AirDrop conitnually Failing between iPhone and MacBook

Same issue. Since updating my computer and phone to current releases, airdrop continuously fails. Have tried restarting both devices, disabling and re-enabling airdrop on both ends, turning bluetooth off and on, and still fails.

It worked seamlessly prior to updating my computer and phone.

14.1 did NOT fix the problem for me. My iPhone 12 (iOS 17.1) continually FAILS when trying to AirDrop photos to my MacBook Air M2. My partner's iPhone 15 CAN AirDrop photos to both mine and his Sonoma 14.1 computers.

I still think it's a problem with Sonoma, though. I can AirDrop from the computer to the phone and Airdrop my phone to his phone.

But NOT my phone to my Mac.

I urge everybody to Google "Apple Feedback" and let them know what's going on, because they really aren't paying attention.

However, my.computer is named [ComputerName].

On my iPhone today, I tapped AirDrop and saw [ComputerName} at the top of the list as usual.

But today I scrolled down to find another item named exactly the same, but this one without the correct icon.

I transferred to that and it worked almost instantly.

It's a gibbly, inattentive glitch in Sonoma.

Please let Apple know.

I'm having this exact same issue of not being able to airdrop from my iPhone to MBA M2 after upgrading to Sonoma 14.2.1 from Ventura yesterday. The other direction (Mac to iPhone works though). Everything was working fine before upgrading to Sonoma.

so many people reporting this issue and I have yet to see an official response from Apple

I spent HOURS at the local Genius Bar trying to get this issue fixed. Hours more on several phone sessions with senior tech advisors at Apple.

But the guy on the phone actually pointed me in the direction of resolving the issue myself.

My problem was that I had several different contact cards for myself, each for a separate purpose, but they all had my Apple ID on them (both email and phone) and 2 of them had my secondary Apple ID that I use for App Store and iTunes Store purchases.

I modified those cards so that only one of them contained my main Apple messaging ID phone number and email. That information was removed from ALL other cards. then I made sure that the same contact cards on my phone were identical to those on my Mac.

Restart, restart.

Problem solved: AirDrop and HandOff now both work as they should in both directions.

Who else gets excited to know they can spend oodles more money than the ordinary people pay who buy ordinary devices only to discover that their devices -- not to allow any confusing antecedents here, by "their" I mean the devices of those of us giddy enough to buy Apple products -- are replete with bugs. Not just any bugs, but APPLE bugs. These bugs are extraordinary because they can inflict a harsh sense of "WTF?!?!" and "Not AGAIN!?!" and a whole host of other perplexing and annoying emotions.

It makes me laugh to be told, when Airdrop repeatedly fails to function, "Every now and then you just need to reboot your devices." Really? How simple. Who'd a thunk.

Well, tell you what. REBOOT this! <insert gif of penguin staring at monitor whilst excitedly typing S-A-M-S-U-N-G on the keyboard>

I have similar issue, Macbook pro 14" MacOs Sonoma and iphone 15 promax iOS 17.0.3, see each other, iphone can send to macbook, macbook can send small image to iphone, but a MOV video file ~500MB, the transfer was good until in the end, it show "failed" on iphone and "cancel" on macbook

solution >>> check this out > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXP6HYgnJyY

The reply from Arman Rajabzadeh in this post worked for me.

I could Airdrop from my Macbook running Sonoma 14.3 up TO my iPhone but when Airdropping FROM my iPhone down to my Macbook I was getting a "Waiting"message on my iPhone.

His fix is to enter the following command in the Terminal:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist NoMulticastAdvertisements -bool false

Then restart the computer.

I am experiencing persistent AirDrop issues on my iPhone 16 Pro (iOS 17.0.3) and both my MacBook Pro 14” (Sonoma 14.1) and MacBook Air 13 M2, disrupting my workflow for over six months. Despite exhaustive troubleshooting, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth resets, software updates, and even system reinstalls, the problem endures. The items are recognised, I just always get a “failure” notice. The correct device name appears for AirDrop etc. Very occasionally a duplicate listing with an incorrect icon allows file transfer, hinting at a systemic inconsistency. This issue has not only persisted across different phones but also through recent software updates and even after a complete reinstallation of the operating system on my MacBook Pro.

Hi there,

I've tried the "sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist NoMulticastAdvertisements -bool false" command from Blade996 & Arman_Rajabzadeh and rebooted. Doesn't worked for me. Investigating the Sonoma 14.4.1 Firewall details (System menu -> Network -> Firewall -> Options...) and disabled the "Block all incoming connections". (sorry if wrong : translated from french menus). Tried a new airdrop from my iPhone and iPad (each with latest 17.4.1 update) and YES ! IT WORKS !!!

Hope this helps

this is extremely unacceptable! I am a creator and I use my iPhone regularly to record and take pictures. I also need to send it to my Mac somehow to edit them, they have to fix this asap!!

I've narrowed it down to the laptop. Used another iPhone on 17.0.3 and airdrop fails sending to MBP. I turned off private relay on every device but that didnt change outcome. Airdrop is now useless to me on Sonoma.

MachitoLFC wrote:

17.0.3 is the latest

That is not what you posted before.

Make sure to reboot the computer and power cycle the iPhone. Sometimes they both just need to be rebooted.

If that does not work, then see if you can turn off Air Drop on the computer, then turn it back on. I was going down that road the last time I had an issue with Air Drop. Sometimes just toggling settings can help.

Use AirDrop on your Mac to send files to devices near you - Apple Support

Can the iPhone actually see the computer as an option for the destination?