I just bought a Mac Mini M1 at the beginning of March '21 to use as the main machine in a music studio. I had experienced Bluetooth issues from day one. Needless to say, there are a LOT of connections, wires, hubs, and various other cables running all over the studio. I mention this because there are a lot of potential sources for interference that would be almost impossible to track down.
I turned off WiFi -problems persisted
I turned off the 2.4Ghz band on my router - problems persisted
I turned off FileVault - problems persisted
I turned off Handoff - problems persisted
I reset the Bluetooth Module - problems persisted
I factory reset all connected devices - problems persisted
I unplugged the M1, waited 10 seconds, plugged it back in, waited 5 seconds, turned it back on - problems persisted
I disconnected both USB-A cables - problems persisted
I disconnected the ethernet - problems persisted
At this point, I was really considering just using a wired mouse and dealing with it, or sending it back. Working in Logic with erratic mouse movements is nothing short of maddening.
I was upgrading from a 6,1 Mac Pro which originally had Bluetooth issues prior to various software and OS updates. I had used an Aircable Host XR4 (Bluetooth dongle) with that Mac Pro that solved all of my issues, so I decided to try that with the M1.
Unfortunately, it wasn't recognized when I plugged it in. I tried various ports, hubs, and directly plugging it into the M1. Nothing. The light stayed red and the Bluetooth address was still reporting the built-in module.
On a whim, I thought maybe turning off Bluetooth, plugging in the Aircable dongle, and then turning Bluetooth back on would kick it in to using the Aircable over the built-in module. Outside of some buggy weirdness after turning Bluetooth back on, the Aircable actually worked! FINALLY!
So, you'll need a separate bluetooth dongle and a wired mouse available so you can turn the Bluetooth back on, but the process that worked for me is:
- Make sure the Bluetooth dongle is disconnected.
- Make sure "Show Bluetooth in menu bar" is turned on in System Preferences>Bluetooth
- Check the module's current address (Shift+Option, click the Bluetooth icon). Make a note of this address.
- Plug in a wired mouse.
- Turn off Bluetooth.
- Plug in the Bluetooth dongle.
- Use the wired mouse to turn Bluetooth back on. (Mine seemed to turn back on when I plugged in the module. Your results may vary.)
- At this point, I experienced some erratic behavior, so I decided to restart.
- Restart
- Check the Bluetooth menu (Shift+Option, click on Bluetooth icon in top bar) for the Bluetooth address. It should be different from the one noted above.
If all went well, the Bluetooth menu should display the new address, which means you're using the new dongle as the Bluetooth controller. As long as the dongle has been connected, it has persisted through multiple reboots.
This completely solved all of my Bluetooth issues, and I can now reliably use the M1 as my every day machine. It's unfortunate that this requires a third party solution to work, but it's possible that future updates may fix whatever interference is plaguing the M1 Bluetooth controller. I have to think it's a hardware issue since the new controller has no issues, but it's possible the built-in module can be tuned with firmware/software tweaks.
But until then, I hope this works for some people who are unable to get a third party bluetooth dongle to work.
