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

I have had this trouble since getting my new M1 Mini. I can stop the problem but turning WiFi OFF on the Mini, and all is fine with Bluetooth. But I need the WiFi because I often use Airdrop, with won't work without WiFi.

I tried moving my router further from my Mini - they were right next to one another, and now they're about 3 feet apart. I may try moving the router further away, but I'm not looking forward to moving all the involved cables that were attached to the wall. Ugh.

Note: I understand this is somehow related to the 2.5 GHz WiFi interfering with Bluetooth, but my router uses both 2.5 GHz and 5 GHz under the same ID and can't switch to one or the other.

I hope this can be fixed in software.

I have now very little disconnects. Ive gone from disconnects every 2-3 mins to 1 per day and seems be be lasting longer now...I think ive gone 3 days now with no disconnects....and counting. My 'solution' was to remove the mouse from my business windows laptop (somehow I connected the magic mouse at one point, but never used it)....I see nothing else Ive done that would have affected it.

but i did also move my monitor from top of the mac mini to beside it....but not sure if that had any effect...but maybe it did...who knows (in ref to blocking BT signals from mac mini)

Yeah I don't get it either.

What we know:

1. Some people said that replacement units didn't solve the issue
2. Clean install of Mac OS Big Sur doesn't solve the issue
3. Peripheral devices were the issue for some, but others found that even with no devices connected and WiFi on 5GHZ only - there are still bluetooth issues
4. USB blueooth dongles seem to solve the issue
5. People on Intel macs using Big Sur are also experiencing the issue - this is an important point

My logic says that it's one of two options:

1. A software issue when it comes to using bluetooth on Big Sur (most likely)
2. A hardware issue with M1 that applies to most if not all devices, but is related to your home devices (since replacement units aren't helping I'm assuming it's to do with people's setups)

Yes, that's helpful. I agree, but I can't see this having anything to do with peeps setups, ie. if you mean where things are placed. If that's the case, that's defective hardware engineering... and apple should update the design and replace the units free of charge, like they did with the fried GPUs of days gone by.

Im betting on that power ball #, as I've read that older minis have had weak BT issues in the past (although I never did).

However, after resetting BT on my M1, and placing all USB devices on a thunderbolt hub, it's all working like magic now.

kmerenda wrote:

My issue with mouse disconnects doesn't seem related to phone or other devices. I've disabled handoff on everything I own, and the mouse disconnects keep happening. Unlocking my phone or iPad has no affect (doesn't cause a disconnect), and neither do incoming notifications. I've had the mouse disconnect while I was using it, and while my hand was nowhere near it. I have yet to find the common thread.

I certainly had the same issues as this originally. The recent discoveries I have had with unlocking the iPhone or using the Sound menu bar icon are very new and of course different.

The one thing I can say that is common for many of us though from reading this thread - is disabling WiFi on the M1 Mac resolves the issue. Is this something you have tried and can also verify stops the issues (sorry if you have already posted here to say this)? I appreciate that this is not an option if you have to use WiFi for network access as you do not have ethernet available to you. However if you are able to set aside time to test it out and not need WiFi for a short period it would be good to experiment with.

Turning WiFi off does solve the issue. Please make sure you actually turn it off and not just disconnected from your current network - that's not enough.

It seems that the interference indeed comes from the WiFi on the Mac Mini M1.

It has been 3 days now with the external BT adapter and absolutely perfect performance. I have reconnected my USB-3 hubs and every other device Apple Support said was causing interference and they have 0 affect now. I sure hope Apple resolves this in the next release, but I will continue with the external BT adapter until everyone stops complaining.

Yesterday, I decided to try the Asus USB BT4 bluetooth dongle. It works much better than the built in one. I also tried the Asus USB BT500 and that didn't work at all. However, I have noticed that even though I have my privacy setting to allow my watch to unlock my Mac mini, it no longer works. Any suggestions? Do I need to connect my watch to the mini?

Bit late to this but my Mac mini M1 was dropping bluetooth regularly and requiring reboot. I had a MX3 Logitech Keyboard and mouse connected as well as my apple trackpad. I tried various resets but then removed the trackpad. Just having the two peripherals connected via bluetooth has stopped the dropped connections and they've worked faultlessly since. Not ideal but means I can enjoy using the computer now until there's a fix for this.

Hope it works for anyone else who has the same problem

Have been using an older broadcomm bluetooth adapter for the last 24 hours and my mouse is no longer disconnecting. Will not unlock my Mac as it is not bluetooth version 4. Mouse disconnect-reconnect is the only issue I had been experiencing. Beta 11.2 (second version) did not fix the problem using mac mini bluetooth.

So, I finally downloaded and tried the Bluetooth Explorer, comparing the Mac M1 Bluetooth to the Asus Bluetooth dongle.

Main thing I noted was what was noted before:

The transmit power is all over the place for the trackpad, mouse, and keyboard, while the Link Quality quickly declines with time when using the mouse, trackpad, and keyboard, in that order.

With the Asus Bluetooth dongle, the Link Quality stays at 100% regardless of which/how many of those Bluetooth devices, and Transmit Power stays elevated the entire time as well with all 3 devices. So, either the Asus Link and Transmit power are not being reported by this app (but then it should read 0, not 100%, right?), or the Asus Bluetooth Dongle (4.0) is much more stable in terms of link quality and transmission power. I have a Bluetooth 5.0 dongle (also from Asus) on the way, and will repeat the measurements again with the that dongle when it arrives.

(I didn't post any pics, as they are identical to what was posted earlier in this thread and can be seen by clicking on the link in the post prior to this one).

At least this seems reproducible; if others can download and try the Bluetooth Explorer, it might be nice to compare if everyone gets the same or different results.

Yes, disabling the "allow this mouse to wake the computer" (or something to that effect) solved the problem. I don't see the frequent disconnects anymore.

I write this to express my disappointment of Apple's software quality. They built a brand on quality, and are now destroying it one bug at a time. It seems that they develop/maintain software with the dismal approach that testing is the main quality measure. This will never get anyone reasonable quality. A "correct by design" approach is the only way to get good level of dependability.

Arie Avnur

Cupertino, CA

I'm using a battery powered Apple Magic Mouse (2015) and I did experience bluetooth problems until I switched to an Asus USB-BT400 bluetooth dongle. Same for Apple Magic Keyboard with numeric pad (2020) and the Apple Magic Trackpad (2010, fewer problems).

I have been using the Asus BT-400 adapter for weeks with very good results. Everything worked except for the watch unlock, which I don't care about. I have now installed the 14.2 release that just became available and will monitor for any issues. Hopefully I do not have to go back to the external adapter. Will monitor for a few days and report back.

Several glitches on the install, My LG 4K monitor went berserk during the installation, but I just let it cook for awhile and eventually came back to show the install status. Also after removing my BT-400 and restarting, none of my Apple BT devices connected until I plugged them into the mac mini. Once that was done they connected just fine. Probably an artifact from running not he external adapter. No big deal as several restarts confirmed they would connect each time after that.

This issue is pretty frustrating. I upgraded from a 2012 MBP to an M1 MacMini... my Magic Mouse 2 is a little over 1 year old and was working perfectly with my old MacBook. However, when connected to the new MacMini, the mouse intermittently disconnects for literally no rhyme or reason.

Apple support is really no help at all. First I was directed to replace the mouse, so I spent another $80 on another Apple product and the problem persisted. Then I was directed to try isolating the MacMini from RF interference, so I disabled WiFi in my house, turned off all PCs, turned off all cell phones, turned off any other device that had bluetooth or WiFi functionality... and guess what? The Magic Mouse disconnected after about 10 minutes of use.

Then I was instructed to reinstall the OS on my MacMini and that did nothing but waste time.

Here's the thing: the MacMini works fine with my Apple bluetooth keyboard and AirPods. The MacMini works fine with 3rd party bluetooth devices like headsets, keyboards, and mouses. The problem is the MacMini's incompatibility with the Apple Magic Mouse.

Apple support mentioned that they're aware of the issue and how "it should be addressed in future software updates," but we're on Big Sur 11.2.2 and the problem is persistent.