16-inch MacBook Pro Bluetooth issue

This also happened to me with a CSR based bluetooth dongle. Plugged it once and after that the built in bluetooth stopped working. Of course I can use the dongle but half of the features don’t work because they rely on the proprietary technology in the built in module.

I tried all the Mojave KEXTs on my MacBook 16" an I didn't have any luck. It all still "functioned" okay including Wi-Fi but it still wouldn't search Bluetooth.

I took to an Apple Authorised Service Provider here in Tokyo. They have to charge me 11,000 JPY ($101) to reinstall macOS before they can fully diagnose the fault. I REALLY hope when they find out its the logic board, they don't charge me for the restore. All Apple Diagnostics returned back fine.

I just reinstalled Mac OS 2 days ago.

Anyway, its looking like so far, 4 weeks without Bluetooth. 2 Weeks without a MacBook (2 Weeks for Repair here) and $100 down. I do have AppleCare too.

I don't want to complain, however I moved to Apple from the likes of Dell, HP for these type of faults. I only wish some other company has what Apple had back in the late 2000's.

JuJuBoSc wrote:

I would really like to get a stance from Apple regarding this issue tho

You need to call Apple Technical Support on the phone. ASC will not give you any assurances on behalf of Apple. This is a user community, not Apple Engineering.

I'm not hoping for an engineer to come here with a solution, but afaik this issue is not well known yet, I believe many users have the same problem without even knowing what caused it.

I understand not many people use a bluetooth dongle, it myself happened by accident as many others by simply plugin it to my dock that had a bluetooth dongle at this moment, I'm glad I figured fairly quick it was related to that dongle and found that thread.

What I would like to know is, does any bluetooth dongle work at all?

JuJuBoSc wrote:

What I would like to know is, does any bluetooth dongle work at all?

An external dongle seems to trigger a power issue on the built-in radio and causing failures. I am not aware of any BT dongle working on the 16-in MBP. However, the same dongles do work properly on other models.

I know right? At my job we bill by the hour. Wonder if Apple is going to compensate me for the money I have lost trying to connect my keyboard to my brand new MBP while they don’t even acknowledge the issue. This smells like a big problem when a lot of people realise they lost BT in their $3k+ laptops by connecting a dongle.

All my tests were done using an ASUS 4.0 Dongle but the culprit was that CSR 4.0 Dongle.

Issue persists on Bootcamp and after reinstalling macOS. It's either a hardware or firmware issue. Hopefully a it can be fixed via software update, otherwise I foresee quite a large number of product recalls.

I used different one to bring it back working.

the one that I got bt back working again is generic rebranded usb bt dongle by my local electric store:

"Bluetooth USB Dongle V2.0+EDR "

FCC ID: rl9-hcbd-004

MacOS system information on USB:

Bluetooth HCI:

  Product ID: 0x0001

  Vendor ID: 0x0a12  (Cambridge Silicon Radio Ltd.)

  Version: 48.39

  Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s

  Location ID: 0x14100000 / 1

  Current Available (mA): 500

  Current Required (mA): 0

  Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

Thank you very much for the video @AntiHawk.

What I see from you video is that, as soon as you connect your BT 2.0 dongle, the Bluetooth icon at the top bar shows a perfectly valid connection and you can pair with your phone. In my case, the icon dims and then it shows the error icon. It looks like the OS is not capable of making it work. I have also noticed that the SW version of my dongle is different to yours (probably older) and many people on the Internet complain about differences in compatibility depending on the SW version. In my case the SW version is 1.13... anyway, I had an appointment today with one of the official Apple Repair Centers in Madrid and I left it there so that they can fix it. I'll try to get the correct dongle... (just in case).

I got my MacBook Pro 16" from the Service Center, they said they couldn't fix the problem and Apple won't authorise a Logic Board replacement as there was liquid damage. I have opened the MacBook and it is spotlessly clean. I am an Electronics Engineer and have done many Logic Board repairs, even down to replacing BGA components. I can assure, there is no liquid damage at all on the board, its not even dusty!

Anyway, I bought a BT 2.0 Dongle and it doesn't show any BlueTooth devices when I plug it into the 16" Machine. It still just searches with no found devices. I plugged the BT 2.0 dongle into my 2020 MacBook 13" and it does detect and does show up devices in the Bluetooth Search.

Ill update if I can get it back working.

Jamie

jamiefromkirkcaldy wrote:

I also have a 2020 Mac Mini, however I am not plugging it into the last machine with working Bluetooth!

Can you check About This Mac -> Bluetooth and post a screen shot with BT details?

Guys! I fixed mi 2019 iMac bluetooth with a dongle!

For those who don't know, I was having a different issue after plugin the infamous 4.0 CSR dongle: everything I connected was having interferences (AirPods, mouse...) as if the bluetooth module wasn't getting enough power or as if Coex mode wasn't working but still it was usable (barely). Just plugged in an ancient bluetooth 2.0 dongle (don't know if its CRS based), reseted NVRAM and other steps as @AntiHawk said and I got internal bluetooth working back to normal!

I got both my MacBook Pro 16" and 13" working again. I had purchased a Bluetooth 2.0 dongle from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B0044BYEGW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This one was functional as it would search in Windows but when connected to the Mac, it wouldn't search for any Bluetooth Devices.

I then purchased this one:

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

Yeah, this one was more expensive but It was a branded product. This one worked perfectly. I paid $26.00 for it.

The USB details of the dongle are:

Anyway, thank you very much for posting this information. You have saved me another trip to the Apple Store and weeks without the Laptop.

Jamie

First off, thank you so much for finding a fix. My 2019 16" MBP's bluetooth has been broken since December with no help from Apple's support.

I had the same experience as Jamie - my first dongle did not work, but the second and third I tried did. The version appears to be important: the non-working dongle was identified as version 1.00 in the system info report, but the working ones identify at versions 19.15 and 88.16. The shape is not a consistent indicator - my working and non-working dongles both use the same small semicircular shape, but come up with different versions.

Interestingly, I cannot re-break my BT now with a CSR 4.0 dongle. It temporarily breaks, but by just resetting the bluetooth module, I can get the onboard BT to restart. I plan on keeping one of the dongles as an insurance policy.

For reference, here are the dongles I have tried from Amazon's US site.

1. Not working, YCDTMYCDTMY Ultra-Mini Semi-Circle USB2.0 Small Black Bluetooth Receiver
2. Working: Wireless USB 2.4ghz EDR Bluetooth 2.0 Dongle Windows Vista/XP/2000 Plug and Play
3. Working: StarTech.com Bluetooth Adapter - Mini USB Adapter - Bluetooth 2.1 - Class 1 EDR - Bluetooth Receiver (USBBT1EDR2),Black

Just recently came across this thread. This issue is a joke on a $24K+ laptop and should have been fixed way back. Yet I still encountered this a few days back when I accidentally plugged a TP-Link Bluetooth 4.0 dongle into my 16-inch Macbook Pro. I'm from Hong Kong and we don't have Amazon, shops aren't really selling old Bluetooth anymore. And going straight to Apple Store for help is the only choice.