Unable to connect to AirPlay speaker

Question

Level 1

73 points

Unable to connect to AirPlay speaker

I have a Bose Home Speaker 300 that works with AirPlay on my iOS devices, but does not work on my macOS Catalina 10.15.6 device (Macbook Pro w/Retina mid-2014).

Macbook and Bose are on the same network
Network is set to "Home" on Macbook Pro
Sharing is turned on for Music
macOS software is up-to-date
Bose software is up-to-date

If I try to choose the Bose as an AirPlay speaker, I get the message:

"The AirPlay device “Bose” cannot be selected for audio output. Please verify your network settings and AirPlay configuration or select another device."

No other audio devices are connected to my Macbook Pro.

If I try to choose the Bose as a Bluetooth speaker, it connects, but the sound constantly cuts out. Other Bluetooth speakers connect and play with no problems from the Macbook Pro.

On ALL of my iOS devices, I have no problems with this speaker, it plays and sounds great.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 27, 2020 9:59 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rotorblades Author

Level 1

73 points

Sep 22, 2020 6:02 AM in response to rotorblades

Solution! This past weekend I decided to reset my Macbook Pro to factory settings. Because of an issue with the initial attempt to reinstall the macOS, I had to first install the original OSx - Mavericks, then upgrade to macOS Catalina. This reset of my Macbook cleared up the issue with being able to connect to my AirPlay speaker using the Thunderbolt LAN adapter.

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Answer 2

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Jul 30, 2020 8:17 AM in response to rotorblades

Hello rotorblades,

We see that you're having an issue when trying to AirPlay from your Mac to your speakers. We'd be happy to provide you with some information that can help.

You've done some great troubleshooting steps to help with trying to resolve this issue. Next, take a look at the article below that can provide some additional steps that can help.

If AirPlay or screen mirroring isn’t working on your device

If the issue remains, try creating a test user on your Mac and testing to see if the issue remains in another user account.

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Let us know how this goes and if you noticed any changes.

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 3

rotorblades Author

Level 1

73 points

Jul 31, 2020 9:29 AM in response to Joseph_S.

Have tried the suggestions in the articles, but the speaker is still not connecting. Airplay works from my Macbook Pro to my Apple TV devices. All of my devices and Macbook are on the same network.

I created a new user account and was unable to use Airplay with the speaker from the new user account.

The speaker DOES work in AirPlay and bluetooth from iOS devices - iPhone 7 and 6s and iPad Pro.

All devices and Macbook Pro (including the speaker I'm having trouble with) are up-to-date on all operating systems and software. The speaker updated to the latest when I first connected to it from my iPhone app.

The speaker DOES show up in Apple Home Kit. It has the correct manufacturer name, serial number and model recorded in the Home app on both my iOS and macOS devices.

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Answer 4

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Jul 31, 2020 1:45 PM in response to rotorblades

Hello rotorblades,

Thanks for testing that out for us and reporting back with the results. At this point, since the issue is just with the Mac and the Bose speaker, you could be dealing with a compatibility issue, and you'd want to reach out to Bose Support.

Bose

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 5

Aug 1, 2020 8:37 AM in response to rotorblades

I get the same message from my iMac when trying to play over remote speakers connected via airplay.

So tired of endless Mac/Apple problems.

This morning when trying to connect remote speakers, I even got the classic old school PC error, where the same error message "Can't connect to..." kept showing up in a long cascade of windows with the same message.

Apple never used to have these problems.

I am running Catalina 10.15.5 on a 2 year old iMac, and the firmware for my Airplay devices are all up to date.

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Answer 6

rotorblades Author

Level 1

73 points

Aug 17, 2020 8:11 AM in response to chris_g1

It appears that the issue occurs when connected to a wired LAN. I have been using my Macbook Pro using a wired connection. Once I disconnected the wired LAN and connected to WiFi the Airplay connection works. Note that if I am connected to both wired and WiFi at the same time that Airplay fails for this device as well.

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