current version: Monterey 12.4) here are two screen shots to help

 

[rbart]

Thank you rbart! I just did both those things on my mac (macbook pro 2018) so hopefully that helps as well.

For anyone that wants to try adjusting your preferences to match what rbart is suggestion (current version: Monterey 12.4) here are two screen shots to help

Tell us if it fixes the issue for you !