Mac OS Catalina keeps disconnecting bluetooth devices

I was able to find a fix on YouTube finally! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9_npUWXd3g&t=204s Make sure to reboot your Mac once it's done and turn off / turn on your bluetooth devices

All,

This issue plagued me only on the iMAC, not the 15 MBP or MAC Pro all running Catalina. After 2 reinstalls on the iMAC, I had no problems for approx. 4 days then the problem of the bluetooth showing unavailable (except for the magical mouse). I used Logitech MX keyboard & mouse once I totally removed everything Logitech, no disconnect issues. I then tried only the Logo mouse, no problem, only when I connected the MX keyboard did the problem return.

I will not pursue which company causes the problem, OS or hardware. Loosing battle and too time consuming. If anyone does find the resolution please post.

Many thanks & good luck.

Tried it...worked for a little while and started again. This is frustrating. Interestingly enough, I have work laptop that doesn't have the same problem. That one is a 2017 15 inch. My personal is a 2020 16 inch. same exact operating system version. The difference? the 2017 was a factory install. No transferring of data. The 2020, I transferred the data from my old mac. I'm starting to think I need to wipe and re-install everything from scratch, and then hand move everything over and re-install all of the software. GRRRR

I have downgraded all previous systems and the magic mouse works perfectly. However, I had already tried using it with a macbook (with Sierra) and eveything was fine. The problem is always Catalina.

Only things that helps is to do a full reinstall. Don't trust any of the tips in here non of it works. Just a default suggestion for any issue. 16 hours lost right there. Please don't release beta software to all mac users. I buy mac for the reliability :)

You are lucky that any Bluetooth mouse works on Catalina! I wouldn't buy anything else that is Bluetooth, since you have no idea whether it will work reliably without dropping out, or not. Only my Beats Solo work reliably with my new macbook air. Absolutely nothing else, Apple or not, works on my Bluetooth with out dropping out all the time. It's the new Catalina operating system! Apple needs to fix this Catalina problem immediately!

I Have 2013 Mac Pro with the same issues, I completely formatted my drive went back to Mavericks, My Bluetooth was working perfectly fine, my USB drive never got ejected by itself then I installed Mojave and same issues happened again, my Bluetooth Magic Mouse keep getting disconnected, my time machine external hard drive keeps getting ejected! I think that's because my firmware was updated when I updated to Catalina and there's no way to downgrade firmware update. Apple please help I cannot go back to Mavericks just to get my external peripherals working!

I started having this problem on a mid-2015 13" Macbook Pro i5, and figured it was just the machine showing its age, as I had been pretty rough and unceremonious with that machine over the years. I had some other issues due to water damage, and figured it was time to shelve the old unit and buy a new MBP.

I purchased my current machine, the 16" 2019 Macbook Pro i7 16GB Radeon 5300 build. I have the EXACT SAME ISSUES. I have done all the troubleshooting in the world. I have reinstalled macOS 10.15. I tried the 10.16 beta. The only option I appear to have left is to roll back to 10.14, where I don't believe I had this problem at all.

I have experienced the bluetooth problem in various manifestations. One is of course all bluetooth devices disconnecting at the same time, and taking about 30 seconds to reconnect everything. This is a MASSIVE disruption to my workflow. I have trouble staying focused, and need my OS and tools to get out of my way so I can just work. This happens 5 to 6 times a day, all on its own.

Another manifestation of this problem that I have is my bluetooth speakers (Logitech Z337) will skip like a CD player, clearly a bluetooth packet loss. The BT receiver module for the speaker is literally 24 inches away from the Macbook Pro. It has nothing to do with distance or interference.

Yet another manifestation of this problem is my bluetooth mouse. This is easily the most annoying and persistent problem I experience. The problem is that while I'm using the mouse, moving it across the screen or dragging/dropping something, the mouse gets "sticky" and starts to slow down considerably instead of moving at the normal rate across the screen. Changing mouse sensitivity does nothing. I am a web developer and programmer, and not being able to move my mouse consistently is incredibly irritating. While the bluetooth mouse is "sticky" and barely able to move, I can reach over and touch the built-in touchpad on the MBP, and it works perfectly.

I have come >< this close to slamming my mouse on the desk repeatedly out of frustration and I just simply CANNOT believe a problem this major has been left in EIGHT releases of macOS (10.15, 10.15.1, 10.15.2, 10.15.3, 10.15.4, 10.15.5, 10.15.6 (current version), and now 10.16 (beta version).

Help. For the love of god help me fix this. Update your OS, Apple. I'm pleading with you. I'm about to move my workflow back to Windows because I just can't tolerate a mouse that won't work. My desk is a battlezone where I fight my brand new $2700+ machine for the right to use my equipment with it, when there is no problem with any other machine (that isn't running 10.15+ of course).

Same problem here - brand new iMac Pro - £5000 worth of computer with *terrible* Bluetooth performance. I only use Bluetooth for the mouse (Microsoft) and a pair of Sony WH-1000XM2 headphones; ever now and then they both stop responding at exactly the same time. The mouse pointer freezes and the sound goes to the iMac's speakers. 30 seconds or so later, the mouse always comes back, the headphones might need to be reconnected. A little later, it happens again. In between, the mouse is sometimes choppy or feels 'sticky' as it lags behind on the screen. When I try to use a pair of Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds with the Mac, the sound is choppy and thin and they regularly disconnect from the Mac.

I'm not using a wireless connection so it can't be interference between WiFi and Bluetooth (which would be a massive failure on Apple's part); the batteries in the mouse have been replaced and the headphones are fully charged. I've done all 8 of the steps suggested above - including resetting everything, re-pairing, reinstalling MacOS, updating drivers on the devices and the problem won't go away.

All of these devices work faultlessly under Windows and iOS, so either Apple is shipping machines with faulty Bluetooth modules, or there is a bug in Catalina. I've reported the issue to Apple but their advice is just the same as has been shared here. Hopefully enough people are reporting similar problems for them to be working on a fix.

I can confirm that with my new MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020 with the latest Catalina) I did not experience _any_ drops during two weeks. It is probably the bad news for the community since the issue seems with the HW or a matter of a clean install. If I had my old workstation, I would indeed start with OS reinstall, but for me the problem disappeared (nock-nock!).

That's interesting - does anyone else have an external Bluetooth module they could try to see if it fixes the problem?

Given the large number of different machines affected this would suggest it is a software issue rather than anything being wrong with Apple's chips - so it can be fixed.

Information from another user with a similar use case:

I use non-apple bluetooth keyboard, apple magic mouse, and non-apple bluetooth headphones. During regular use they work flawlessly. Occasionally, either the keyboard or the mouse start tracking really slowly to the point of feeling like they aren't responding at all. Sometimes the effect occurs during a Zoom meeting. Other times I could be just using my computer regularly.

I have performed all the SHIFT+OPTION+Click the Bluetooth icon > Debug options several times.

Instead, I resort to keeping a wired mouse, keyboard, and headphones at my desk in the event one of the devices loses connection.

I have the same issue with a similar machine. I have tried the same things in an attempt to stop the disconnecting. I am running 10.15.3.

They fixed it in 10.15.6 update?

I am scared to install it because who knows what will stop working next...