Keyboard media buttons
Magic Keyboard Media Buttons Not Working?
MacBook Air
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I have figured out that when I’m connected to the internet the buttons would work perfectly. However, when I’m not connected to the internet I will have only the play/pause button works and to launch up the Music app only (nothing else other than that) and I will have to either use the “space” to start the music or just click on "play" using the trackpad or the mouse.
Now, after couple of hours trying to troubleshoot this issue, I tried to disable the music from being synced from the iCloud library and all the buttons worked fine (online and offline).
To do so you will have to uncheck “Sync Library” box from the Music app’s general settings as follows: Launch the Music App > Go to Music Preferences (or simply press ⌘,) > General > Library > Uncheck "Sync Library” box.
Hope this works for you too.
Cheers!