16-inch MacBook Pro Bluetooth issue

With my 3rd dongle I finally managed to fix it as well.

The adapter that worked in the end was an old Sitecom CN-521 one that a neighbor had lying around. I ordered 2 of the semi-circle ones but both didn't work.

I connected my adapter through the AV multiport adapter from Apple.

Hi,

I tried the same dongle as you for No 1 and I couldn't get it to work. I had tried a couple of them and they were all junk.

For number 2, can you post a couple of screenshots from the System Information when the No 2 dongle is plugged in?

If you can also post a screenshot from the USB section when you click on the USB Dongle.

That will give us a little more information to see the exact chipset and version.

I didn't pair with an Android Phone, for both my MacBooks just plugging in the dongle worked for me. Once I plugged it in and removed it, it seemed to bring the internal dongle back to life.

Jamie

This post helped me. I'd tried AntiHawk's method which almost got there. The key thing for me was once I'd connected / disconnected / connected again once able to connect to a mobile phone, I needed a reboot - presumably for the OS to catch up with activating the internal bluetooth module fully.

Until I did the reboot, I couldn't add any other Bluetooth device types (e.g. the keyboard I'm using to type this message). Once I'd rebooted, I've been able to add multiple peripherals with the evidently now working internal bluetooth module.

Just thought I'd highlight this in case it helps anyone else!

Apple should definitely compensate the major contributors to this thread given it's saving them multiple very expensive logic board replacements.

Chris

P.S. BT2.0 Device used was as cited earlier in the thread, £4 from Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013BFQUE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yeah very true I did same resets as you did to yours but it never worked. They're going to replace your logic board. I don’t buy my apple products directly from Apple because they’re customer service are sometimes very unhelpful. I got mine from curry’s pc UK and I sent the computer back to them after seven days it’s was brought back with a note. They said , my computer had a faulty logic board so it was replaced.

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 was incredibly kind to send me the dongle that could fix the problem from Switzerland to the Netherlands. Once I received the dongleI undertook the following steps to make it work:

1. sudo nvram bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior=always
2. Unplug all Bluetooth dongles
3. Turn off Bluetooth
4. Reboot the MacBook (I turned it off and back on)
5. Log in
6. Plug the Bluetooth 2.1 dongle in
7. Verify that it works by seeing names of Bluetooth devices pop up in the Bluetooth settings window
8. Take the Bluetooth dongle out
9. The MacBook's internal Bluetooth module is now once again working.
10. sudo nvram bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior=never

Thank you so much, Boris, for helping a complete stranger. That gesture alone means more to me than actually having helped solve my problem.

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.

ndrock wrote:

Why won’t they listen to their users in this issue? It would save them lots of money in replacement parts, countless hours of support time and prevent customer frustration.

Provide https://feedbackassistant.apple.com. Unless Apple Engineering recommends it internally, Apple Technical Support will follow corporate guidelines.

Guys please contact Apple support if you have this issue and clearly explain how this issue appeared after connecting an external bluetooth receiver. This might be solvable with a software update. The workaround with an old BT 2.0 which seems to work for some people and while cleverly found cannot be the real solution.

If no-one tells Apple about this issue, they don't know about it or how many people are affected (which is important for determining priority) how can we expect them to solve it?

Isn't it clear that lots of people *are* contacting Apple support and visiting Apple facilities with this issue – but the support personnel are either clueless, or coached to appear clueless & non-committal, despite being pointed to this thread?

Hasn't this thread – on an official Apple support site! – been alive for 11 months now? (There are similar threads about this issue on Reddit, MacRumors, YouTube, etc.)

Doesn't it show a 100% reproducible flaw in Apple's high-end laptops, that any Apple engineer could reproduce instantly with a $9 BT 4.0 dongle?

Doesn't this thread point the way to a fix – something triggered in the firmware by those old dongles, in a certain pattern – that an Apple Bluetooth engineer could easily understand, then simulate with an OS/firmware update?

Is it really possible a $2 trillion company doesn't already have a tracking issue with an accurate description for this flaw?

No, they must have simply decided to deprioritize its fix, because the lost functionality & hours of time of those affected are less salient than the staff costs to fix.

So by all means, insist on warranty returns/replacements or motherboard swaps, so Apple faces some cost for inaction. But let's not portray this as the victims' fault for not letting Apple know about the problem. Apple's been told, repeatedly, worldwide.

I wish it was that simple, because it seems like not every 2.0 device will do it.. Mine, for instance, doesn't.

A couple posts back I posted my device version/id and that one causes the issue, but seems like it doesn't solve it. I'd be happy to lend it to someone to investigate if they want, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I still have the issue and have tried the whole process multiple times, so it looks like there's something more to it and others have also said so.

I'm waiting on a couple other dongles I bought in the meantime to try and solve this. Feels like wasted money but at least both of them were under 12€ total, shipping included.

I used the following BT adapter to fix the issue:

Device vendor ID (VID): 1131 (which is "Integrated System Solution Corp." or "ISSC")

Product ID (PID) = 1004.

The reported Bluetooth standard supported by this dongle is 2.0.

As of macOS Catalina update 10.15.7 (19H15) I am now unable to brick the bluetooth with CSR 4 bluetooth dongle on my MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019).

While I do not recommend testing this, it might be possible that Apple has implemented a patch to fix this problem.

If you want to test if bluetooth is actually fixed by patch issued by Apple please have the CSR 2.0 dongle available just in case as I did :)

The Bluetooth Preferences panel still crashes sometimes when CSR 4 dongle is unplugged but rebooting the Mac fixed all 10 attempts to brick the bluetooth.

Sometimes even turning bluetooth off and on again fixed the bluetooth after unplugging the CSR 4 dongle.

PS.

The rabbit hole still deepens in my case as I was able to fix intermittient WI-FI disconnection problems by causing kernel panic with excessive CSR 4 dongle re-inserts x'D