Will Apple ever fix Bluetooth on Macs?

[scaramoosh]

I’m on my fifth Mac now, three Intel and two M1s. They’ve all had the same problem of Bluetooth just randomly crapping out. Everything will be fine 99 percent of the time, but just randomly it’ll disconnect my speaker. Then I’ll try using the external mouse and keyboard I use, and when I press something on them they disconnect too. It will show them just reconnecting and disconnecting after that on the Bluetooth window until I restart…. Then Bluetooth works fine after that.

It has done this same thing for years now, and it’s a problem exclusive to Macs from the computers I use.

 

[headlessmike]

I've been using bluetooth peripherals with my Macs since the early 2000s, ever since I got my first BT mouse for my iBook, and have never had such issues. The only time I experience any instabilities is when a device is low on power. I'm not questioning your experience, but I'm wondering if it might be caused be the devices rather than the computer itself.

 

[jazz1]

I’m on my fifth Mac now, three Intel and two M1s. They’ve all had the same problem of Bluetooth just randomly crapping out. Everything will be fine 99 percent of the time, but just randomly it’ll disconnect my speaker. Then I’ll try using the external mouse and keyboard I use, and when I press something on them they disconnect too. It will show them just reconnecting and disconnecting after that on the Bluetooth window until I restart…. Then Bluetooth works fine after that.

It has done this same thing for years now, and it’s a problem exclusive to Macs from the computers I use.

If your mouse and keyboard are Logitech brand, I highly recommend using the receiver/USB dongle that might have come with at least one of your devices. If the mouse and keyboard are Apple brand, then this further confirms Apple computers have a serious BT issue.

 

[scaramoosh]

It's all Apple apart from the speaker which is Samsung, but I have an ELAC and Philips, but they do the same thing. It has also happened on all my Macs for the past few years... though I don't remember it being a problem in 2015.

Now I have a new problem where my external trackpad will lag when turning on my MacBook. It's Apple's own, but it lags, then registers like 3 or 4 clicks and suddenly catches up and does that magnetic click thing really fast.

I get the my new MacBook next month, so I hope they've sorted it on that. I swear it is a Mac OS bug, cause I mean for 3/4 years I had a bug with Safari and my external GPU crashing my Mac on sleep. I had to turn sleep off and then one day an update fixed it... but too little too late as now the M1 came along with good GPUs finally!

 

[Fishrrman]

"Will Apple ever fix Bluetooth on Macs?"

My prediction and my opinion only:
No, they won't.

Bluetooth is a "weak signal" technology from the get-go.
It seems particularly susceptible to interference from USB and the 2.4ghz wifi band.

How well it works is... well... a crapshoot depending on the particulars of the individual user. Some folks have more problems with it than do others.

I have no problems with bluetooth -- because I DON'T USE IT at all...

 

[me55]

I use Bluetooth often, no issues whatsoever with a mix of Apple and non-Apple devices.

 

[MacGizmo]

Part of the problem is the fact that different manufacturers use different versions of Bluetooth. Logitech is notorious for using one or two-version old Bluetooth tech in their peripherals, with Apple using later versions. For the most part it works, but there always hiccups. Then you factor-in what @Fishrrman commented on above and it can be quite an annoyance.

 

[MajorFubar]

I feel your pain. But I thought it was a problem related exclusively to High Sierra which my iMac, being of such an age, can't upgrade from.

I completely gave up with it in the end and went with a wired keyboard, regular Logitech mouse and Magic Trackpad 2, all of which I use wired through a passive 4-way dock.

 

[robertjoe]

No, i don't think Mac ever would. The Bluetooth issue of Mac has become a very common issue for Mac users.

Every Mac user has encountered this BT problem. I solved this by using a Hideez Bluetooth dongle. And this seems to me to be the easiest way to fix Mac's BT issue. Because with a quality full dongle you can connects almost any external Bluetooth device with your Mac. Personally i used it for keyboard, mice, headphones, and speakers. And everything is going well.

Also, it's very easy to use. So, using a BT dongle you no longer have to worry about the Bluetooth issue of Mac.

 

[conmee]

“Bluetooth is just a bag of hurt.” - Steve