16-inch MacBook Pro Bluetooth issue

I have the exact same problem with my Macbook Pro 16 inch. Did SMC reset, NVRAM reset, diagnostics said everything was fine. I ran the bluetooth explorer tool from the xcode additional tools and the Bluetooth module was just gone. Very weird, went to the Apple Store and the guy looked at me and said: I never have seen this problem ever before 😅. They are going to do diagnostics now and I hope they will come with a solution, because it is only 4 weeks old.

Took my mac to the Authorized Service Center. Verdict - short circuit on radio module, logic board replace.

Guys at Apple, you should definetely consider a firmware upgrade for Broadcom WiFi/BT. I don't wont to be afrraid of plugging in devices to my mac, get another brick and wait for another 3-4 weeks of mac's logic board replacement.

P.S. Oops, replied to a message instead of thread, sorry.

Same problem as described by OP. Followed all troubleshooting steps with no success. Just received my MBP back from repairs - they replaced the logic board.

Internal Bluetooth module worked again with my peripherals. I plugged in my Hideez Bluetooth dongle via thunderbolt (16” 2019 MBP) and set the nvram config option to allow Bluetooth switching. Reboot, confirm external module is active in System Report and try to pair.

Pairing did not work and am unable to resurrect the internal Bluetooth module again. Tech flashed T2 firmware to see if that would get it working again but it did not.

They are sending it back for another logic board and doing what they can to escalate this.

MacBook 16". BT (external speaker) works fine and then simply stops working even tho the device shows in BT control.

I've found I need to delete the speaker from Devices and then turn off BT for 3-5 minutes. After that, turn on BT, re-pair the Device and it works fine... until tomorrow when it gets tired and stops working.

VERY frustrating considering how much I have invested in this machine...

Yes no problem

The adapter im using is

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00LSGUBLI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

plus it has a CSR8510 Chipset like @vitorhenrique

Simply a joke and not a reason for me not to plug such a device in...

within 3 fixed here in germany they have to take the device back!

Never heard such problems - not to plug in a specific usb adapter LOL

How could any noobie know this? Simply not possible...

jjcinaz wrote:

You’d think the people at the repair depots would be noticing the frequency of problems.

There is a Repair Frequency Index by year/Mac model/manufacturing location/serial number/replaced part serial number and type. 😉 Repeat Repair Index tracks the number of times a given serial number comes back for warranty repairs.

There is a very unhappy bunch of engineers and managers somewhere on this planet. And this is not the first time!

I just got the same issue, I am using razor x chroma as for thunderbolt, I have tried all and plus even wasting time with apple care, format the computer, installed bootcamp too for windows 10. Over there the same ble is not working either after the issue. This sucks big time. Now they want to fix the computer, but it seems more likely another bad step from apple engineering. For me when doing the check up (D) it telling me all is good but obviously it is not working.

what did you do at the end?

I got also the 2011 MBP, I was like over there as it lasted me around 9 years then I got this one and again.

I hope they find a solution but I really doubt that, money has been spent already they don’t care anymore.

i was screaming out loud but your system is quite more expensive than mine and it is out for warranty 2-3 months. This is amazing. I hope your system get fix soon. Thanks to your post I will wait for it to get it fix.

I had the same problem with a 2019 27' iMac. I plugged in the CRS USB Bluetooth dongle and after that my bluetooth became a lot unstable. The mouse was literally unusable and when using the AirPods the connection would drop randomly. I did a lot of research but nobody found a solution.

I did all of the following:

-Restore bluetooth module

-Delete .plist preferences

-Reset SMC

-Reset NVRAM

-Reinstalled macOS - To a previous version (Mojave) and to the newest one (Catalina)

-Run hardware diagnosis - Everything was fine

Nothing worked, bluetooth continued to fail and drop. I even talked to Apple Support and neither them could help me. All was leading to a hardware issue but I refused to believe a simple usb dongle messed up the hardware itself.

As someone stated before, the problem in Bluetooth Explorer was showing up as the following error: updateChainPower error: -3903, which means that the bluetooth module is not receiving enough power to maintain a stable connection. That seemed strange so I decided to check on System Report to see if Wi-Fi and Bluetooth loaded well. As I expected, the Wi-Fi tab was showing null on all Software Versions. 

That, somehow, light a bulb in mi brain and I thought about the EFI partition as the EFI is the one that has to preload all the firmware data information to pass it to the operating system. I tried to edit the EFI partition but it seemed impossible without erasing all of the disk, so that is what I did.

The first time I reinstalled the OS I didn't erase all of the disk but only the one that contains the operating system so that explains why a fresh install wasn't working. I ran diskutil to erase all the contents of the hard disk including the EFI partition. Now, with a completely fresh disk drive, I installed macOS and the problem got fixed because the EFI partition was now created from scratch with all of the configuration files needed. Now, bluetooth and Wi-Fi work like a charm without problems.

tl;dr.

Delete manually the EFI partition completely and reinstall macOS from scratch, that restores configuration files on the boot loader that make bluetooth working again.

@mitt, if you connect an external Bluetooth dongle into a mbp 16 the logic board gets kaput. And apple does not take responsibility about the issue. Steve is gone many years ago and the best of this company left with him. Same people have mailing 3 months to get it fix, but this dude by the name of Loner seems to think that is alright, either he is a troll or his real name is Igor from Moscow. Pick and choose.

jeremías49 wrote:

Issue persists on Bootcamp and after reinstalling macOS. It's either a hardware or firmware issue.

Does WiFi work properly on the Mac which no longer has BT? The BT/WiFi is an integrated module.

Hopefully a it can be fixed via software update, otherwise I foresee quite a large number of product recalls.

No worries. 😉. Apple has a lot of experience in managing large recalls since 2008.

@AntiHawk, it works!!!!! brother thanks so much. Amazing. I did use a different bluetooth 2.0 as well the cheap one you fet from amazon or ebay, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IMQ58NI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did all your steps but I do add something to your amazing work, dude amazing you are.

number 4 I have manage do fix the issue without doing it. in case you got a egpu you guys have to remove it. For some reason I dont get, it does not work if you got it on (maybe power source?). Also in my case I manage to reproduce the failure only 3 times, in all of them I got to nvram and smc. I am just talking in my cases. Like you I used an android device.

Bluetooth aslo works now in bootcamp

jamiefromkirkcaldy wrote:

Yeah, I have tried the steps on both MacBooks a few times now. When the Bluetooth was working on my 13", the BT 2.0 would show devices in the Bluetooth menu when plugged in. However now its been disabled, it no longer shows any devices.

When I plug the BT2.0 dongle into a windows PC, it flashes when searching. It doesn't do this in macOS, the red light just stays solid.

Jamie

What are you using to connect the USB A to USB C, I also have this issue and ordered a few BT2.0 devices. But the first 2 have the same issue. So I think it might be the USB C dongle I'm using.

what I used both for breaking it and fixing it was one of these https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MUF82AM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter

I didn't even need to do all the steps, only plug the bt2.0 in, let it search, don't remember if I connected to something, then removed it and rebooted, clear NVRAM and once the pc booted, bt was working again :)