Level 1

53 points

Catalina bluetooth issues - audio output switches intermittently

After upgrading to Catalina, my Macbook Air has audio output issues when the Bluetooth is connected to Sony WH-1000MX2 headphones. Suddenly, the audio connection switches to the internal speakers and the output can't be changed. The immediate solution is to turn off/on the bluetooth on the Macbook and reconnect the headphones. But after a while the problem reoccurs.

I have tried to problem solve by the following processes:

Accessing the debug function (click the the bluetooth icon in the menu bar whilst pressing alt+shift). Remove bluetooth devices. Reset the Bluetooth module. Delete the bluetooth plist files in the library (/Library/Preferences + ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost ). Restart Macbook. Reconnect the device.
Reinstalling Mac OS Catalina

The actions mentioned above does not solve the problem.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

MacBook Air

Posted on Oct 14, 2019 6:47 AM

Top-ranking reply

jaswin90

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Nov 25, 2019 3:14 AM

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.

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156 replies

swiftini

Level 1

4 points

Feb 11, 2020 8:07 AM in response to AskAgain

This should be listed as a known issue. I have tried 3 different bluetooth headphones on 2 brand new Macbook pro 16 inchers running the latest Catalina version 10.15.3 as well as a mid 2015 macbook pro 15 inch running the same OS all with problems of dropping connecting, no mic, no speaker etc. I thought this was my laptop so I took it in and they reinstalled the OS - same issue. It is now in the shop for the second time. My boss has similar issues using a bose headset on a brand new macbook air. Mysteriously - airpods seem to work fine. Is this a software bug or a ploy to get people to use apple equipment only? Either way it sucks and the fact that mac customer service agents won't even acknowledge there is a known issue is super annoying. There are dozens of threads about this issue. Why won't somebody at least admit there is a problem.

PhilJGC

Level 1

4 points

Jan 9, 2020 8:56 PM in response to AskAgain

I have the same issue with UE Boom. I have used my Time Machine to go back to Mojave and it has fixed the problem..

I also had issue with Alfred search. The return to Mojave also fixed the problem.

andrecas

Level 1

8 points

Apr 8, 2020 7:07 AM in response to Santsches

Same for me, after installed 10.15.4 my devices are running ok since some weeks ago...well, Catalina bug which looks like fixed now

AskAgain Author

Level 1

53 points

Oct 28, 2019 2:47 PM in response to chris_g1

Hello chris_g1,

Thank you for your reply.

Although the issue is unresolved, I've noticed that others are having the same issue, so I thought I'd provide an update.

FYI: a similar issue has been posted in another thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250761403 and in the Sony Community as well ( https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/portable-audio/macos-catalina-and-wh-1000xm3-connection-issues/td-p/2668789 )

So I followed the protocol mentioned to no avail. Then I contacted Apple Support. After some further testing, it seems like the output doesn't change when the wifi is turned off. That's the hypothesis for now.

The case has been forwarded to another department and Apple engineers will look into the diagnostics and get back to me.

I'll update the thread in case there is a solution.

Cheers.

d_fuser

Level 1

4 points

Nov 17, 2019 2:34 AM in response to AskAgain

I appreciate the irony of Apple forcing it's customers towards bluetooth headphones and then releasing a new OS with broken bluetooth audio.

Is there any way to make sure Apple acknowledges the problem?

A thread with further insights:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250789264

More threads, all detailing the same problem:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250793838

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250763611

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250742561

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250720922

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250761403

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250753110

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794609

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250837034

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794462

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250815778

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250728770

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250799201

etc...

Nov 20, 2019 6:18 AM in response to AskAgain

This issue seems prevalent with all Sony Headphones, particularly WHX1000 series headphones.

Resetting the PRAM and deleting PLIST allows the bluetooth to work for a short amount of time. After a while decays back to cutting out every 5 minutes.

strim

Level 1

4 points

Feb 3, 2020 9:53 AM in response to anhans

At first the upgrade to 10.15.3 fixed the issue for me. There were no sound/mouse disconnections for a couple of days. Later, while moving laptop between home and office and connecting it to different headsets/mice all the troubles came back and lead to unusable state. For example, this morning while trying to listen to music with Sony WH-1000XM3, the sound disappeared 5 times in a row after ~1 minute of playing. Had to reconnect the headset with on/off button again and again. Each time when dropped the headset was shown by Mac OS as connected and functional.

Nice work Apple! Lot of people with hardware for hundreds and thousands bucks are enjoying your software maturity.

Jun 30, 2020 2:08 PM in response to jose68

Same problem here and I have to say that I am pretty upset. Since I installed Catalina, this problem exists. And in the meantime I even changed my MacBook Air to the newest one - still having the same bug. And I did not recover from a backup, I set everything up from the ground. A fresh install.

Using a Sound Blaster X Katana which worked until Catalina. With the update installed, both my old iMac and my brand new MBA can connect to the soundbar (which also says "connected" when the MBA connects), but no audio playback.

Tried turning off Siri - did not help. Also tried everything else that's described when bluetooth audio fails. Nothing helped. My iPad is still connecting to the soundbar and playback works fine. As for the codec questions mentioned earlier: it doesn't matter if it says "not active" or "AAC" - no sound at all.

AirPods work fine.

Please Apple, get this fixed one day! You are great and I love the products - when they work.

Oct 31, 2019 1:20 AM in response to gmrandazzo

Hello, I would like to admit that I also have this issue, with Airpods 2, Sony MDR, and even with new AirPods Pro ;( update to 10.15.1 did not solve issue

tim_prox

Level 1

4 points

Dec 20, 2019 9:33 AM in response to AskAgain

The same issue! Macbook Air mid 2013 + Bose Soundlink Mini II. Even fresh re-install of Catalina didn't help. Did anyone try to use USB BT dongle instead?

_xSter

Level 1

4 points

Jan 28, 2020 11:51 PM in response to garrisop

No it is not related with the audio codec.

I have the same issue with both Magic Mouse 1 and 2.

Any bluetooth device is affected.

_xSter

Level 1

4 points

Jan 29, 2020 12:01 AM in response to garrisop

Not at all !

The issue also happens when using the mouse. So not related to sleep mode.

Feb 11, 2020 9:01 AM in response to swiftini

I downgraded as VirtualBox doesn't work well either.

andrecas

Level 1

8 points

Mar 12, 2020 2:39 AM in response to AskAgain

Yes, it looks like a bug, tried all things

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251161883

Jun 12, 2020 12:50 PM in response to jose68

Is this still affecting ALL, even Apple sourced, bluetooth audio connections? I remember this was why I downgraded to Mojave.

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Catalina bluetooth issues - audio output switches intermittently