Poor Bluetooth reception and jerky mouse

I just bought a brand new MacPro5,1 and have had nothing but problems with my bluetooth Magic Mouse.... I took i to a Mac store and they "couldn't replicate the issue..." I am reading to throw the thing against the wall. Yes I understand I could go buy a dongle but why in the **** do I need to spend more money to fix something I just spent over $5000 on? So chalk another MP with bluetooth problems up...

Hi,

I dont have a Mac Pro but a Macbook Pro '10 and have similiar problems which I could replicate on a MBP '08 today in the Apple Store.

I really like connecting my MBP to my TV but my problem is that I cannot use the MM troublefree when using it 2m away from my MBP. Basically, the MM has to be very close to my MBP to fully work without any lag. It will not disconnect but be extremely laggy and jumpy. My MM has to be next to my MBP to work properly. The Magic Trackpad I tried in my local Apple Store wouldnt work without any flaws as well. I am wondering how people can use their MM or MT in conjuntion with their Mac Mini and a TV. Is it really the coating? I assume that the coeating of the Mac Pro and the MBP are the same. BTW, I tried it with a different BT mouse from logitech, and it was very laggy as well. I assume that not only the BT module in the Mac Pros is flawed but the one's you find in the MBP line are as well.

We it is likely to be either the case, antenna or placement since it is between the motherboard and the case. You can see a fix for the MP in the link below. However since it is showing up in the MBP, I would think that it is the coating on the case(s).

http://nobblynoel.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/mac-pro-2009-bluetooth-fix/

This totally fixed my problem. Thanks so very very much. I have an early 2008 MacPro and have had very poor bluetooth reception since I bought it. I even dragged the thing into an Apple Store once to have them look at it and they weren't able to do anything. So I've been stuck with a hard wired keyboard and mouse ever since. Now it works like a top. It even recognized my laptop 20 feet away!

Sorry to do the classic forum thing of not reading everyone's replies and then answering - Simple fix for the Mac Pro Quad lousy BT reception follows:

Get any old USB Mac compatible Bluetooth dongle - Available on eBay for pennies. Plug it in. Nothing to change - no settings, it just seems to use it as the default receiver straight away.

Things that were messing around, the Handyscanner, Blackberry, Apple Keyboard all work once and for all and don't lose reception every five minutes. Incidentally My Mac Pro is under my wooden desk, and the BT aerial can be no more than 60cms away from the keyboard.

Shouldn't have to do it should we - The original G5 Bluetooth antenna was external so was the Wi-Fi (Why change that eh?) But life's too short to put up with jerky mice and disconnecting keyboards. Do yourself a favour, and Apple, do 'yourself' a favour and send out BT dongles to everyone who purchased a MacPro and has this problem. It's not a secret, it's one of those really rare moments of bad design, and a lack of insight that antenna shielded by metal don't work that well. As we all know/knew.

I really like the bloke who took his Mac apart, broke it, and then reported it as a fix with 'how to break your Mac and void your guarantee' photo journal. A real pioneer.

Mac Pro 4.1 2009 4 core

When I first stated using my new mac pro my blue tooth reception worked great. I am a recording engineer and the MPro in an isorack which is behind a wall 6 to 7 feet from my track pad. I could also take the track pad into my main tracking room which is 12 to 14 feet away behind another wall with no problems using the track pad and wireless keyboard.

It worked great until this summer 2011. It seemed like after I did a Java update/around 10.6.8 my reception went away completely in my tracking room and was constantly losing contact at my desk.

I searched the net and found many people haveing problems.

I still thought it might be sofware OS related until today,

I bought the ebay antenna and cable that Nobelyknole recommended. I was putting the antenna on when I realized the mount was spinning and I snapped the cable. I was dissappointed. I tried to resoldring but you realy can;t do it with out a new end.

After much cursing, I put the old blue tooth connector back on for now and put the Mac back inside the iso case in the other room.

My reception is back like it was when I got the mac Pro which is great.

I did clean a couple years of dust. I did add a new drive into the last bay while I was doing the antenna modificatiion.

Figure that one out.

I'll post back if my reception goes away again.

Apple replaced the Bluetooth module, then the case. Still wouldnt work. I measured the signal strength, it ws very poor.

Turning the case sideways solved it. Not as convenient, but next they wanted me to take it to an Apple store, which is some 100 miles and a ferry ride away.

I sort of gave up.

Yea... Gave up too. Bought a $13 bluetooth dongle and attached it to my Cinema Display... Shouldn't have had to for a $5000 machine in my opinion but it was getting to be more trouble than it was worth.

Hello all,

any news on this topic?

Or does we accept that Apple sold us non working BT in Mac Pros as usual?

Sad, sad ... It is a blame.

But ok - it is time to buy my next desktop in 2013 and than I will not spent money to Apple desktops, if this is not fixed.

Holger_S

I am not interessted in content, I am interested in a working machine without bugs.

Apple should be listening with some solution by now... blah blah blah... we are all dealing with the same Apple Mac Pro bluetooth issue and i know i am not crazy... well at least about the bluetooth in my Mac Pro 1.1 since i got my MagikTouchPad... had the wireless keyboard but prefer my wired anywayz so not until the MTP did i notice the FLAW of design... EMPATHY to ALL of us dealing with this issue...

i have been following this thread for about four months and i decided to purchase a Cirago BTA-6210 v2.1... worked for about a week and then it just went away after a reboot... have not been able to get it back yet... calls to Cirago have not been answered yet (two so far - on a friday and today) maybe because of The Water Dragon Chinese New Year... but they are local in Sunnyvale California (60 miles away) so i can wait... i will add to this after i speak to them...

so today i decided to turn my box sideways and all is fine... it is a pain in the *** having to move the box and change all the connections with limited space... Apple should be ashamed that the top of the line has to be turned sideways for the bluetooth to work... "Hey thanks for buying a Porche but you have to drive it in reverse. You'll get there but just not how you expected. Extended Warranty?"

"Holger_S" nailed it...

"I am not interessted in content, I am interested in a working machine without bugs."

Apple, do you care anymore? since 2006 you knew and almost 6 years later, still no help or fix...

SHAME ON YOU! i wanted my next desktop to be a Mac Pro... hmmm... FIX IT FIRST!

exhaling...

I gave up too - I have a magic mouse, trackpad and bt keyboard gathering dust - went back to and still using original wired kb and (useless) wired mouse that I regularly whack on the desk because it stops scrolling (there is a fix on utube where you turn it upside down and really roughly rub the scroll button on desk or??? )

- I really like apple products - but now Steve is gone, my brand "loyalty" has gone too unless they FIX the **** issue.

It's a simple fix too -

Apple - you did it with the G5.

How much will it cost you if you don't?

Do you care? "Applecare"

Same issue here apple. Jerky mouse. Very frustrating. I just bought my macbook last friday. Pretty expensive machine to have to deal with a stupid issue. I hope you fix it, as I still can return my computer.

Hey,

I was experiencing problems with my Magic mouse and Keyboard on my 2011 15" macbook pro. After worrying about hardware issues, and researching kernal issues and these things It occured to me that my woes had started about the same time as I had a new WiFi router. Turning airport off cured my ills, after that I just changed the channel on my router. worked fine.

Think i've fixed it - we'll see! - EXTERNAL ANTENNA

Back using wireless keyboard, trackpad and magic mouse. (with MacPro 1.1)

I never had any connectivity issues with the keyboard - the trackpad was eratic, and the mouse unuseable.

Now all seems OK 🙂

What I did :-

First, the easy one remove the battery cover on the magic mouse - massive improvement, but not great and not good enough.

Next was a "rigged" BT antenna - acheived by taking an old BT/airport ext socket assembly from a G5.

- Remember - they USED to have external antenna sockets for both Airport and BT!

Then I plugged the BT plug from the assy into the BT card, removed an extension slot cover and ran the wire thru the opening.

Taped the small assy to the top of the rear handle, after adding isulation to the small cct board. Another huge improvement - but could be better.

Well, that socket assembly had a wire for airport too. I noticed the plug for the airport connection seemed like it should fit the socket of the BT - it does - well enough, and well enough to form a loop.

AND my mouse is now working very well indeed. - I'm not cursing every 10 seconds, which is good for the family too.

All the above won't mean much unless youv'e gutted a G5 - BUT what it proves beyond doubt for me is the MacPro has to have an external antenna to work with MagicMouse.

The design of BOTH devices is very poor for BT signal to pass thru.

I found this "how to" on adding an external antenna to an '09 MP the wire just needs to be longer for an older unit such as mine. Mac Pro 2009 Bluetooth Fix « Nobblynoel's Blog which I think has already been posted here?

I don't think Apple pay much attention to these forums unless you use a trigger word or two.

Seems to me the simple fix would be offer a kit (for FREE!!) with an external antenna that would fit in an expansion slot.

Wouldn't break the bank now would it - keep a lot of Apple fans - fans of Apple too, - Mr CEO (don't remember the name 😮 sorry!)

I may do that install of an antenna to look "proper" but then if it's working now?..... maybe not!

Complacency has been the downfall of many an empire..... #1 for a day or longer? Mr. CEO

My Mac Pro is the MacPro 1,1, Dual-Core Intel Xeon and from 2008 or 2009. I do not know the year, since I got the Mac Pro from my son when he had to 'upgrade'. It does not have Bluetooth built in, but my wireless mouse works perfectly with the tiny USB dongle supplied by Logitech in one package with the wireless mouse. I plug the dongle into one of the (wired) keyboard USB ports. It is the Logitech M505. This wireless mouse works completely like the Magic Mouse. And on a different note: the DBT-120 is no longer sold in Canada or the US and for that reason I have ordered the Iogear 421 dongle, since I want to use a trackpad, to alleviate the troubles with my thumb from too much mousing. The mouse-dongle does not work for the trackpad.