AirPods disconnect after Catalina update

To everyone who is having the same issue here, I used to have the same issue with my Airpods Pro. But I finally found that it was because a software called "Typeeto" on my Macbook for my case.

"Typeeto" is a bluetooth assistant that can let me type anything via bluetooth from my mac to my paired iOS devices(my iOS devices were paired with my Mac beforehand).

So I tried all the reset steps on both my Macbook and my Airpods Pro, but nothing helped. So I ran into Activity Monitor and search for any process comes with "bluetooth" or "blu" or "tooth". Then I finally found "Typeeto bluetooth service". After I terminate this process, I can connect my Airpods Pro to my Macbook without any problem and the sound keeps playing in my Airpods pro and never stops anymore.

If you have the same issue, please also pay attention to any bluetooth software running in background. Shut them down and see if this fix your problem.

I had the same problem when I upgraded to Catalina 10.15.2. Bluetooth was dropping in Netflix and official Zoom it was intolerable. After suffering for a while I read somewhere that they released a fix for this in 10.15.3. Upgrading to Catalina 10.15.3 solved this for me.

Same here. MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019), AirPods Pro on MacOS 10.15.3 (19D76). Intermittent audio drops 5-15 mins into an album on Apple Music, with the audio defaulting back to the MBP internal speakers.

Selecting the AirPods Pro from the Bluetooth menu on the menu bar doesn't work - the system attempts to connect to them for ~15 seconds, then defaults back to internal speakers.

I managed to get the AirPods to reconnect by resetting the MBP's Bluetooth module by holding Shift-Option, clicking the Bluetooth icon on the menu bar and clicking Debug -> Reset the Bluetooth module

Now hoping this alleviates the disconnections (if not fixes them) however I fear this might need to be patch in a future AirPods firmware update or MacOS update.

I had the same problem with AirPods pro and MacBook pro after upgrading to Catalina.

Pods were disconnecting every few minutes, and i couldn't reconnect once the iPhone took control (needed to forget it in the mac and re-sync them, every time!).

I tried literally everything -

the only thing that fixed it for me was killing the process 'Bluetooth' via Activity Monitor and poof > it didn't reoccur.

It's very weird since i restarted my laptop like a Gazillion times, it should have worked on that process, right?

anyway , do try that, maybe it will help you too.

Never mind that. Turns out some other device was pairing with the Airpods quicker than my Macbook Pro. Had to forget it from the other device then everything is back to normal.

I deleted the bluetooth plist file, per https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/macos-catalina-problems/, restarted the Mac, then opened the airpod case next to the Mac and waited. It showed up, I clicked connect, and it has stayed connected now, instead of immediately disconnecting like it was doing.

Was on Apple Support for 45 mins on chat telling my life story taking forever. Support wanted me to zap SMC and NVRAM, but I tried deleting the plist first and restarting and that's what's worked for me.

I was able to narrow what for sure causing issues in my case. It happens when software, that use sound outputs/inputs, starts to use audio device. In my case there are Skype and Slack, even Mail app sometimes when notification tone is played. Also starting VirtualBox machine with enabled sound component breaks connection. Just to be clear, in my case connection is not dropped, AirPods are still connected, but input is switched to internal speakers, and it is not possible to switch back to AirPods (just getting speaker animation for couple seconds doing nothing) until disconnecting them and connecting back again.

10.15.2 update seems to have fixed it.

I followed the instructions to reset the PRAM. First, I turned Bluetooth off on my MacBook Air (2014), and left it off. Some instructions I read said to turn it off then back on right away, but I just left it off. Then I deleted the Bluetooth plist. After that, I reset the PRAM. First time I did that, the problem came back, but I realized I hadn’t reset the PRAM properly. I had only heard the startup sound once. Next time, I made sure to hear the startup sound twice. No problems since. I’m running the latest version of Catalina. You can find the instructions for deleting the plist and resetting the PRAM earlier in this thread.

Fixed for me too with 10.15.4

I did not reinstall Catalina. But I just set up a new account on my Mac. My Airpods Pro works fine. Let me know if creating a new empty account will fix that.

that might cased by third-part inputting method. I fixed the bug by reinstall sougou inputting method.

I can't find the link where they refer to the 10.15.3 beta solution, but I installed the second beta yesterday.

So far the problem seems solved.

Same problem here. Macbook Air early 2014 with Airpods 1st gen disconnecting randomly when listening to music or podcasts.

In my case, I'm trying to reproduce the problem with others bluetooth devices disconnected (including the Wi-fi signal) - that was a Apple's Support recommendation. Until now, the airpods are working as expected, but the testing will continue...

See if this info helps. Apparently Apple released new firmware yesterday. I don't own AirPods so I don't know if it helps.

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/12/16/apple-releases-new-airpods-firmware/