New M1 Mac mini keyboard Lagging

Yeahh, yesterday while I was chatting with Support a new Release came out:

macOS Big Sur‌ 11.2 improves Bluetooth reliability and fixes the following issues:

- External displays may show a black screen when connected to a ‌Mac mini‌ (‌M1‌, 2020) using an HDMI to DVI converter

- Edits to Apple ProRAW photos in the Photos app may not save

- ‌iCloud Drive‌ could turn off after disabling the ‌iCloud Drive‌ Desktop & Documents Folders option

- System Preferences may not unlock when entering your administrator password

- Globe key may not display the Emoji & Symbols pane when pressed

Let's all test it and report back, if it's still happening (I definitely had the Black Screen Problem, iCloud Drive and the Mouse stutters).

This happened to me too, but have found a fix!

I have a new Mac Mini M1 mounted in a bracket behind my monitor. Everything had been working perfectly until.... I decided to clean up my cabling and get my desk organized.

I have an external SSD drive that I decided to put directly next to the Mac Mini, basically blocking a bit of the bottom of the mini and that's when bluetooth went all crazy - dropped my keyboard and mouse connections.

When I moved the external SSD away from the Mini, everything started working again...

Here's a picture of the drive/mini when bluetooth gets funky:

Perhaps some interference or bluetooth signal strength issues at play here?!?

I hope this helps someone!

[Link Edited by Moderator]

On my M1 MBP, I've noticed that the keyboard lag only happens when I have my AirPods (skinny, not pro) connected and am actively using them. If I just have my keyboard (Logitech K780) and my mouse (Logitech M720 Triathlon), I don't have any issues. If I add my AirPods, things will work okay for a bit, but soon the keyboard lag starts -- As soon as I disconnect or sheath my AirPods, the keyboard lag goes away, and everything is back to normal.

Perhaps it is triggered when there are more than 2 devices connected and active. I've not tested w/ 3rd party bluetooth headphones.

Big Sur 11.2.3

I had the same problem with my older magic mouse and keyboard. They were had 2.0 Bluetooth chips and didn't handle the AFH very well. I changed to my newer magic mouse and keyboard that 3.0 Bluetooth chips and haven't had any problems for the past nine days. Typically with the 2.0 devices, I started having problems after 2-3 days. It may be that 2.0 Bluetooth devices (there are a lot of them out there) don't work well with the current 5.0 Bluetooth device in the M1 devices. Sure would be nice if we could get some indication from Apple engineering as to what they think the problem is with M1 Bluetooth devices not working properly.

Daryn,

I have a new M1 Mini too same age as yours and had the same issue with keyboard and mouse. I had them plugged into a new Thunderbolt ( USB4 ) hub I bought with the Mini. I found others had this same stuttering issue through Thunderbolt hubs so I put them into an old USB2.0 hub I had and plugged that into 1 of the 2 the Mini's USB3.0 ports - Problem Solved !! Not sure from your description if these are wireless or cabled. Good luck - Mike

I mentioned earlier that moving my mini M1 further from my bluetooth keyboard and Apple trackpad seemed to lessen the instances of keyboard lag developing. This jibes with another user who rearranged his office a bit and got improvement. A couple of days ago I also moved my DECT 6 based Uniden portable phone away from my desk altogether. It may be a little early to cry "Eureka", but I am hopeful that I have cured the keyboard flu. I installed 11.3.1 at about the same time, but since there has been no mention of a fix for the bluetooth problem in it, the phone might have been the problem.

I believe that bluetooth operates on 2.4 Ghz, while DECT 6 operates on 1.9 Ghz, so I am a little surprised that there was a conflict, but when I previously moved by mini away from the keyboard, it was also moved farther from the phone. Evidently other types of cordless phones have been known to interfere with bluetooth too.

I have a mini M1 with an older battery Apple Trackpad and a Logitech keyboard that lapses into lag mode, usually after a long sleep.

A couple of things that work for me on my M1 when this happens:

a) Turn the trackpad off and then back on. (Even though it is the keyboard that is slow)

b) Shift-Option click on the menu bar bluetooth icon and then "Reset the Bluetooth Module"

Both methods work reliably for me. It beats rebooting if it works :) But yes, APPLE WE NEED A FIX!

I have encountered the same issue with Big Sur, then Monterey. The first time I encountered it, checked to make sure the keyboard was charged enough and it was. Then, I connected the Lightning-USB cable to the keyboard and the keyboard worked properly again. More recently I ran into the same issue and looked into it further. I reset bluetooth this time using command line, "sudo pkill bluetoothd" command. Even though I remedied the issue, I called Apple Support. Besides the steps that I took, Apple Support directed me to delete the com.apple.HIToolbox.plist file, then reboot in case the file was corrupted. Apple Support recommended that if I encounter the problem again that I boot in recovery mode to troubleshoot further. If nothing can be determined, Apple Support suspects that the keyboard Bluetooth connectivity is deteriorating. Keyboard is suspect because other Bluetooth devices--Magic Touch Pad, and Magic Mouse--work properly. Furthermore, since connecting the keyboard via Lightning-USB cable works, that bypasses the Bluetooth connection, showing that the keyboard itself (less Bluetooth) works. Currently, the keyboard is covered under warranty.

Aren't intermittent problems fun? :-)

After trying plug the Logitech receiver with USB 2.0 extension cable. It works fine now. Some comments point it is due to USB 3.0 port interferes with 2.4 GHz signal

update: https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/01/05/how-to-reset-bluetooth-on-macos-big-sur

So click Shift+Option in the bluetooth menu, then Reset Bluetooth Module. Once the kb reconnects everything is fine and fast again.

Apologies realise for Mac mini users maybe this is awkward. I have an M1 Mac Pro with this issue so can use the built in kb to hit reset.

Perhaps someone knows how to script this reset ? For the record, the following does NOT work on M1 but used to work on older Macs -- obviously its a different chip set !!

sudo kextunload -b com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport
sudo kextload -b com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport

I'd only experienced this issue since Big Sur 11.2.3 and it only manifested after the Mac Mini M1 had gone to sleep each time. Resetting the Bluetooth module by clicking on the Bluetooth icon whilst pressing Shift+Option seemed to do the trick.

Hi I have the same stuttering / laggy keyboard problem when connected by bluetooth to the new M1 mac mini. I bought it in January 2021 and the problem keeps recurring. I have spent hours on the phone with senior advisors and we have been through many different routines to try and solve the issue. Finally last week I took it to an Apple store genius bar and was told in all likelihood the problem was my old 2011 Apple wireless keyboard. So I was sold (yes I spent more money!) a brand new magic keyboard and told that they were sure this would be the answer. Guess what dear readers.... of course the problem is exactly and sadly the same. I'm running the latest Big Sur 11.2.3 and whatever Apple have done to try to fix the problem has not worked for me.

So I have now got to phone Apple again and get my money back. The good thing is that I have been promised a full refund on the mac mini and the keyboard in the event their latest solution does not work. I made a video of the problem too and I intend to post it on Trust Pilot with a very poor review of the M1 Mac - a pity since in every other respect its great and I really wanted to keep it. If anyone out there is thinking of spending money one one, my advice is to wait a year and see if the problem is solved - i object to being a guinea pig to product test Apple's latest technology when the problem is so fundemental - this product is not fit for purpose.

Ok, I'm back to the same lagging and extraneous keystrokes being entered when I try to type on my keyboard. Now, even turning off/on my keyboard isn't fixing the issue. I had to plug the keyboard into my M1 Mac Mini with a lightning cable to use the keyboard again. I then held the Shift+Option keys and then clicked on the bluetooth icon in the menu bar to bring up the dropdown menu allowing me to reset the bluetooth connection. After that, the keyboard worked fine in bluetooth mode.

Strange, that after the last OS update to 11.4 everything worked fine for several days, then started up again with the keyboard issues but I could fix it with a off/on for the keyboard, and now it won't work at all. I've contacted Apple Support again and this time I believe they will ask for my system logs to investigate the issue with a hardware engineer.

Likewise, my trackpad was working fine, and my Logitech keyboard was lagging. Nonetheless, it was cycling the power on the trackpad that would cleanup keyboard input. The older mouse, like the older trackpad, was based on the Bluetooth 2 spec while my keyboard is based on the Bluetooth 3 spec.

Four days ago, I switched in a MagicTrackpad 2, with Bluetooth v3, and I have had no trouble with the keyboard since. (A good sign, but admittedly a week+ will be a better test). The old trackpad also seemed to be chewing through batteries at a faster pace after moving to the M1. With the new trackpad, the keyboard response seems be quicker than it was with the old trackpad, even when the keyboard was not noticeably "lagging."

Effective Bluetooth versions are visible from the Apple Menu-> System Report -> Hardware -> Bluetooth report

I was having this problem too, using a mini M1 16/512, with new extending magic keyboard and old Magic Mouse. System Info said keyboard was on Bluetooth core 3.0 and old mouse was on core 2.0. Keyboard had lag as described by OP and mouse was sketchy too like the optical wasn't reading well. Connecting keyboard via usb fixed the problem but made its bluetooth capabilty pointless. Based on some comments here, I substituted a Magic Trackpad 2 for the old mouse and turned that old thing off. Been using the keyboard and new trackpad via bluetooth for about a week with no problems. Seems like the mini M1 can't handle mixing core 3.0 with core 2.0 but if both inputs are using core 3.0 it works as intended. Also, after using the trackpad 2 (I used to use a trackpad 1 on another machine) I much prefer it to using a mouse. The additional real estate is a big plus over the old trackpad 1.