Cannot pair bluetooth - iPhone to Macbook Air

Read all pages... Noticed a few irritated reactions especially from people that are convinced that BT 'never paired' etc etc etc. As published by others, BT did 'pair' in the past. You were able to pair older iPhones and IOS'es and older MBook's with older OS'es with each other; maybe it was never intended to work, it did work. And now it doesn't: "Pairing not supported". I miss the feature, other people miss it as well, all for our own reasons, so maybe apple should rethink their strategy, however that is up to them.

Shall we now get over that issue (or better: fact) and continue to respect each other's opinions and thoughts on this post?

Ref hotspot-not-connecting-to-MBPro with later OS: I did reset my phone internet settings, and yes, before connecting to my iPhone hotspot, I turned off the MBPro BT. My hotspot did connect to my MBPro. Better even, if I now switch on my BT again, the hotspot remains connected. After that, leaving BT on, I disconnected the hotspot, connected to my local wifi account, did some stuff on i'net and disconnected my local wifi, and re-connected to my hotspot again, still having BT 'on'. The hotspot connected and worked. I logged out from my account, logged back on, this all leaving BT on, and surprise surprise, I was still able to (re) connect with the iPhone-hotspot. Only when shutting down and restarting my MBPro I have to switch off the BT before reconnecting with the hotspot; as long as I do not shut down my MBPro I can (re)connect with hotspot, after switching on BT after first log-in to hotspot. Hope this contribution is useful to some.

Neither will by iPhone 8 pair with my M1 book air both with latest software. However it just loves pairing with my old 2015 macbook pro still running Mojave. Tends to make me think it is the system upgrade on the mac that is the problem. Apple fix this. puuuuuuhleeese.

You can't tether for free on Wi-Fi unless you have a tethering plan, but you can tether using Bluetooth or iPhone USB.

On an iPad, after bringing both devices into pairing mode, with Personal Hotspot on, select the iPhone to begin pairing. Verify that the code on-screen matches the iPhone. If they match, tap pair on each device. This will establish an Ethernet-based Bluetooth PAN whenever you connect. When done, go to Bluetooth in settings, tap the (i) next to the iPhone, and tap Disconnect. This will restore Wi-Fi on your iPhone, which was turned off for tethering. To connect again, select the iPhone on your iPad's screen while Personal Hotspot is turned on.

For a Mac, it's a bit different. You can't use a Bluetooth PAN because the feature was removed in Monterey v12.0.1 To remedy this, you need a connector cable. USB-C to Lightning (if iPhone 14 or older), or USB-C to USB-C (if iPhone 15 or newer). Connect the device, and wait for it to populate in the Network tab in System Settings. Click the (…) at the bottom, and click "Set Service Order". To make the services work correctly, you need to set the order to "iPhone USB" first, then "Thunderbolt Bridge", and finally "Wi-Fi". This is because of a bug that prevents tethering from working unless "iPhone USB" is at the top of the list. Thunderbolt Bridge is there to prioritize Ethernet if a Thunderbolt Dock is connected. And if all else fails, Wi-Fi is a last resort. Once you set this order, your Personal Hotspot will kick in until you disconnect the iPhone, and all you have to do is visit a website like this one to test it out.

And the best part is: If you don't have a tethering plan, most carriers will allow these types of tethering at no additional cost.

Hope this works for you!

Same issue with New iMac 24 inch and iPhone 13 Pro...

same problem with m1 macbook air and Iphone8

Yes, it could be… but now I encountered some problems with Airdrop and pasting copied things. Any answer?

Very frustrating since the big selling point of Apple products is that they all work together. Not so much in this case

I am having the exact same issue. Driving me crazy. Have reinstalled the OS twice. Been to the Apple Store. They can not figure it out.

Since updating to the latest IOS and Mac OS, I can't pair my iPhone or my iPad with me 2015 Mac Book Pro. I get the numerical code on both devices and click "Pair" but it immediately disconnects after connecting for a few seconds. Also, some Bluetooth headphones that previously connected don't show in the Bluetooth device menu.

Pairing is necessary to use Personal Hotspot via Bluetooth.

If Personal Hotspot is not working on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) – Apple Support (AU)

This is the method I used to use *all the time*. Now my iPhone won't pair, so I can't use BT to access my Personal Hotspot from my Mac. I can access it via Wifi, but (and this is the really weird thing) ONLY if I have bluetooth turned off (this is only since upgrading to an M1Macbook Pro, which meant using Monterey - not sure if that means the problem is with the new hardware or the new software or both). And having BT off means there's a whole bunch of other stuff I can't use on my Mac while I need the hotspot connection.

But, that's a separate issue. The point is, pairing is still something that is needed for at least that important thing.

I have the same issue (no bluetooth hotspot). Iphone 13 pro with IOS 15.4.1. MacBook Air M1 with Monterey 12.13.1. But I have had this issue across multiple phones/macs and software versions now.

It used to work soo good and I used it a lot while working on the go. Now I cannot make it work!

Pairing *works* but the connection stays up less than a second, and no network of course.

When trying to connect (after pairing) from the MacBook the connection stays up half a second. No message!

When trying to connect from the phone I get the following message:

"Connection unsuccessful

"MacBook Air" is not supported."

Please Apple, give us hope.

Unhelpful. You do need to pair your Mac and iPhone if you want to use some apps that are available in Apple's own app store. Case in point, Typeeto and Type2Phone ~ these apps are designed to use the Mac keyboard to "type to" the iPhone. Why would Apple approve them to be in the app store if it wouldn't work, to deliberately upset their customers?

I've used those apps for years, but they stopped working when the Mac and iPhone can't pair with each other like they could previously.

KiltedTim, that's not a helpful response at all. Apple might not have changed the way it's *supposed* to work, but the fact remains that the pairing isn't working the way it used to, and it's a known issue that still hasn't been fixed.

Personal Hotspot - can't connect with blu… - Apple Community

Until it's fixed, we have to find workarounds if we can, but in some cases it's rendered apps inoperable, such as kpbarbee cites. It's not cool to put it back on the app developers to fix it - this is an Apple issue.

not sure why we are being told it is not necessary, when you try to do certain task the prompt from MBPro M1 Max say to make sure bluetooth is on, on both devices. How is "bluetooth being on" and "bluetooth connected" not 2 different things, they certainly are not the same??

I've been paired and connected on my iPhones 5, 5, 7 and 12 mini, to my mid 2012 MBPro core i7 2.6Ghz non retina, with no issues at all.

my 2012 MBPro and 2021 MBPro are paired and can connect.

all of a sudden I lost pairing between my iPhone 12 mini and my 2021 MBPro M1 Max which have been paired and could connect, it is strange because I was connected to bluetooth prior to today up until 20 minutes ago today, now I'm getting the same error as a person posted in this question: "could not connect" "non-supported device"

whether people here think it is necessary or not for bluetooth to connect, it seems like an extremely easy fix for Apple, to let all Apple Devices be connected via bluetoooth.

also mentioned by another user in this post that "uses bluetooth to make phone service hotspot connection via bluetooth"

I use Straight Talk phone service and have been for years, cheap extremely reliable service that I do not have any intention of changing. I am using a Verizon SIM card. Straight Talk does not support Wi-Fi calling as was suggested by someone else. Bluetooth Connectivity is very important when traveling overseas to the Philippines, WiFi, Hotspots and Phone Service is very slim/ lean & non existent over in a lot of areas over there and bluetooth is a necessity.

We loyal customers are why Apple exist & yes also because Apple is by far one of the Best Products, Tech Support and Service ever to exist, myself, for 13 years, Ive spent 1000's of $'s on apple products, iPhones ( 2 - 5's, a 7 and a 12 mini), MBPro's (1 in 2012 & 1 in 2022), Apple TV, countless cords and accessories and TimeCapsules 5th Gen (4 of bought in 2016 new) just retired 1 TC the (1st) after 8 years of backing up my MBPro 2012, just started using a new TC (2nd) for my MBPro 2012 and a new TC (3rd) for my MBPro 2021 with a new one still in the box, all myApple Products are bought NEW from the Apple Store.

( not even including the 2 MBPro's I got my sons for school & their 1st iPhone, who are still buying iPhones to this day and the 2 iPads I bought my mother.

Lets hope Apple has our backs and creates a simple fix for this. Some may claim there is no need for bluetooth pairing maybe so 85% of the time in the USA. However not so when you travel outside the USA.

bikeman5 wrote:

Lets hope Apple has our backs and creates a simple fix for this. Some may claim there is no need for bluetooth pairing maybe so 85% of the time in the USA. However not so when you travel outside the USA.

They are not going to "fix" it because it is NOT "broken".