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

While I haven't had the problem reappear in a while now, I realize that this is an issue and could return for unknown reasons. It is also apparent that Apple is not receiving enough attention (negative publicity to make fixing this a priority) and posts on this forum are not going to move Apple to acknowledge or expedite a fix. What is probably needed is posting on broader read media, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and possibly an article on MacWorld Daily.

Faced with broad public exposure Apple will move to fix the problem to protect their stock value and to continue being able to sell M1 based products.

yep same here. at my wits end with this issue. I have tried everything apple has said. I get disconnects on keyboard and mouse (both Apple) every 5 mins or less. My only solution that has lasted more than 5 mins so far is to turn off WIFI (lucky i have a wired connection). But its a bit sad that for such a company like Apple that prides itself on qualify and superior products gets caught out with with such a problem. I did not that whenever I unlocked my iPhone 12 I got an immediate drop out of the keyboard and mouse....strange. (Note: going on 10mins without a dropout since WIFI turned off...yippeeee)

following a thread by someone else,

I may have a solution. Shift option your keyboard and choose the Bluetooth icon from the top menu at the right choose reset all devices to factory. Problem has gone and not showing up again. Please post If this solves your problem

I tried the bluetooth reset, but it didn't help.

I've turned the Mac Mini upside, hoping that the plastic bottom would let the signal penetrate better between the devices. No dropouts from keyboard or mouse in the last 3 hours.

So, try turning the Mac Mini upside down, and see if that helps.

Try this: following a thread by someone else,

I may have a solution. Shift option your keyboard and choose the Bluetooth icon from the top menu at the right choose reset all devices to factory. Problem has gone and not showing up again. Please post If this solves your problem

I'm using the original Magic Mouse, one rechargeable, one with replaceable batteries, they both do the same thing (and they both work without issues on other Macs), so I don't think it is the mice; I was having trouble with the keyboard too (Original Mac Mini Keyboard).

I've had one mouse connection loss/regained since 1130 AM; only changes were:

1) Clean install of Big Sur 11.1

2) Mac mini upside down.

I've turned the Mac Mini upright again, and will now see if I have any more connection issues to see which one has helped. Overall, though, it has been much better today.

I believe it’s all going back. We should not have to troubleshoot something as basic as Bluetooth connections. I’ve never had this issue with any other device. I also have display issues. I’m very disappointed. Not sure I want to even try a M1 MacBook.

I’m sorry to report that, if you look through this tread, you’ll see that I have the same problem with my M1 MacBook Pro. It appears to be an M1/Magic Mouse problem (as reported above I’ve had no problems with other bluetooth devices) rather than just an M1 Mac Mini problem (although from here it appears to be worse on the Mac Mini).

It seems this is not a general bluetooth problem with input devices, and not just a Magic Mouse problem. It’s some interaction of Magic Mouse and the M1 mini (and from other reports here, maybe the M1 MacBook Pro).

I also have a 16-in MacBook Pro. After COVID and working at home constantly, I bought a 27-in 4K monitor (HP Z27), Apple Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and I already had a 2nd gen Magic Mouse. I used this setup with the MBP in clamshell mode. I had no problems with the three input devices. The MBP was upgraded to Big Sur, still no problems.

Now, with my new M1 Mac mini, I have the same problem with the mouse disconnecting that others are reporting. First, it becomes slow and laggy, then eventually either it loses connection or I disconnect-reconnect. Since I have the Magic Trackpad, I don’t lose ability to control with a pointing device. But, and this seems important, the Magic Trackpad never has this problem. Neither does the keyboard, as others have reported.

So the only problem is with the Magic Mouse and the M1 mini. No problem with the mouse and the MBP. No problem with the M1 mini and the trackpad, or the keyboard.

I also found an older 1st gen Magic Mouse. I’m now testing with that and the mini, but it’s too early to know if the problem will occur here too. For me the disconnects are not nearly as frequent as other people are reporting.

Apple, if you are monitoring this thread, I’d be happy to be contacted for more information. 

Same here. Apple support team spoke to me several times and collected a lot of information. They are however downplaying the issue saying this is a narrow issue and they haven’t heard others complaints! This is really disappointing and I am loosing my confidence in Apple. They can not sell products that have broken mouse connections!

Right now my Mac mini won't connect to the Magic Trackpad or Keyboard at all, not even intermittently, seems to work OK for about a week after rebooting. I connected them via a lightning cable to wake the computer and login and neither device shows up in the Bluetooth menu bar icon. I have a follow up call scheduled with Apple Support tomorrow so I will leave the unit as-is for now to see if they can't gleam some information from it. Earlier this week when I was on the phone with Apple Support, they wanted to remote login to obtain the System Profile report - I declined and ended up just uploading it to their file transfer site. Has anyone else allowed Apple Support to access their machine remotely?

I also have a bluetooth Microsoft Surface Keyboard and Precision Mouse on my desk which I have paired with my Windows work laptop. I have noticed that the Precision mouse goes through periods of stuttering and lagging, so it definitely seems like some kind of RF interference issue.

At this point, I think it might be time to request an exchange or a refund, which stinks as I traded in a 2019 Intel Mac mini for this which didn't have any bluetooth connection issues (although it sounds like some people have). It would be interesting to see the differences between the bluetooth transceivers/antennas used on the Intel and M1 version ... might need to search ifixit.com.

I think both the M1 and the 2019 Mac Mini use the same Broadcom wireless chip (I forget the number), and there were reports of some bluetooth issues with those, too. So I don't know if it is the chip, the antenna (good idea to look at the ifixit on the intel to see if the antenna is set up the same way as the M1), or the design of the Mac Mini. (I looked at the ifixit site for the M1, to see if the wireless was on a card I could exchange - unfortunately, everything is soldered on the motherboard).

My mac mini m1 gets a bit better so far. Just disconnected sometimes but no lag really since a few days.

As I said earlier on this discussion, each tome I ve got my iphone xr next to the unit I have my mouse going crazy. I turn the bluetooth off of my phone and everything gets back to normal. Definitely a bt frequence issue

"They are however downplaying the issue saying this is a narrow issue and they haven’t heard others complaints!"

How is that possible? Apple's Engineering team has contacted multiple people on this thread. There are 330 people who have clicked the "I have this issue too" button. Just do a search on Google for "m1 mac bluetooth" and you'll see at least two dozen articles from Mashable, ZDNet, AppleInsider, MacWorld and many, many others. Everyone has this problem it seems, and if not, its likely just a matter of time.

If you speak to anyone in Support who hasn't heard of this, you should immediately ask to be escalated to someone who has. They also should be able to repro this problem in house. Its not upon all of us to figure this out for them.

I got the same response from Apple. I said it’sa known issue. They said “it’s not known” who’s right....I think this thread tells it all.

my only solution. And I mean only.... is too turn off WiFi on Mac. The only thing that has gotten me so far and thats 8 hrs of continuous use. Which is up from 5 mins.

Ultimately I guess if enough users return their units they will have to listen.