Bluetooth audio problems Catalina

Thanks tmarciniak for the link,

I just hanged up with them, after 50 minutes troubleshooting.

We checked if I had a malware app (e.g Clean My Mac...) and suggested to use THE ONLY app Apple recommend: MalwareBytes (they have a free version and a free premium trial of 14 days)

To be honest It found an adware installed as a Chrome extension, I removed it and testing now, will tell you guys if it worked.

If any of you guys is willing to give this a try with me, could you please share the name of that bloody Adware so we close this issue if we confirm it. (I didn't screenshot it by mistake)

Thanks. Malwarebytes didn't find anything and I'd be surprised if it did. Also this clearly seems to be Catalina issue as the problems started exactly with Mojave->Catalina upgrade. We need to wait for Apple to fix this and the more people nag them, the sooner it will happen.

Everyone has to call Apple (1-800–692–7753) and tell them:

1) This is a Catalina issue and the problem has NOTHING to do with viruses (lol), & NVRAM reset + bluetooth pref delete + blutooth debug + disconnecting/unpairing & every other trick tried here do NOT work. I repeat this is a bug in MacOS Catalina. None of the suggestions in this thread will work. You can only downgrade to Mojave until it is resolved by Apple who will takes months to fix this unless enough people direct them to this thread. You can see there's at least 300 people with this problem on this thread alone because on the first post of this thread, about 300 people have checked "I have this problem too." This is a major problem for Apple because it's been around since the beta yet hasn't been fixed this whole time.

2) That there's hundreds if not thousands of people or more with the same issue (Refer them to this thread) There are also threads across the internet with the same issue ie Reddit and random websites.

I've been on Mac since OS X Tiger - and this is the first major upgrade with some mission critical failures. How this OS was released like this and this bug ignored despite plenty of complaints on the Beta is baffling.

Anyways, nothing will be done unless YOU call in to Apple (1-800–692–7753) and tell them the above points.

Also, have to say MacOS Catalina is a steaming pile of $$$$. Removing 32 bit just to force apps to be remade, intentionally making SideCar only available for newer macs despite many newer macs having slow and weaker hardware than older macs (for instance SideCar will work on a weak 2016 12" Macbook, but not a top of the line 2015 15" Macbook Pro really?), the awful Apple Music app that removes iTunes' functionality, and Catalina offering literally no tangible improvements from Mojave. Catalina is the Vista of OS X/MacOS.

Jobs would be rolling in his grave with the direction Apple's gone.

Also, still selling 128GB SSD & 8 GB RAM in 2019 soldered, and then charging another $500-700 to upgrade these two. This is planned obsolescence by Apple.

While Apple has always been expensive, Apple's gotten excessively greedy, intentionally crippling devices, not supporting devices that can support new features, and quality's gone downhill (2015-2019 Macbook keyboard issues, touch bar which no one cares for, etc.), etc.

Same issue here - began with the upgrade to Catalina. I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) and use it with my Sony WH-1000MX3 headphones. Audio connection randomly reverts to built-in Headphones (speakers) connection - Bluetooth still shows the Sony headphones as connected. Selecting the Sony headphones from the audio list in the menubar fails to reconnect them as audio output. Only fix for me is to power the headphones down completely and then turn them on again. Seems to begin happening when the iMac is under heavy load (rendering) but then persists even when normal load is restored. Very frustrating.

Apple rushed out a turd with Catalina. I only upgraded to Catalina b/c of SideCar only to find out they stopped allowing the iPad Air 2 to work when it was working in beta. Apple just keeps pushing stuff out to strongly coerce people into upgrading. It is now profit over quality - and Catalina was rushed out mirroring this trend. Apple's de facto policy is to pretend a problem doesn't exist, and then years later quietly issue a 'program' and not an 'extended warranty' for an issue rather than admit fault.

It's fine though - Apple's iPhones are decreasing in sales, laptops are getting cheaper (Chromebooks) at high quality, and the Chinese are making products that are quality now for a fraction of the cost Apple does.

This is why Apple still sells 128GB in 2019 which was already outdated in 2015 because you will eventually run out of space and they will count on it. If Apple could they would still do 4 GB of RAM today but the modern web is incapable of running at 4GB today. In reality, a 16GB RAM MacBook laptop would be appropriately priced, but Apple deliberately charges $500 more for it when it should only cost maybe $100 b/c they know in 4-5 years you'll come back for another one.

ARM is the next gimmick. They will switch everything ARM market the laptops with greater battery life, and more bells and whistles to get you to buy. While I can respect any business's need for profit, Apple's done little to innovate in the last 7 years in the MacOS/OS X space.

iMessage/iCloud syncing was probably the last big thing. Night mode was nice in Mojave, but was a feature that could have been implemented years ago.

In reality, most of MacOS has been stagnant since 2005-2006 I think.

I agree that Apple has made mistakes with Catalina and the past few versions of iOS, mainly with security. However, I believe that Apple will be more responsive to their disasters than Boeing. It also appears that Apple is trying to implement a few things now that have been proposed for a few years. See https://tidbits.com/2019/10/21/six-reasons-why-ios-13-and-catalina-are-so-buggy/ for some comments by others.

When you are up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that you're there to drain the swamp. However, until you drain the swamp, you will always be up to your neck in alligators. You therefore need to have one team fighting off the alligators while another works on draining the swamp. Both tasks are necessary, but only one team gets credit, so the other appears useful.

I posted here with issues with the disconnect. After installing new version it seems to be fixed and okay.

HOWEVER. I am now having issues from time to time (nearly daily) where the audio becomes static. Only way I've been able to fix this problem temporarily is by restarting the computer. But after a day or two, it does the static thing. Anyone have this issue as well? thanks.

Same version as you: 10.15.1 (19B88)

I just have a little cheap bluetooth earbud. Dropping issue seems to be fixed. (I think its normal to drop when its not being used for a while so I think its fine) but I do have that static issue that comes and goes and only way to fix it is to restart the computer. I've never had so many issues with upgrading OS. My brother did his upgrade and has a known issue where the system just died after install and never been able to reboot. It's crazy. He had to go buy a new computer. He has to make an appointment to try to see if they can salvage his computer after his update. I don't think I will ever do an upgrade again.

Just responding to the recent post saying it seems to be fixed after updating. I am on 10.15.1 and confirm that the issue is still happening and is not fixed. It continues to happen daily. I have had days where my earbuds have stayed connected for 5-6 hours at a time (giving me hope that the issue is fixed), and then they will just randomly disconnect and continue disconnecting over and over after that point. So, you may be able to stay connected for awhile, seeming like it is fixed, but the issue will eventually happen again. Like it has been mentioned before, this is a OS/software issue and must be fixed directly by Apple.

I do also experience this issue with Mac OS Catalina with the latest update and there is no simple solution. I use Bluetooth to connect to Dali Zensor loudspeakers. Especially when I am active on the iMac from 2017, the software switches over to internal loudspeakers and may display a message that the Bluetooth unit is «occupied», while it is still connected in the top right menu. This follows an irregular pattern. It can happen twice in a minute or just two times a day. I have to turn off the external loudspeaker completely and click disconnect in the top right menu. Normally, this step requires several attempts. Sometimes I have to wait before I try again. When I finally disconnect, I can immidiately connect to the external loudspeakers again.

The best solution is not necessarily to downgrade the OS, because Catalina is actually better than Mojave in terms of sound quality and noise. The interruptions described thoroughly in this thread are perhaps replacing the previous problems? The only way is to go to war or stay in the same program, and perhaps other programs? The latter is not necessarily a solution, but it may help to stay connected for hours. If not this is correct, the problem is perhaps caused by interferences in the 2,4 Ghz frequency, where both Bluetooth and WiFi operates, not necessarily by you, but someone else. But it is natural to quit using this frequency yourself. It can also be problems with the delivery of Mbits, perhaps the router itself or more likely fiber node traffic? And perhaps the software doesn’t accept interruption, anymore? I am not saying this is correct and I cannot offer any solution. Because there isn’t any? 5G perhaps? But these are my thoughts on the subject.

The interruptions are annoying, but try to «autopilot» the reconnection by practise.

After MacOS Catalina my headphones started disconnecting too, my coworkers have the same problem., it happens both with my AirPods Pro and Sony WH-1000MX2 and its really annoying because you can't just reconnect, with airpods i have to manually disconnect or sometimes event put airpods to their charging case, because after manual disconnect/connect connection drops just after few minutes later. Really really annoying.

Just like you guys - having issues w/ seemingly random and frequent bluetooth headphone audio disconnects. I have Plantronics Backbeat Pro headphones and I get the audible message that "Bluetooth headset has been disconnected" and the music starts playing from my mac book pro internal speakers <angry face>. The bluetooth menu shows my headphones are still connected and the sound preferences menu still shows my headphones as a sound output option - if I try to select it just spins forever. The most quick and reliable workaround for me is to just turn off my headphones and turn them back on and my headphones reconnect and resume playing. Can't wait until Apple acknowledges this problem so we can start looking forward to an update & fix!

Sorry to not be helpful, however I have the very same issue with Soundblaster Katana. It used to work.... Identical issue. At least now I know it's not anything I'm doing. "Just" a bug. I tried the "reset the smc" thing, and the forget and re-pair procedure but nothing fixes it. Also using 10.15.1, lol coincidentally on the very same computer.