16-inch MacBook Pro Bluetooth issue

I ordered and tried a Bluetooth 2.0 dongle (Ewent EW1085 to be precise) and luck would have it that it's a CSR85100 A10 chipset. I couldn't order the dongle mentioned earlier as I live in the Netherlands.

Exactly which dongles do you have? What is the make/model/SKU/EAN? You can reach me in a DM on Twitter using the same handle.

Boris - that's very helpful info, thanks! Alas, I'm in the US & haven't yet found an alternate source for a BCM2045A Bluetooth 2.0 dongle.

Somewhat surprising that Apple can't have their Bluetooth/MacBook engineers figure a software fix, given all the work by outsiders here. (If inserting a USB peripheral can trigger a set of steps that persistently re-enables onboard Bluetooth, software should easily be able to simulate the same steps.) But I suppose we have to cut this scrappy, resource-constrained garage startup some slack, while it waits for some kindly volunteer to donate the knowhow for a fix.

Oh how I wish I knew about this before I plugged in CSR 4.0 BT dongle couple days ago. I was going insane trying to figure out what the heck is going on with my 2019 MBP 16" since I couldn't get internal BT to work whatever methods I tried to reset. Then I came across HN news link and reddit article that mentioned this discussion thread.

This is absolutely ridiculous. The fact that you can just permanently disable the internal BT by plugging in a dongle is beyond me. Why isn't Apple fixing this?

I really appreciate the proposed solution here that involves BCM chipset BT 2.0 dongles, but it's pretty much impossible to get hold of them at this point unless you already had them from a decade ago. I ordered BT 4.0 with BCM chipset, hoping that it's the chipset (BCM vs CSR) that matters more than the BT version, but I have very low hopes given how much other stuff I tried to fix this issue. I assume it's a bug in T2 chip.

Apple, you need to fix this crap ASAP.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00345SLGS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Try this one, I got my Bluetooth back to normal using this one.

This isn't using a Broadcom chip, so I encountered some issue when trying to follow AntiHawk's workaround, the procedure he provided above won't work since you won't able to connect to anything with this 2.0 dongle, even if my Macbook does recognize it as a BT adapter.

But strangely, after resetting SMC and NVRAM, some plugging in and out of this dongle, my internal Bluetooth just came back following a restart.

Yes, same here! I used the same dongle and did the following:

-debug bluetooth

-delete bluetooth prefs

-reset SMC

-reboot

-reset NVRAM

-plug in this dongle:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00345SLGS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

-Bluetooth logo changes to weird symbol

-unplug dongle

-plug dongle back in

-repeat until the weird symbol stays even when dongle is unplugged

-restart computer

-Mac MacBook made me force quit system prefs before letting me restart

-after restart bluetooth started working!

Hope this helps someone else, since apple wanted me to mail my MacBook in to replace logicboard

Thank you, @kelvin_hk_uk & @ndrock!

I had tried a bit using that old BT mushroom-head (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00345SLGS) earlier, but as it never even showed any successful BT device-detections/attempted-connections, thought it couldn't work.

Now, after a number of repeated resets & plug/unplug cycles, it's had the desired effect: and my onboard BT is again alive.

At first, I simply tried repeated plugs/unplugs (without any other prep steps), just to see if I could trigger the "weird symbol stays" (rather than appears briefly after plug-in) state described by @ndrock. A few plug/unplug cycles that way actually triggered a kernel-panic hard-crash. (Apple ¡quality!) But, still no activity from the onboard Bluetooth.

But then I tried following @ndrock's directions more thoroughly - Bluetooth debug menu (activated all reset/forget options); delete Bluetooth plist; shutdown-reset-SMC-reboot; reset-NVRAM-reboot; repeated plug-and-unplug of the B00345SLGS adapter.

I did *not* achieve a persistent 'weird symbol' (wavy-lines) state, even with many different-timed plug-unplug cycles. (I thought maybe the state was only reachable via some lucky timing - while it would sometimes stay 'wavy' for ~5seconds, it'd always progress to normal or grayed Bluetooth icon,) But I eventually just opened the system bluetooth prefs (to see how it was reacting to plugs/unplugs), then chose system shutdown while also plugging/unplugging. My machine shutdown *with* the B00345SLGS dongle plugged in; I unplugged it while the machine was 'off', and then on the next reboot, normal onboard Bluetooth worked.

Black magic but better than a warranty motherboard replacement.

I firstly thought it wasn't working as well and made another reservation at Genius Bar. But a day later, after a restart I noticed the SideCar icon was back and my Airpods Pro appeared in the sound preference menu. Apple really should have fixed this long ago. Having its customers going through hoops for plugging in a BT dongle to a >$23K laptop is simply horrendous.

Hi there !

Same issue here with my 4-months 16-inch MBP.

BUT i never plug any dongle like yours.

Issue appeared when i plugged my new mavic air 2 drone to my laptop. Bluetooth doesn’t connect anymore with my keyboard/trackpad/airpods pro...

do apple are working on that trouble ?

i did all above, pram/nvram/new install/terminal/reset bluetooth plist....

no bluetooth anymore !

keep in touch !

Thanks so much, this fixed my Bluetooth issue as well. I used an old Billionton v2.0 dongle which also worked using this procedure. Seems such as waste people are having the entire logic board replaced due to this issue.

What was your issue with your Bluetooth exactly ?

I see my broadcom internal bluetooth in system report, but can't connect anything to it.

I was able to use my magic keyboard with minor input lag 1 hour ago, but it goes away now.

I found only a 4.0 bluetooth dongle in my local store, but it does nothing to my internal one, just switching normally.

So, I've figured out, that this may potentially be caused by internal components being connected by Bluetooth. I've had a hunch for a while, but I confirmed it while working in Windows using Boot Camp. The Bluetooth indicator showed the internal microphone connected by bluetooth. The keyboard and trackpad may be as well. I've wondered about this for a while, as again, I have had issues and clues like you.

Hi Boris,

I am in Germany and would love to get back to your kind offer. However I cannot find a way to send you a direct message. Am I missing something here? Could you please send me an email to fs AT snck DOT biz? Thank you in advance!

Best,

Florian

Hi Boris ,

I have CSR8510 A10 but seems it's not helping.

And I couldn't order another one as I live in Turkey.

I'd be really happy if somebody can help me with a dongle that helps me to fix the issue because I couldn't find any of the mentioned dongles here. (you can reach me from @uguraydogdu_ on tw)

Here's a list of confirmed dongles in all replies.

B00345SLGS

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013BFQUE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007019TZY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B000YHUR0M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IMQ58NI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dunno about Turkey delivery, maybe try these links below.

I ordered both, will see if it works within a week.

Pudincoco Universal Mini Adaptateur sans Fil Bluetooth USB 2.0 Dongle pour PC Portable pour Win XP Vista Adaptateur Bluetooth sans Fil (Noir)

leanBonnie Adaptateur Universel Mini sans Fil Bluetooth USB 2.0 Dongle pour Ordinateur Portable PC pour Win XP Vista Adaptateur Bluetooth sans Fil

Same here. Boris sent the module to Germany and I cannot tell how thankful I am. I had bought 3 different modules and fiddled around for days, spent hours at the Apple Store and another service partner without success (because my job does not allow me to give my main computer away for 7+ days).

The method described by pindab0ter alone did not work for me, I hat to reset the bluetooth settings and perform NVRAM and SMC resets between steps 3 and 4 to make it work.

Once again: Kudos to Boris for helping us!

As I hope that I will not experience this issue again, I would like to follow Boris's example and send the module he sent me to somebody in need. Just send a mail to fs//at//snck//dot//biz.