Trying To Pair My MacBook Air Sonoma 14.5 With My iPhone X 16.7.8 Via Bluetooth Without Success.

sparkytop wrote:

I was trying to pair my iPhone with my Mac because I thought that was needed to use the Hotspot when the internet was down but, after speaking to a friend, it seems that's not necessary.

How to set up a Personal Hotspot on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

There's some talk about connecting to a Personal Hot-Spot with Bluetooth, but that part of it is confusing. If you are trying to give your Mac access to the Internet through your iPhone's cellular data connection, I would suggest connecting the Mac to the iPhone acting as a hotspot using Wi-Fi or using a USB cable.

The message is correct. While there are many shared, iPhone/Mac activities that require Bluetooth to be turned on, pairing in the traditional sense is not required. What are you hoping to accomplish?

Perhaps this will help.

macOS - Continuity - Apple

You are welcome.