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Sunden5 Author

Level 1

46 points

Mac Mini m1 bluetooth problems

Hi, I just got the new Mac mini M1 and from day one I have had big problems with the bluetooth connection. The computer is within an arms reach and has problems staying connected to my Magic Keyboard. It turns on and off. Several times. I even tried placing the keyboard on top of the Mini with out any difference. Some times I have to connect a wired keyboard just to log in. Sometimes the Magic Mouse also has problems. When using both with my old MacBook Pro 2010 they work perfectly.

There is nothing connected to the Mac mini other the the power and there is no ruter nearby that could interfere. The keyboard has fresh batteries also.

It looks like others also have this problem. Is there any one that has a fix. This is really frustrating.

Best regards

Mac mini, macOS 11.0

Posted on Nov 27, 2020 7:12 AM

Top-ranking reply

HSERC

Level 1

13 points

Posted on Dec 28, 2020 3:11 AM

Thank you once again. But... Again, you are missing the point...

Your examples are describing clearly defined and repeateable hardware defects in third party (i.e. non Apple) equipment.

This is all to do with an entirely Apple "system" that is sometimes fully working (i.e. no apparent defects), which then displays very erratic behaviour which is sometimes inconsistent from one person's system to another.

If you take the time to read back all of the previous pages on this, you will see that many have replaced equipment:

Some have replaced keyboards - to no effect.
Many have replaced mice - to no effect.
Some have even replaced Mac mini's - to no effect.
Some have got success by turning off Wifi - but this is not a solution, it just hides the underlying problem.
Some have found success by forcing the systems to use 5GHz wifi - but again, this is not a cure for the problem - It's just using a '"workaround" to avoid running into the problem. And not everyone may be able to force 5GHz.
Some have even completely reset their systems and Yahoo! it all works - for about two the three days - and then it stops working again.

All of these "helpful" suggestions, to plug it in, to use something else etc., are a bit like suggesting I use the back seat of my car to carry luggage, simply because the central locking system will not open the trunk.

What we all need, is for the basic functionality to be met. And to do that, Apple must first acknowledge that their users have a problem, that the problem can be described and can be reproduced. Then - hopefully - the problem can be determined and fixed.

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291 replies

ichoderso

Level 1

113 points

Dec 8, 2020 12:32 PM in response to Sunden5

maybe interesting: after installing, the mac mini the mac mini recognize the keyboard and mouse as "system administrator mouse/keyboard". Do that with the older iMac: the devices are recognized as what they are "magic mouse 2/keyboard 2".

more speculative:

Some people complaining about the bluetooth issue, having Logitech MX series devices. I read, Logitech had a security issues with their bluetooth devices, so the bluetooth connection can be a read and hacked. In 2019 Logitech published 3 firmware upgrade to solve that. Maybe some user didn't upgrade their devices and the new M1 chip with integrated high-performance storage controller with AES encryption hardware drop these bluetooth sessions?

d3duff

Level 1

4 points

Dec 9, 2020 6:29 AM in response to Sunden5

Having exact same issue with Bluetooth connectivity with new Mac mini. I guess this is why they say always wait to buy a new tech release until bugs are discovered and worked out. Using with new magic keyboard and mouse 2. Bought as a Christmas gift, hope I can get it resolved before then.

ichoderso

Level 1

113 points

Dec 9, 2020 7:18 AM in response to ichoderso

maybe one step closer:

as described, both keyboard and mouse worked as expected . But ....

I am used to using wifi and ethernet in parallel on my macs. Both are switched on. Now, i seen mouse movement leaks again while using the "handoff" feature for safari between my iPad and my mac mini . That point me to Wifi. Switching off Wifi, retry the "handoff" feature ... no leaks. So "handoff" working along bluetooth and Wifi...

ichoderso

Level 1

113 points

Dec 9, 2020 7:42 AM in response to d3duff

i have the chance to configure my wifi access point (airport). I disabled the 2,4 GHz band (the frequency band, share by Wifi and bluetooth). I saw mouse movement leaks while using handoff feature between iPad and mac. first impression: leaks are gone. lets see...

Jay4537

Level 1

13 points

Dec 10, 2020 12:34 AM in response to Sunden5

This may caused by Mac OS Big Sur. Currently, I use my MacBook Pro 2017. I don’t have Magic Mouse connection issue before, but after I updating my system to Big Sur, my mouse almost disconnected every couple of hours or minutes

Dec 10, 2020 9:14 AM in response to ichoderso

I got my M1 mini yesterday and I have exactly the same problem with the mouse disconnecting frequently. The keyboard also disconnects and reconnects a couple of times every hour. Both devices are within 15inches of the computer and moving them nearer does not improve matters.

I doubt it is a Big Sur problem because I have had no problems with my old iMac since installing the new OS. So it seems to be specific to the mini. I'm hoping Apple can sort this out soon or there will be a lot of unhappy owners. Judging from the search I've made, this is by no means an isolated incident.

Dec 12, 2020 6:41 AM in response to Sunden5

Purchased the Mac mini M1. It has a lot of wonderful capabilities, buy my wireless Apple mouse connects via Bluetooth and quickly loses its connection. It's a repeating and very frustrating error. I connected an old mouse via USB and had no troubles with it. What's the fix for the Bluetooth failure here Apple?

Dec 12, 2020 8:31 AM in response to kipjacobs

I spoke with Apple Support this morning and they were very professional and helpful. After extensive troubleshooting it was narrowed down to a mouse issue versus a Mac Mini M1 or Big Sur OS issue. We troubleshot the mouse on Mac Mini M1 (Big Sur OS) and MacBook Pro 2012 (Catalina OS) with the same results. The Bluetooth mouse intermittently lost its connections on both machines and OSs. It appeared most often the loss would occur when I raised the Apple mouse off the table. As I raised the mouse off the surface the batteries would move ever so slightly loosing their connection to the internal connectors. After fixing that issue the mouse no longer looses its connection.

Dec 12, 2020 11:32 AM in response to kipjacobs

Having same issue on my m1 Mac mini. I think it's more of a computer/software issue as my 2018 and 2011 Mac m inis in the same locations connects my Magic keyboard and mouse without issues. I am running High Sierra on my 2011 Mac and Catalina on my 2018. They worked fine (for me) on the other machines, just not the m1 Mac mini (16GB ram upgrade).

Dec 12, 2020 11:46 AM in response to colegreat06

I had convinced myself it was a problem with the Bluetooth on the M1 mini. But yesterday I heard from a friend who is experiencing exactly the same problems with his iMac. He had just upgraded to Big Sur, so there is a good possibility that there is a connection here.

Dec 13, 2020 3:00 AM in response to Jay4537

Mine has both 2.4 and 5Ghz connection lines. But I'm afraid that some of my home devices use 2.4Ghz wifi, so switching it off might make them unavailable. But I will try that for the experiment.

Isn't there software way to fix this? Maybe Apple already announced that it's soon will be fixed?

Dec 13, 2020 6:01 AM in response to Sunden5

I have the same problems with bluetooth mouse and keyboard. In reply to the people talking about 2.4 GHz wifi interference, I have wifi switched 0ff and only use an ethernet connection with the Mini M1.

Dec 13, 2020 7:05 AM in response to Thoughtfull_Lion

****!..

You are right. Deactivation 2.4 on my wifi router + all other bluetooth devices didn't help. Once in a while Macbook m1 looses bluetooth connection with magic mouse 2. Quickly reconnects, but it's extremely annoying (((

Dec 13, 2020 7:29 AM in response to pebceb

Several times today contacted Apple Support. They know about this issue and seems like it's software issue, soon there will be Mac OS update, but couldn't say when.

Hopefully they will also fix some interface bugs of Big Sur. I don't remember any previous major Mac OS update with so many interface bugs

Dec 14, 2020 12:34 PM in response to Thoughtfull_Lion

Mac OS version 11.1 (20C69) is out. Testing it for two hours now. Hoped that they fixed it. In release notes there was some info about bluetooth, but in other context.

BUT NO! NOTHING IS CHANGED ((((((( Magic Mouse 2 Black looses connection as it was before 😡 😡 😡

Mac Mini m1 bluetooth problems