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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

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

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.

Similar questions

291 replies

Dec 15, 2020 9:22 AM in response to MyApple8MyPC

I used Macbook Air 13 for like 6 years and almost always with external monitor with wires USB Apple Keyboard + bluetooth Magic Mouse. Last couple of years was using Airpods and Airpods Pro connected to it. Never had a single problem with any of that. Neither on Big Sur, nor on previous mac os versions.


But this new and shiny custom M1 Macbook Pro 13" (16Gb / 1Tb) can't deal with Magic Mouse 2 Black without loosing it's connection 1-4 times per hour.


So it's not only Mac Mini problem.

Dec 15, 2020 3:01 PM in response to Sunden5

Same problem with a Mac mini M1. My magic mouse loses connection frequently, sometime reconnecting after a few seconds, sometimes needing a restart. Switching to a wired connection will be awkward, and turning off 2.4GHz on the router isn't an option for me. None of my other computers (an older MBP and a couple of PCs) has this problem with bluetooth.

Dec 15, 2020 3:42 PM in response to davidbick

Sorry for repeating, but I'm having the same problem not on Mac Mini, but on Macbook Pro 13" M1.

And I found out today, that this problem is only with Magic Mouse 2 (mine is black).

Because today I used my old Magic Mouse (with two batteries) all day long, and there was not a single loose of connection.

Maybe it's because they use different versions of bluetooth, I don't know.

And actually I like Magic Mouse 2 Black much better then first version, cause it's much lighter. But as a temporary solution Magic Mouse 1 fits.

Dec 16, 2020 3:22 PM in response to Jay4537

Thanks! Holding shift + option and clicking bluetooth icon in menu bar worked for me too. My magic mouse 2 and magic keyboard 2, and external bluetooth speakers are all solidly connected now. Before your fix, my mouse and keyboard would disconnect very frequently, and my bluetooth speakers would connect for 1 second, then disconnect completely. Hope this fix works until Apple releases formal fix in Big Sur.

Dec 17, 2020 7:04 AM in response to Jay4537

Guys! I have just had a pleasant call from senior Apple technical specialists. Shared my Mac OS screen with them with a native Apple Care feature. And seems like my problem with Magic Mouse 2 disconnection is solved.

If you have the same problem just open Finder and go to ~/Library/Preferences/ folder. And then delete all files with Bluetooth in their names. Restart the system and everything works just fine.

My Mac OS version currently is 11.1

Dec 17, 2020 7:33 AM in response to Konstantin_sal

I think the holding of shift + option keys then clicking the bluetooth icon in menu bar accomplishes the same thing as the option is to erase all the bluetooth information and start afresh. Also, if anyone is participating in Apple's developer beta or public beta program, Apple just released Big Sur 11.2 developer beta 2 yesterday. The public beta should be released today or tomorrow. My guess is that Apple has made the fix for the bluetooth issue in this MacOS iteration.

Dec 17, 2020 9:20 AM in response to Sunden5

Hello


I have had this issue since April try and log in wrong password few more attempt you have success, then your keyboard just dies battery power good over 60% keyboard 100% you can plug in all good regarding key board log in first time.


Now I have windows Pro 10 on through boot camp tried lots still the same press the keys and @ " are in each others place tried every keyboard that does English no success.


The issue went down hill when I downloaded Big sur My Windows 10 just froze.

Dec 17, 2020 9:24 AM in response to MyApple8MyPC

MyApple8MyPC wrote:


Konstantin_sal wrote:

just open Finder and go to ~/Library/Preferences/ folder. And then delete all files with Bluetooth in their names. Restart the system and everything works just fine.
Thank you for sharing Konstantin_sal!

It was just 3-4 hours of happiness (( Now it started to disconnect again. So above method didn't help also...

Dec 18, 2020 1:35 PM in response to kipjacobs

Great support! Apple just called me to followup on my Bluetooth trouble, but I was not available at the time to talk to them at length so we rescheduled a call back time. In the meantime, I brought my old Bluetooth Apple Mouse out to try and reconnect it, but it failed. I decided to better clean the battery connections. I then tried to connect it again via Bluetooth and it worked and has remained stable. I was so very happy. Apple support called me back as scheduled. I shared the good news with him and thanked them for following up. It appears so far Apple support's initial diagnosis of a mouse (equipment) malfunction was spot on. They told me to reach out to them again, if my mouse Bluetooth connection became unstable for additional troubleshooting. I couldn't have asked for better support from Apple!

Dec 18, 2020 1:48 PM in response to Sunden5

Having the same issue with my M1 Mac Mini. It was completely impossible to pair my Apple wireless keyboard, the computer could not see it. After experimenting around with placing the Mac Mini somewhere else, reducing the distance between the keyboard and the computer etc. and after reading several threads about this problem on other websites, the impression I got was that this is an inherent problem with the hardware design (either shielding due to the case or influence from something else on the board) and that the easiest workaround would be to use a USB bluetooth dongle. I went to Amazon and bought a standard USB 4.0 dongle which stated compatibility with Macs (price < $10). Plugged that into one of the Mac Mini's USB ports, booted the machine up (with a wired USB keyboard as a workaround so I could log in) and voilà - immediately I could pair my Apple wireless keyboard and so far (two weeks) no dropped connection. It is a bit annoying that I have to use up one of the USB ports permanently just to get bluetooth connectivity, but at least now I do not have to wait for an eventual software fix (if there ever will be one...) just to use my keyboard.

Dec 18, 2020 2:18 PM in response to pebceb

I bought an Asus USB-BT400 bluetooth dongle. For some reason, the US Amazon side does not show Mac OS compatibility in the description - the German Amazon site I bought it from does. Anyway, it works for me. It uses a Broadcom chip and is automatically detected (no driver installation necessary).Others have reported success with the Hideez USB bluetooth dongle, which according to the manufacturer definitely supports Macs.

Dec 18, 2020 6:10 PM in response to Sunden5

I'm experiencing similar problems, so I thought I'd share my troubleshooting and experience with AppleCare. (TL;DR - None of the troubleshooting worked, engineering doesn't seem to know the cause yet, and AppleCare is sending me a new M1 Mac mini from China).


From day 2 of using the M1 Mac mini, I had problems with my Magic Mouse 2 connection. Everything would be fine for hours, then the mouse would stop responding and I'd see the Mouse Disconnected HUD message, then Mouse Connected, then Mouse Disconnected message again and it would stay disconnected until I turned the power switch on the mouse off and on.

This was the same mouse I used with 2 different MacBook Pro's and had no issues.


On my desk, the Mac mini sits about 10 inches from my Magic Keyboard (which had no problems over bluetooth with the mini), and about 18 inches from the Magic Mouse 2. This was closer than the MacBook Pro sat to either accessory.


The mouse disconnect/connect/disconnect happened on average once a day, and didn't seem to be triggered by any particular activity. I eventually erased my mini's SSD and reinstalled the OS (setup as new, not from backup) but that didn't help. I dealt with the inconvenience, until one day things went really wrong. After about 2 weeks of use, I had an incident where my keyboard and mouse disconnected and stayed that way. I tried plugging in the USB receiver dongle for a Logitech keyboard/mouse combo into the USB-C hub I had on the mini, and even that didn't work. It seemed like bluetooth and my USB ports all went dead. After a power cycle, the bluetooth devices still didn't work. I was able to get the Magic keyboard going by connecting it via USB-lightening cable directly to the USB-A port on the mini. After that, turning the Magic Mouse 2 off/on brought it back online.


Once everything was working normally again, I went into the bluetooth menu and factory reset all apple devices, then reset the bluetooth module. This was no help, because the next day the Mouse did its disconnect/reconnect/disconnect thing again.


I finally called AppleCare. The first advisor told me its a known bug in their "emerging issues" database with over 800 reports in the past 12 days. He said engineering has acknowledged it and will fix it with a future software update, but no ETA was available. I was OK with that response - just happy they seemed to know about it and have a plan to fix it. The advisor suggested that "60% of people with the issue have resolved it by disabling FileVault." I tried that, but it didn't help.

The next day, an Apple Care senior advisor called me, wanting to collect diagnostic data. He got info about my Mac and accessories, my environment (other bluetooth devices in range), and asked me to run SysDiagnose and a Bluetooth log capture when the issue happened again. This called concerned me, as it seemed to indicate that they don't have the root cause yet. The advisor wouldn't confirm or deny that. After I sent him the requested logs and diagnostics, he got back in touch with me to schedule a replacement unit for my Mac. He said engineering wanted to capture my Mac so they could look at it. Again, this (to me) means they don't know the cause or even if its hardware or software or both. I told the advisor I was happy to do the replacement, but concerned that the new unit would have the same problem since there are so many folks with this issue. He acknowledged that concern, but suggested that the new unit shipping directly from china would have an updated firmware that may resolve the issue. He was kinda vague in that explanation, but was genuinely trying to help and not just tell me what I wanted to hear.


Anyway, as of today my M1 mini is on its way to Apple, and I'm waiting on a new unit from China that isn't scheduled to ship until January 5th :(. I'll be back on my intel MacBook Pro until then. When the new unit comes in, I'll give an update on the bluetooth issue.

Dec 20, 2020 1:58 AM in response to jbaumann

So I had an older Bluetooth dongle that also has the Broadcom chip. Have had it in for a day and no drops. But now my watch won’t unlock my computer. Has anyone else experienced this?


I am torn about returning the computer fearing I will just get another one with the same problem. Plus all the hassle of having to send this one back and wait for the new one.


in my case it is only ever the mouse that does the disconnect twice routine many times a day.


Peter

Mac Mini m1 bluetooth problems

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