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Software Fix for M1 Mac Bluetooth Connectivity Issues Reportedly On the Way

I had similar keyboard & trackpad bluetooth disconnection problems with my Mac Mini 2018. Also my iPhone XR & iPad Pro wouldn't connect via AirPlay on Catalina, but worked OK with an old iMac on Mojave. I made two changes which fixed these problems:
- I moved my cordless phone (2.4 GHz band) to about 4 feet away from the Mini;
- I split the single router SSID into one for 2.4GHz and one for 5 GHz and connected all my Apple devices to 5 GHZ WiFi with fixed IP addresses.
I haven't had a recurrence of either problem since then.
 
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I am glad it is just not me then! I was a bit disappointed as the mini works so nicely otherwise. But as lots of others have said, I get the same problems with BT on my other Mac (2019 MBP) too!
 
Can confirm - I have an Apple Engineering case open for this and am told they are actively working a fix. They provide no ETA but they claim disabling FileVault Disk Encryption is a workaround - I don't have it enabled....
 
Very happy about this, I suffer this issue too on my boyfriend's M1 Mini. The only workaround I've found was to disable Wi-Fi, but that makes using Airdrop annoying really quickly. Can say it definitely deterred me from getting a Mini and I was waiting for the next iMac instead. Let's hope the patch actually fixes the problem.
 
ghanwani said:
Would this affect access to iPhone functions like, e.g., making a phone call via the facetime app on macos and tethering?
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I haven't experienced any dropouts so far tethering a M1 MBA via my phone's cellular data.

As for making a facetime call while my computer is tethered to the phone...mmm... I did that a few times last Friday and I did notice that my computer was disconnected from the mobile phone tethering afterwards. I wonder if it was just that the computer went to sleep or it was something connected with M1 or BS. I shall check it out tomorrow and see what happens.

EDIT: Both calls I made were via the phone and not the computer. I shall check via the computer.
 
eenuuk said:
Can confirm - I have an Apple Engineering case open for this and am told they are actively working a fix. They provide no ETA but they claim disabling FileVault Disk Encryption is a workaround - I don't have it enabled....
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exactly, not a workaround if it's already off. and disable wifi? seriously? wow...
 
AppleTO said:
For me it’s not disconnecting, it’s latency issues. My Logitech mouse is basically unusable via Bluetooth. I really hope this is fixed soon.
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Same for me. My MX mouse used to have bad days connected to my MBP16 but every day was a bad day with my M1 Mini. Couldn't find the Logitech receiver that came with the mouse so purchased a new one, and has been fine since.
 
JWD said:
You must be new to Mac. Mini are rarely released, you’ll be waiting for years for Gen 2.
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A bit presumptuous of you. I go back a long way with Apple including 8 years as an employee. As the M1 generation is new tech, I believe an update could arrive in 12 to 18 months. Time will tell.
 
I can confirm that the public beta of Big Sur 11.2 has so far fixed my Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse BT connectivity issues on my M1 Mac mini. This is just me though, YMMV.

I was seriously on the brink of returning it. I am now just waiting on LaCie to release an M1 compatible version of their RAID Manager software so I can use their 5Big TB2 RAID enclosure again. Have my iCloud photo library synced to it, etc. want to start video editing on it, the whole reason for purchase. Early adoption woes...
 
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tvamvarg said:
OT:
Why Does Macrumors Still Think It's A Good Idea To Capitalize Every Word Of A Heading?

It's not making things more legible, for sure.
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To be fair - that's how headings should be written, with every main word in capitals but small (joining) words in lowercase. Subjectively though, they did screw up with the capitalised 'On', unless they had put 'On the way' in quotes as I just did!
 
I have never been more excited about a software update. The M1 Mac Mini is the first non-laptop I have ever owned so the BT connectivity issues were crippling my ability to even use the damn thing!
 
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mdwsta4 said:
I have never been more excited about a software update. The M1 Mac Mini is the first non-laptop I have ever owned so the BT connectivity issues were crippling my ability to even use the damn thing!
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I'm wondering though when they will release the update. If I remember correctly, there has been only one beta of 11.2 so far.
 
This issue was exactly the same for the 2018 minis and Apple never even acknowledged it.

I personally believe it’s a hardware (shielding) issue that can’t be fixed through an update.

Avoiding using the USB-A ports and forcing the mini to only connect to 5ghz WiFi channels “fixed“ my issues.

Using Logitech’s radio frequency mice and keyboards is also a “fix”.

Kinda blows my mind that I’ve never had as much as a single Bt issue on any iOS device or my old, obsolete, 2009 mbp, or my airpods(except when connected to my 2018 mini). But the 2018 mini is such a mess in regards to Bt.
 
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I returned mine last week. First time I've ever returned something. Back to the 2018 mini which does have an issue (but could be from me upgrading the ram) as it crashes on heavy load unless I manually make the fans 100% but no bluetooth issues. I'll wait for new v2 mini or the Mac Pro or iMac. I was using lightning cables for the keyboard and trackpad but when it wouldn't work with AirPods Pro Max I returned it.
 
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It’s not really that much of a surprise to me, new gen new issues. I think it would be a bit naive to think that any new piece of hardware that is to be used in a wide variety of scenarios would be problem free, especially on the software side, especially as there are more and more users using it in an ever wider variety of users. Granted it’s a glaring issue but manufacturing is never 100% perfect, especially in the software side.

I’m just glad that issues are being acknowledged and addressed
 
azentropy said:
I get frequent Magic Mouse (both a 1 and a 2) disconnects/reconnects on my early 2020 13" MBP. Don't get them with the same mice on my MBA M1.
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Me too here with MBP 2020 13“ i5. Every 10-15 days all my bluetooth devices (Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, Bose QC 35) disconnect suddenly. I hate it!!
My MBP 2015 15“ does not have this problem. Still my workhorse. #TeamAluBomber ✊
 
I have had this M1 Mac mini since mid December and I have had terrible lag and disconnects the whole time. I use a magic trackpad and keyboard both brand new along with an MX 3 mouse from Logitech.
I tried every possible solution to fix this issue.
The other day I found a youtube video explaining how to fix and I rolled my eyes at first because it was too simple sounding.

1. Shut down
2. Unplug power cable for 10 seconds
3. Plug back in
4. Wait 5 seconds
6. Start up as usual

It has been over 48 hours now and I haven't had any lag or disconnects. It has worked perfectly in every way as far as bluetooth is concerned. I know it sounds stupid but this is the only time since I have owned this thing that it hasn't caused me to freak out and swear at it.
 
I hope that there's a more general fix, as my 2020 13" MBP (Intel) has had real issues with BT connectivity ever since I upgraded to Big Sur. I thought that my keyboard and mouse were going bad, but they work perfectly with my work laptop. You can't take away so many ports and not have great BT connectivity.
 
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