Universal Control frequently disconnects between M2 Mac Mini and M1 MacBook Pro

This is incredibly annoying and definitely the worst thing about upgrading from Ventura to Sonoma. (It worked perfectly fine under Sonoma!) I'm using it to share an Apple Magic Trackpad and Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad between two MacBook Pros.

What more can be done to troubleshoot this problem?

I'm running this in a terminal window:

command log stream --info --style compact --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.universalcontrol" AND category == "SYNC"'

(log is a zsh built-in; command calls the actual log binary)

This doesn't help at all with preventing the problem, but it does illustrate how often it happens — in case anybody knows any Apple engineers, has an open Radar or Feedback (or whatever they're called these days) and is looking for "data".

This is the kind of stuff I see when it happens:

2024-05-13 14:02:49.301 Df UniversalControl[905:1edb] [com.apple.universalcontrol:SYNC] Update Source Device: [31712345: [31712345: 1]] -> nil
2024-05-13 14:02:49.302 Df UniversalControl[905:1edb] [com.apple.universalcontrol:SYNC] Increment Sync Clock: [31712345: 3672, 83D12345: 99, A1A12345: 4388] -> [31712345: 3673, 83D12345: 99, A1A12345: 4388]
2024-05-13 14:02:49.305 Df UniversalControl[905:1edb] [com.apple.universalcontrol:SYNC] Connections: [A1A12345 (disconnecting)] -> []

2024-05-13 14:03:16.473 Df UniversalControl[905:1edb] [com.apple.universalcontrol:SYNC] IDS A1A12345: Device Available
2024-05-13 14:03:16.473 Df UniversalControl[905:1edb] [com.apple.universalcontrol:SYNC] Synced Devices: <private>
2024-05-13 14:03:16.473 Df UniversalControl[905:1edb] [com.apple.universalcontrol:SYNC] IDS A1A12345: available=true, valid=false

When I get disconnected (which happens a lot), often times it eventually re-connects automatically. Other times I can just un-minimize System Preferences (left showing the Displays pane because I have to use it so often) and then minimize it again. Other times I have to click the "Advanced..." button and turn off and back on "Allow your pointer and keyboard to move between any nearby Mac or iPad".

I haven't been able to figure out what triggers the disconnect — I need to figure out more things to include in the --predicate option to try and find a correlation with other events. For example, I'm wondering if it could be related to IPv6, perhaps with router advertisements and/or network reconfiguration.

If anybody with connections at Apple sees this and wants to work on tracking this down, feel free to contact me.

This issue has been around a long time and affects many people.

Lots of posts everywhere about it.

No solutions on this and seems like a bad bug.

I have the exact same problem with almost the exact same setup ( I don't have the studio display). I have an M2 Mini as the main with an M2 MacBook Pro 13 as the side, and the Mini is connected to an LG HDR 4K display, both running Sonoma 14.3.1.

Universal Control was disconnecting 20+ times a day until I changed my whole WiFI setup from a TP-Link AC1750 to a Decco XE75; now, it disconnects maybe twice a day. The Magic mouse disconnects once or twice every two days, and the Magic keyboard works fine.

It worked perfectly on Ventura...

I have exactly the same issue. I have a usb keyboard and a bluetooth mouse. The mouse is connected fine. The Wifi is solid. The UC connection is fine...until it isn't. Sometimes it comes back in a minute or so, but frequently it will not come back at all unless I reset.

This is a software issue. Apple, please fix this. This is a major annoyance.

I've had the exact same problem for almost a year (maybe a year). First on MacBook Pro 16" and MacBook Pro M1 and now on MacBook Pro M1 and MacBook Pro M3. I used to be able to disable/re-enable airdrop and it would start back immediately, but not anymore...

The feature seems to require WiFi to be turned on and in use depite the fact that my primary network is 2.5GB wired ethernet.

I seem to be able to resolve the issue by turning Wifi off, then back on again. Then turning "Allow your pointer and keyboard..." off in Displays->Advanced (hit "done") then turning it back on again (hit "done").

I don't know why it drops. My WiFi is solid, it doesn't drop. Both macs are just a few feet from the wireless router.

Anyway, I don't see why WiFi/Bluetooth is required.

It is driving me insane. It was stable for a while!

Not sure if this help. Had read it could be due to using a logitech mouse. Disconnected the mouse but still had the issue. Uninstalled Logitech+ on both Mac Mini and MacBook Pro. Reinstalled it only on the mini and seems the issues has been solved.

I know there was no mention of logitech mouse/keyboard but this might help if you have ever used a logitech mouse/keyboard and have logitech+ installed. Hope this helps anyone having the same issue.

I had some issues but after macos14.3 i never get any opportunity to connect

I turned it off for a couple of days and then turned it on and now it works

it worked for a couple of minutes now it doesn't anymore

it seems like it crashes and restarts after a while