How to fix Bluetooth audio stuttering on macOS Sonoma with Sony Headphones

I don't know exactly why, and have failed to find a satisfactory answer, but Bluetooth on Macs (as in all(!) Macs, from mini, to Mac Studio, MacBook Pro, any chip, any price) works fundamentally different than Bluetooth on Apple's mobile devices, like iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, etc.

It's also irrelevant whether your devices are all Bluetooth 5.0 or 5.3.

Most importantly, Mac Bluetooth is just worse at everything compared to Bluetooth on iPhones and iPads, from auto-switching, to signal strength, to the number of devices that it's possible to send and receive to.

I've discussed this topic in a lot of forums but found no true, permanent fix. Only a few workarounds that may or may not remedy the issue temporarily:

1. Try resetting your Bluetooth module. You open up the Terminal app and type in "sudo pkill bluetoothd" hit the return (enter?) key and are prompted to enter your Mac user account password. Enter the password and your Macs Bluetooth radio will temporarily disconnect for 2 seconds and then reconnect. For some this fixes the issue instantly, although rarely permanently.
2. Disconnect and shut off all Bluetooth devices except your (Bluetooth) mouse. Use the mouse for about 2 to 30 minutes until you can move the mouse around without any stuttering and lagging. Then proceed to add back the other Bluetooth devices.
3. Limit the number of Bluetooth devices you use with your Mac's internal Bluetooth down to no more than 2 Bluetooth devices connected at once. This means you run as many of your other devices through Logitech's Unifying or Bolt dongle, or other external Bluetooth receivers, and only use your headphones and either 1 bluetooth keyboard or 1 bluetooth mouse directly connected to your Mac's built-in Bluetooth.

These aren't official recommendations by Apple. They claim you can connect up to 7 Bluetooth devices to at Mac at once while noting that it depends on the specific devices and conditions. Probably not frequently transmitting devices like Bluetooth headphones or mice. Who knows. But since they have never addressed this issue, and so many(!) seem to run into Bluetooth lag issues on Macs, I wouldn't use anymore 2 devices at once.

I have a very much similar problem, closer to what described here: Bluetooth crashes in MacOS Sonoma (M1 Mac… - Apple Community

With WF-1000XM4 (earbuds), the sound and Bluetooth crashes completely, freezing Slack before that. Instead of sound devices, I see nothing, and the keyboard sound controls show a speaker with a "Stop" sign - like there's no sound output. The "Settings" app halted when I clicked to the Bluetooth section, too, got completely unresponsive. I've had something similar before with only Logitech MX Master 3 connected - I've had a lot of trouble with the Logitech+ App after update, it did not recognize the mouse and the Accessibility settings, but after just reinstalling the app, "forgetting" the device and connecting it back again fresh it's now alright.

I'll try to re-introduce the earbuds to the macOS by re-pairing it, and let you know if it helped.

P.S. I've also just recalled that after the update, but before it started completely crashing the Bluetooth, I've had a severe and progressively worsening audio glitches when playing Baldur's Gate 3, and the Slack reported up to 1000ms sound delay. Maybe it's some kind of cumulative error, as for me, it was getting progressively worse. Currently, after re-connection, on music playback it's just lagging a little bit once in like 20–30 minutes.

Install the Sony Headphones connect on your Phone or tablet. Pair with the WH-1000XM4 headphones and see if there is a Sony firmware update available.

Update macOS Sonoma to its current revision of today (14.4).

Unpair and again pair the Sony headphones and see if the Bluetooth audio experience improves. I have both WH-1000XM4 and WF-1000XM4 buds and both work just fine (absolutely no stuttering or other artifacts) with Sonoma on a 2023 M2 Mac Mini Pro, a 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Pro with Ventura 13.6.5, or with my iPhone 15 Pro Max with iOS 17.4.

Just an update, I have uninstalled the Logitech Bolt application and rebooted, that and rechecking my Mouse settings in System Preferences, has improved the m650's performance. Might want to try something similar and see if it helps. Or if you can, setup a new User on your MBP and see how the performance is, compared to your normal User account. It might give you some clues.

Hi guys.

Back for an update. Since I updated to Sonoma 14.6.1, I don't have the bluetooth disconnecting mouse, trackpad and keyboard anymore. Hope this will stay, but, after few weeks now, I didn't get this problem again.

I recommend checking for an update. I've updated today, and similar issues (more related to sound, discussed here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255214328) are gone so far.

I'm replying to my own original post: I turned the machine off and back on again, and voila the mouse was listed in settings! I have to slap my forehead on this one, as an Apple user of more than 30 years.

I have similar issues.

Historically, I find that rebooting in Safe-mode, helps to a degree. But with Sonoma, I too have issues with my Logitech m650 mouse (connected via the Bolt+ USB dongle) and my K380 keyboard. In both cases, replacing the batteries, rebooting (in Safe-mode or not) doesn't rectify the issue for long (though sometimes for an hour or two, it lessens). Rebooting, changing the Bolt+ USB dongle port sometimes helps as well.

Note, I other BT devices; but only the mouse and keyboard noted are paired constantly. I have noticed, if my Beats Studio Buds are connected, my whole setup gets really bad. But this did happen in Ventura as well, so it maybe the bandwidth needed for them that's affecting things moreso, when connected.

Same issue. I have Logitech Z207 external bluetooth speakers I use with my Mac Mini M1 (2020) and ever since Sonoma 14.1 I get terribly choppy/gappy bluetooth audio through them. Sometimes (not always?) if I power off and back on my Mini, unplug the power cable, press the power button, plug back in the Mini, and power it on it will eliminate the choppiness until I shut down or restart my Mini - and then the problem returns again.

I (still) have a similar issue, even after updating to the latest Sonoma 14.3.

My third party bluetooth mouse keeps disconnecting and doesn’t reconnect after it drops out after 5-10 minutes.

I also use a third party BT keyboard which somehow reconnects just fine.

I can manually pair the mouse again, but it just registers as another device each time.

So far I tried unpairing, rebooting, deleting .plist files, resetting Bluetooth using terminal but nothing works. I already spoke with Apple several times and they suggested the mouse is the issue here, but it still works perfectly on my older Mac and has always worked on this one before updating to Sonoma.

I’m pretty sure a software issue I really wish they can fix soon…

I solved the issue with Bluetooth and Sonoma not recognizing my computer at start up. I have a 2020 iMac running Sonoma 14.2.1. My apple Magic keyboard worked perfectly but my Logitech MX Keys for Mac would not allow me to unlock the iMac upon startup. The solution was to go into System settings then Privacy and Security and turn off FileVault. I repeated the process several times and it consistently worked with my setup.

I also found a reference to this issue on the Logitech website. Here is the link:

https://support.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050549434-Getting-Started-MX-Keys-for-Mac

See detailed setup #2 comments about FileVault.

I also have a MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.6.2 and the Logitech keyboard works with it even with FileVault turned on. I may soon upgrade to Sonoma and will follow up if the issue reappears.

A week after installing the latest Sonoma update (14.1), the mac has lost the ability to connect to the m555b logitech mouse completely, although it can 'find' it in the vicinity. The (Apple) keyboard drops out every 20-30 minutes but comes back. Sound on the Sony WH-1000XM4 also drops out occasionally.

Not sure how, but my external speaker now works fine. My Apple mouse still has problems but I've discovered that if I disconnect and reconnect it will work fine, for a while. Hopefully Apple will come out with a fix for this soon.

Same issues on macbook pro 2021 with Sony WH-1000XM4 headset and also AirPods 3rd Gen. Music is literally unlistenable because of skips and progressively worse lagging and buzzing. Reverting back to Ventura is unnecessarily complicated and introduces a risk of losing data. For now I have to use my phone to listen to music. I swear to god, even Ubuntu which is notoriously plagued with Bluetooth issues is offering me a flawless music experience with my headsets. My patience is running thin, apple.

Similar issues since installing Sonoma. Keyboard and mouse freeze regularly. And thats a Magic Mouse 2. And it gets worse and worse. Today it got to the point where I actually cannot use the Mac with my keyboard and mouse anymore. Its a m2 air. Switching to my m1 mini for now. Also on Sonoma, but so far no issues...