Catalina bluetooth issues - audio output switches intermittently

Since the apple engineers won't do anything about this issue anytime soon, I found this trick helped me. I went to https://developer.apple.com/download/more and searched for additional tools on the search bar, and downloaded the latest xcode 10.2. In the folder Hardware look for bluetooth explorer and open it, it opens in the background so you need to search for it. Then open the Tools/Audio options tab, and select "Force use of aptx" box. Then I found the bluetooth doesn't drop after couple of mins.

jaswin90 wrote:

Since the apple engineers won't do anything about this issue anytime soon, I found this trick helped me. I went to https://developer.apple.com/download/more and searched for additional tools on the search bar, and downloaded the latest xcode 10.2. In the folder Hardware look for bluetooth explorer and open it, it opens in the background so you need to search for it. Then open the Tools/Audio options tab, and select "Force use of aptx" box. Then I found the bluetooth doesn't drop after couple of mins.

Give this man a medal!

This seems to work for now...

It's a good information ! It seems to affect some of the newest devices.

Same for me :

Macbook Pro 13 (2015) : no bluetooth issue.

Macbook Pro 15 (2018) : no bluetooth issue.

Macbook Pro 15 (2019) : bluetooth issue !!!

FYI - Macbook Pro 15 (2019) has the following Bluetooth driver : 7.0.2f4 - firmware v86 c4407

I found a workaround for my self : I've disconnected every USB-C connected devices, and the bluetooth issue disappeared. It seems connecting an USB-C hub, an external screen or anything else, affects the bluetooth behavior.

As soon as I reconnect my USB-C hub with Ethernet connection, external screen and so on, the latency and disconnection come back again.

Hi,

I had the same problem. I confirm the AskAgain hypothesis.

There was some interference between the bluetooth and WiFi card especially when the latest one was connected to a WiFi network at 2.4GHz. Indeed, both devices operates roughly in this frequency spectrum.

Eventually for me the problem was solved by updating the operative system to the new version 10.15.1.

Best regards

The problem, as someone posted much earlier, is with the audio codec. The sound drops out when your computer starts to go into sleep mode. So if you go to System Preferences > Energy saver> Power Adapter and set "Computer sleep" to "Never," then reboot, the sound seems to stay on. Of course, that doesn't help anybody who needs a computer that isn't always plugged in. I'm getting pretty tired of Apple's apathy on this issue. I really need to replace my old Macbook Air, but I'm ****** if I'll buy a brand new computer that won't work with my brand new Airpods Pro.

I found a fix for this issue, using audio codec aptX fixes the issue.

Please follow instructions on

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/387986/mac-os-catalina-bluetooth-audio-output-issues-wf-1000xm3-bose-quietcomfort-3

A fix?? Picking up a hint from another forum, I turn off "Enable ask Siri" and "Voice Feedback" in Siri preferences in System preferences and re-booted and I'm now able to use my Sony bluetooth headphones normally. I had to re-boot otherwise it didn't work. It has sustained proper operations through several re-boots now. Hmm... if this is the general fix to this problem so many users have had is it surprising Apple has not responded to tell users to turn off Siri to fix things?

I thought I had replied with a fix to my initial posting which now has 694 responses of "I have this question too". My fix was, and this has been a solid fix for several months now, is that I turned off "Enable Ask Siri" and all components associated with Siri.

This issue has been fixed for me with today's 10.15.2 update

Even updating to OSX to 10.15.1?? The patch was released two days ago..

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210642

Had the same issue and PRAM reset along with deleting the "com.apple.Bluetooth.plist" file worked for me.

Hey guys!

I think I found a "solution" for this issue.

Create a new user in your Mac, log in and enable Bluetooth.

Put the headphones in "pairing mode", press the ON/OFF button until you listen to the "Bluetooth pairing mode" message.

Now you can see your headphones and connect to it!

If you go to your Mac user, the headphones will be there!

Let me know if that works for you guys!

I am using them right now without any issue!

After updating to 10.15.2 I was still experiencing the issue where attempting to connect my Beats Solo 3 to my 15-inch MBP (late 2016). The issue I experience is my Beats will connect via bluethooth for a few seconds and then disconnect. No Beats available in sound output devices. This issue started immediately after updating to the initial Catalina 10.15. Yes, I generally wait for a .2 or .3 for bugs to shake out but unfortunately the auto-update got me this time.

However, as of this morning after performing SMC reset (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295) I now am once again listening to music using my Beats connected to my MBP via bluetooth. Not sure how long this will last but feels good at the moment.

Apple please fix this bluetooth audio issue. This is extremely bad support for long-time customers.