Bluetooth pairing between iPhone and MacBook Pro "not supported"

Question

Level 1

9 points

Bluetooth pairing between iPhone and MacBook Pro "not supported"

My fiber internet service was interrupted so I switched to 5G cellular data on my iPhone by turning off Wifi so that the iPhone would disconnect from the home wireless router.

I need to continue to work on my MacBook Pro so I attempted to connect the laptop to the iPhone personal hotspot using Bluetooth unsuccessfully. I was able to connect my iPad to the iPhone personal hotspot using Bluetooth.

I successfully connected the MacBook by going to Settings -> Wifi -> select iPhone from device list.

Caveats:

the above method would only work after turning off all of the Wifi routers in the house.
Whenever you connect MacOS to iPhone personal hot spot using the Wifi user interface, the target iPhone will attempt to turn on Wifi EVEN IF YOU HAVE WIFI DISABLED. If the iPhone finds a known router, it will then automatically connect. In my case connecting to a router with no connection to the internet. If the iPhone doesn’t find a Wifi signal to automatically join, it will leave the Wifi port disabled.

I am able to tether the iPad and MacBook simultaneously with 5G bandwidth at 15 Mbps download and 7 Mbps upload.

Hope this helps someone.

iPhone XR, iOS 17

Posted on Aug 24, 2024 9:26 AM

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Answer 1

abovdal

Level 2

395 points

Aug 24, 2024 10:16 AM in response to Ted Spradley

My understanding is that when you make your phone's hotspot available via wifi, the phone uses that only to connect to other devices, not the internet. The internet connection is via cellular data. Apple says "If other devices have joined your Personal Hotspot using Wi-Fi, you can use only cellular data to connect to the internet from the host device," on this page:

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

When your MacBook and iPad connected to your phone's hotspot thru your router network, did they have internet access? If so, that would indicate that the hotspot was working as Apple says, since the router did not have internet access. If not, then, of course, you're correct in turning the router off.

When I use bluetooth between my iPhone (13, iOS 17.6.1) and MacBook (M1 Pro, Sonoma), they don't "pair," but the phone shows up on the computer right away while the computer takes its time to show up on the phone. Anyway, I can use features like Universal Clipboard. Maybe "pairing" has a technical meaning that doesn't apply between these devices.

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Bluetooth pairing between iPhone and MacBook Pro "not supported"

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