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why cant i connect my iphone 5 via bluetooth to my macboook pro

can anyone please tell me why my Iphone 5 and macbook pro cannot connect with bluetooth? It said it wasnt compatible. what!? talk abouit being confused.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Oct 21, 2012 8:48 PM

Reply
40 replies

Jan 19, 2013 11:05 PM in response to markwmsn

So, i must disconnect my wireless internet connection in order to connect my cellphone or otherwise i have to connect through USB?

The fact is that a phone and a laptop from the same manufacturer (Apple) have way less connectivity than a phone and a laptop from different manufacturers (e.g. Android and Apple).

Compatible? Hardly. I think this time Apple shot itself in leg with its money-squeezing strategy.

Jan 29, 2013 12:39 PM in response to Brisenoh

I want to use KeyNote Remote with my MacBook Pro when I don't have a WiFi network to link through. KeyNote Remote says it will do this with BlueTooth. Works great when I have a WiFi network to tap into with both iPhone 5 and MacBook Pro. But when there is no WiFi (when I'm out in the woods, giving seminars to the Forest Service) I want to connect phone to computer to control KeyNote, as I would think many people would want to do. Phone Bluetooth setup says "MacBookPro not supported". Another strange Apple restriction issue.

Jan 29, 2013 12:44 PM in response to Brisenoh

Brisenoh wrote:


can anyone please tell me why my Iphone 5 and macbook pro cannot connect with bluetooth? It said it wasnt compatible. what!? talk abouit being confused.


Bluetooth is not supported for file transfer on the iPhone5. It has been hobbled in an effort to push you towards iCloud, I suspect.


Even my dumb phone could easily transfer via bluetooth. Duh.

Jan 29, 2013 2:03 PM in response to FMRfromBellingham

FMRfromBellingham wrote:


I want to use KeyNote Remote with my MacBook Pro when I don't have a WiFi network to link through. KeyNote Remote says it will do this with BlueTooth. Works great when I have a WiFi network to tap into with both iPhone 5 and MacBook Pro. But when there is no WiFi (when I'm out in the woods, giving seminars to the Forest Service) I want to connect phone to computer to control KeyNote, as I would think many people would want to do. Phone Bluetooth setup says "MacBookPro not supported". Another strange Apple restriction issue.

The App Store listing for Keynote Remote makes it clear that Bluetooth is supported only to connect the Keynote app on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch; wi-fi only for a Mac. "Keynote Remote requires: ... A working Wi-Fi connection when connecting to a Mac."


If you're out in the woods, could you set up an ad hoc network based on the MBP? Would there be power where you are giving these seminars so you could you use an AirPort Express just for a wireless LAN? Alternatively, could you tether the MBP to the iPhone by Bluetooth (the reverse of what you describe, and requires support from your carrier)?

Jan 29, 2013 3:08 PM in response to markwmsn

Too much trouble doing the LAN. Power is usually not the issue. The beauty of the KeyNote Remote (via WiFi and should be also possible with Bluetooth) is everything works without the intervention of a computer guru like yourself (and not like me). Usually these things work like a charm with Apple (I'm thinking how easy it is to direct content from my iPhone or my wife's iPad to Apple TV; but that again is using WiFi). I don't really understand why the Bluetooth shouldn't be made to work. Isn't Bluetooth just another "broadcast band" route with a different connecting protocol? Why shouldn't this be a piece of cake for Apple to implement?

Jan 29, 2013 8:07 PM in response to FMRfromBellingham

I'm not much of a Bluetooth guru, but my understanding is that the "different connecting protocol" is the issue. Bluetooth is a highly stylized protocol based on "profiles," each for a narrow purpose. For two devices to communicate, they must have overlapping protocols. In many (most? all??) cases, they have to have complementary "ends" of each protocol (such as a keyboard sender and a keyboard receiver, a sound sender and a sound receiver, or a headset and a headset connector).

why cant i connect my iphone 5 via bluetooth to my macboook pro

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