Bluetooth issues on iMac 5k 2017

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Level 1

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Bluetooth issues on iMac 5k 2017

Last year I bought a top end 27" iMac 5k with Radeon 580, i7 CPU and 2TB Fusion Drive. Included was the Magic Mouse 2 and a BT Keyboard.

Problem with this machine is that it frequently loses connectivity to the Mouse and most of the time also the keyboard. Especially after waking up from sleep mode.

I called Apple support (it is on 3y AppleCare) and they suggested to to a PRAM reset. After that the problem was somewhat better but nowhere near usable. BT connection drops randomly and sometimes needs minutes to come back. I have plugged in the keyboard now all the time and use a second mouse with USB in order to be able to use the system. Reinstalling the OS will certainly not help, because this is practically a fresh install that got very little use.

Searching the internet and this forum it looks to me as if many people have this problem and there is no fix. I cannot imagine millions of users working with this flaw without comlaining, so there must be a solution.

Does anybody have an idea how to fix this? I would let apple replace the hardware, but it seems that also does not do the trick.

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 17, 2019 8:43 AM

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Answer 1

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Allan Jones

Level 9

68,762 points

Jul 17, 2019 11:43 AM in response to schmadde

The first thing to suspect is electronic interference. This Apple article discusses the subject:

Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference - Apple Support

I have almost no issues at home where the desk phone is old-school corded. When I volunteer at a local museum, I have fits with disconnects. The difference is that the volunteer desk at the museum is "ground zero" for all the museum's tech. There is a PC tower computer with both wifi and BlueTooth, a wireless-enabled printer, the base station for our wireless phone handsets, a router/modem, and the credit card approval device. It's a mess!

If you cannot identify any sources of interference, try restarting the computer. If that hasn't helped, try an SMC reset:

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

schmadde Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 17, 2019 11:47 PM in response to Allan Jones

I have already reset SMC when I did the PRAM Reset together with Apple Support.

I also thought about "wireless pollution" but I think this cannot be the problem. I regularly use a number of Bluetooth devices paired to our smartphones, iPads and other computerers and none of them ever showed any connection issues. The magic trackpad I use on my very old Mac Mini also works flawlessly without any issues.

On bootup there is also never a problem with the iMac, only after waking up from sleep. So if there is a problem with interference I still think it is a defect in the imac or the mouse/keyboard. After all, if apple does not supply any wired input devices any more the wireless ones better be rock solid.

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Bluetooth issues on iMac 5k 2017

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