4th Gen 2020 M1 Mac mini bluetooth issues with Magic Mouse2

I may have "fixed" the issue with the Magic Mouse disconnecting and reconnecting repeatedly. System Preferences/Bluetooth/Advanced...uncheck "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer". The issue was happening all morning (and since I received the M1 Mac Mini) and has stopped since I unchecked the box. I am using a USB Keyboard, so that is how I will wake from sleep. So far, so good though.

I performed the following steps and have just had a single reset in the last 24 hours. Interestingly instead of the Drop - Connect - Drop - Connect, double sequence, the one occurrence I had was a single Drop - Connect. Much more stable at the moment.

Perform Actions in TABLE A BELOW First

TABLE A

rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist

cd /Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences

rm com.apple.AppleMultitouchMouse.plist 

rm com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist

rm com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse.plist

rm com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist

1. Connect Lightning cable to keyboard 
2. Connect wired mouse 
3. Depress Option + Shift while selecting BT
4. Select Factory reset all BT Devices 
5. Depress Option + Shift while selecting BT
6. Select Remove all devices
7. Depress Option + Shift while selecting BT
8. Select reset the module
9. Open System Preferences and select Bluetooth
10. Turn on BT Mouse and depress button to enable discovery
11. When discovered - Add the mouse
12. Unplug lightning cable from keyboard
13. depress any key to enable discovery
14. When discovered - Add the keyboard
15. re-connect BT mouse/keyboard

Verify Dropped HIM devices

Open Terminal Window

cd /private/var/log

grep AMSupportURLConnection system.log

grep Bluetooth wifi.log

grep  Num.HID.Devices.is  wifi.log|cut -d , -f1,2

I have a m1 mac mini, I have been having random magic mouse disconnects and a choppy mouse movement and audio choppy. I fixed mine, I have a mac mini hub underneath it, it has a HD enclosure and a bunch of ports. I removed it from underneath and all issues went away, it was blocking BT or interfering somehow. If you have anything near the mac mini remove it and see if that fixes the issue.

I finally heard back from Apple engineering today. They think it may actually be the handoff feature causing the problem. They had me disable handoff on my Macs, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, and they will contact me back on Saturday to see if the problem is still occurring.

If you want to try this as well, here is how to disable handoff:

On a Mac: System Preferences > General > uncheck "Allow handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices."

On iPad/iPhone: Settings > General > toggle off Handoff

For Apple Watch, open the Watch app on the paired iPhone, then go to General and toggle off handoff.

They had me disable handoff on every device with my Apple ID - not just the Mac with the issue.

I didn't read all of the (21) pages but this is what worked for me until Apple fixes it (Mac Mini M1):

• Bought an Asus USB-BT400 Bluetooth USB dongle (€12-15)
• Connected a (2006!) wired keyboard and mouse while my wireless Apple devices can't be used
• Made Bluetooth visible in the menu bar (through the Bluetooth preference pane in System Preferences)
• Hold the Option-key while clicking the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar -- note the address (this should be the Mac's internal bluetooth MAC address)
• Hold the Shift+Option keys and click Bluetooth icon in menu bar and select "Factory reset all connected Apple devices" (for me: keyboard, Magic Mouse and Trackpad)
• Pressed the same combination/click and "Remove all devices" (for me: Bluetooth headset)

By now you shouldn't have any bluetooth device connected

• Connect the Asus dongle (can be directly connected to the Mini M1 USB-A but I connected it to my 2014 Dell 27" monitor)
• Restart the Mini M1
• (Open About this Mac --> System Report --> Bluetooth to see what Bluetooth hardware is active -- check and compare the (MAC) address of the dongle with what it listed on your screen).
• Alternatively, hold the Option key while clicking the Bluetooth icon. The address should be different and the same as listed on the packaging of your Asus dongle.
• If the address hasn't changed you can force the Mini to switch from the internal to an external USB Bluetooth dongle in 2 ways in Terminal -- read the comments after '//' and decide what suits your best -- I used the 'default' option (admin account required -- copy text before the '//' -- HCI = Host Controller Interface = Active bluetooth hardware (eg Asus)):
  • sudo nvram bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior=default // when a new HCI is connected, the built-in driver only disconnects from the built in HCI and attaches to the external HCI if the new module is not an Apple module.
  • sudo nvram bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior=always // when a new HCI is connected, the built-in driver disconnects from the built in HCI and attaches to the external HCI
  • To list all parameters:
    • nvram -p
  • To delete the parameter (and revert to the original situation):
    • sudo nvram -d bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior
  • the above information came from a retired Apple developer web page: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/technotes/tn2295/_index.html
• restart your Mac
• Check your active bluetooth hardware in Open About this Mac --> System Report --> Bluetooth or hold the Option key while clicking the Bluetooth icon
• Reconnect you devices through System Preferences --> Bluetooth

It may cost you €15 until Apple solves this problem but for me it improves my new Mini M1's usability tremendously in the mean time (no more mouse tracking problems and headset stutter).

If you want to dig deeper in Bluetooth working on your Mac search for Apple 's Bluetooth Explorer utility (available through Apple Developer web site).

Success!

Hi have the M1 Mac mini and have the LG 5K Ultrafine.

I experience the exact two issues as you:

* Bluetooth disconnections / stutters

* Display vertical distortion in two places

I have reported this to Apple support and the case is still open. I received a replacement M1 Mac mini this week. I migrated over to it and I still have the same problems.

Things I have found:

* Turning off wifi (using ethernet) totally resolves the bluetooth issue. I went over a week without any bluetooth disconnections. As soon as I turn on WiFi... I see disconnections.

* When the display issue occurs, sleep the display and re-wake. Most times it fixes itself (but not always).

Its extremely frustrating to see this occur on a new unit and also see others having the same problem :(

Buying an external BT dongle is indeed a cheap option to overcome the problems with the internal BT hardware until Apple fix this. I haven't had problems since I bought an Asus USB-BT400 last week..

Please note you can put the dongle in any USB port as long as there is a route to your laptop/desktop as far as I know. I, for example, put it in a hardly ever used USB-2 port on my Dell screen which is connected to a hub connected to my Mini M1. You could even try a spare non-powered USB-hub so as not to loose a port.

Zhaobello wrote:

After reading the latest updates to this issue thread, I noted that many M1 owners experienced the bluetooth disconnect/reconnect problem when they unlocked/woke their iPhone. I have been experiencing this problem for about 2 weeks now and did not know the problem trigger. I unlocked/woke my iPhone 11, which sits about 3 feet from my M1 Mac Mini, and the bluetooth connection immediately disconnected. The bluetooth reconnected about 5-7 seconds after it disconnected. I have sent this information on to Apple engineers via the Feedback Assistant that comes with MacOS developer and public betas.

Excellent. I have tried to update the support case I have had open since December but there seems to be issues with some of the support systems today.

The more eyes we can get on this discussion form as well as raised via technical support the more likely we are to get the issue investigated.

Have you tried unlocking other devices (such as an iPad)? For me this had no affect - it is only the iPhone. Which to me makes some sense given that it does have some functionality that the iPad does not e.g. make calls via handoff. Also whilst this issue is affecting you, try the following:

* Move the phone to another room or further away from the desk. Unlock it... return to the desk and see if the issue is still in effect. This for me was something that confirmed it was not related to distance of the bluetooth radios... its more an ecosystem / discovery / comms issue which explains for me my disabling wifi on the M1 solves the issue completely.

* Open the Console.app (search in Spotlight) and start capturing log data as you unlock the iPhone to trigger the devices to disconnect. This may help in the near future to see if any of the services log anything that can help engineers. I am waiting for my issue to return to do the same.

kmerenda wrote:

• Here is a summary of things I have tried:

Erased/Re-installed macOS

• Factory reset all apple bluetooth devices

• Reset bluetooth module

• Disabled FileVault

• Disabled Handoff (on all devices with my Apple ID)

• Replaced the mini with a new M1 Mac Mini

• Used only 5 GHz Wi-Fi

• Disabled Wi-Fi (turned it off, not just disconnected)

• Connected mouse back to an Intel Mac for 2 weeks (no issues at all during that time)

None of that helped. Mouse still disconnects/reconnects. Today Apple sent me a new Magic Mouse 2, with the theory that since the mouse was acting up on two different Mini's, it must be the mouse. They ignored the fact that its fine with Intel Macs. So now I'm waiting for the new mouse to show the same behavior. It shouldn't be long.....

Oh, also the Senior Advisor I was working with at Apple has abandoned me. We had a call scheduled for last Saturday, and she didn't call back. I called in (which is when a new person decided I needed a new mouse) and left a message, and have sent two emails since then - no reply. She told me her weekend was Thurs-Fri last week, so she should have been in the office this entire time.

Actually, this is the second time I've had an issue like this that they can't figure out, and the Senior Advisor just ghosted me. The first one is where some of my calendar events don't sync to the Apple Watch calendar (don't ask - we've been through 3 watches, 5 watchOS updates, and I've just decided to live with it).

Wow... so what strikes me as surprising here most of all is that turning off WiFi on the M1 did not help here. I can't say with 100% certainty but I would say that most users have been able to leave WiFi off (using ethernet) to stop the disconnections from occurring. All other attempts to fix this that were not hardware USB BT dongles were temporary and the problem returned.

Can I suggest (if you haven't) Turning off WiFi in the Network Preferences on the Mac and restart it and then see if the disconnections continue? If this continues I would say that this is the most severe case I have seen of this issue so far.

Like many others here, my environment is stable (no BT disconnects) from my Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad with WiFi off. As soon as its on its almost instant and repeatable time and time again.

It's a long thread, with a long story.

If you don't feel like reading the 30 pages, here's the bottom line:

There is an issue with bluetooth and the M1 machines (though it might go back to earlier generations of macs as well).

The general feeling (from Apple) is that it is the electronic environment (ie, possible noise from 2.4ghz wifi, router too close, etc.)

What works so far:

Don't use wireless (bluetooth and/or wifi) - wire up your keyboard and mouse. (Some have had some success with using a different bluetooth dongle on their machines).

You can try lot's of other things, but it doesn't seem to be consistent among different users.

Rumor has it that Apple feels this can be corrected with a software update, but no timeline so far as to when that will be released.

What else did I miss, folks?

That's what mine did as well - same exact pattern.

My keyboard did a bit of the repeating of typed characters at first but then stopped doing that. With the ASUS BT400 I am having no disconnects and my keyboard is okay. Unlocking with my apple watch is only working sometimes.

After the RC 11.2 update as of yesterday my mouse was fine but my keyboard started acting up again using the onboard bluetooth. And no apple watch unlocking either.

I am back on the ASUS BT400 for now.

Peter

Well, at least for me, the Magic Mouse 2 is the biggest culprit, but it still happens with the keyboard, the trackpad, and the old Magic Mouse (tried 2 different ones, one rechargeable and one with AA), and an original Magic Trackpad.

So, though it is worse with the Magic Mouse 2, it happened at about the same rate with the original Magic Mice. The original and the new Magic Trackpads suffer mainly from lag, not the disconnect/connect/disconnect/connect issue.

The keyboards (both the old Magic Keyboard and the new Magic Keyboard) suffer keybounce at about the rate - ie, you're typing, and all of a sudden you get several of the same letter repeatedly.

All of this seems to be gone with Asus Bluetooth dongle, and with the Bluetooth Explorer tool, it seems that the link quality and the transmission power are MUCH more consistent (ie, 100% all the time), while the Mac Mini bluetooth is all over the place. Maybe there is some power saving mode going on with the Mac Bluetooth chip? If we could turn that off, maybe it would work more like the Asus dongle. If it was just the link, I think the transmitter power would still be consistent. I'm thinking that maybe to conserve power, the transmission power is raised and lowered, and that when that happens, the link suffers to the point that the mouse disconnects, the keyboard shows keybounce due to unreliable connection, or the trackpad becomes laggy.

My best connection with the Apple bluetooth module comes from using just the keyboard and the trackpad, for whatever reason.

Ill tell you what I did and its working fine. Connect trackpad or mouse with USB - very important!

Press Option and Shift keys while clicking on the desktop bluetooth icon.

Click Reset Bluetooth module, the Factory reset all connected Apple devices, wait a minute or so and then restart the MacMini

As long as you have a connected trackpad or mouse you can move the pointer into the signing in box after which you can remove the USB connection as Bluetooth will be working fine - well it has for me

Hope that this helps

I installed it overnight.

Didn't help for me, either.

Attached is picture from Bluetooth Explorer:So I am not an expert at this tool but look at the link quality. When the disconnect-connect-disconnect-connect happened, the link quality dropped to 0. Also note that the Transmit power sawtooths all over the place; with the ASUS BT400 dongle, the link quality and transmit power are 100% all the time; no sawtooth pattern on the transmit power, and completely flat at the top for link quality. Same equipment, environment, everything- only difference is an external dongle by Asus and the internal Broadcom bluetooth chip with internal antenna.

So, in my mind, (and I'm a physician not an engineer), either the Broadcom chip itself, or the software controlling it, varies the transmit power to save energy (which on a laptop would make sense, but on a desktop unit less so), and that drops the connection. The Asus doesn't seem to vary the power, which results in a steady link quality? If this IS software controlled, it seems it would be relatively easy to add a software switch that lets the user choose to maintain the power constant, or choose save energy mode to vary the transmit power and save energy (like while on battery power on a laptop).

I hope Apple reads these threads, but if the discussion forums are just for users to help each other, I don't know the best way to report this or get it fixed.

I'm going back to Asus dongle for now; my 5.0 dongle is on its way, and hopefully that will work well AND allow the Apple Watch to login to the Mac Mini (that seems to be the only feature missing from the 4.0 dongle).

I submitted my Bluetooth disconnect issues, with system logs, to Apple engineering a few days ago, via Feedback Assistant app for Apple Developer & Public Beta testers. I let everyone know that submitting issues via Feedback Assistant usually results in follow up emails from Apple engineering, especially if the bug is a prevalent issue, like the BT bug with M1 Macs.

Just received this email from Apple Engineering:

"Hi XXX,

There are changes in the latest update, build 20D62, that may have resolved this issue.

You can see the software build your device is running and check for the latest update by clicking on the Apple logo in the upper left hand corner > About This Mac. If the build is not visible, click on the macOS version, e.g. 10.15.x, to reveal it.

Has this issue been resolved after installing the latest update?

Feedback ID FB8966943, Bluetooth Devices Constantly Disconnecting - M1 Mac Mini

Do not reply to this email. Please login to Feedback Assistant or the seed portal to let us know if the problem is fixed for you."

I personally have had no BT issues for Big Sur 11.2 RC 2, but I also did not have any BT issues for 11.2 RC 1 either. As mentioned before, if Apple Community members are still experiencing BT issues after downloading Big Sur build 20D62, please mention it here in the forum, but also try to submit this feedback to Apple engineers via Feedback Assistant app. Always seeing comments from community members who are not on the latest Big Sur build, and continue to experience BT issues, does not seem helpful or constructive at this time. Let's get community affirmation that the newest Big Sur build has fixed the BT issues or not.