UncleBobble

Q: 12" MacBook bluetooth problems

Hey all

 

So, I am on my second 2015 12" MacBook (first one had screen laminate and keyboard issues) and bluetooth on it is flaky.  Sometimes when I am connected to my UE Boom 2 it will lose the connection, but indicate on the MacBook that it is still connected.  I will then not be able to turn bluetooth off, disconnect or do anything with the bluetooth until I have done a shift-option factory bluetooth reset and restarted the computer (which often also crashes before I can select it).

 

It frequently does this (daily, sometimes two or three times), not just with my UE Boom 2 but with my Sony MDR10RBT headphones and Sony SBH80 headphones too.  Sometimes it just won't connect at all and I will have to remove and re-add the bluetooth device (which in itself can be a problem - it will say it's removed, but then when I try to re-add it find it's hasn't removed it at all! Then I won't be able to turn bluetooth off and it will become unresponsive...)

 

My first MacBook (which was identical) was also exactly the same with the bluetooth.  I have always found bluetooth to be generally crappy in this respect, but is this just another rubbish implementation that I'm going to have to learn to live with, or do people actually have 12" MacBooks that work correctly?

 

Any observations and advice gratefully received.  Genius Bar final option as it's difficult for me to actually book a session at a convenient time and attend as I have a life and a job...

 

I am on OSX 10.11.6 and it's a standard 1.1GHz XCore M MacBook and my UE Boom 2 has the latest OS installed as well.

 

Thanks!

 

Robsa

MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 2015 12" retina MacBook, Space Grey

Posted on Aug 5, 2016 5:12 AM

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Q: 12" MacBook bluetooth problems

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  • by stuckboss,Helpful

    stuckboss stuckboss Aug 20, 2016 11:15 AM in response to UncleBobble
    Community Specialists
    Aug 20, 2016 11:15 AM in response to UncleBobble

    Hey UncleBobbie! 

     

    I'd definitely want my Bluetooth accessories working normally and not removing and re-adding them to use them.  We can try a few things and see what's up.

     

    To start out, try creating a test user to see if they do the same there.  That helps see if it's user specific or system wide: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support

    After that, restart the computer into safe mode to try out the accessories there, too: Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

    After both steps, you can restart normally to your preferred user account and see if either resolves the Bluetooth.  

    If it persists, then you can run Apple Diagnostics: Using Apple Diagnostics - Apple Support

     

    Reply back with results from any of those steps and we can continue if needed. 

     

    Best wishes. 

  • by UncleBobble,

    UncleBobble UncleBobble Aug 7, 2016 12:51 AM in response to stuckboss
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 7, 2016 12:51 AM in response to stuckboss

    Many thanks for this - I will set up a new temporary user account now and see how it goes.  I'll give it a few days and get back to you.

     

    Kind regards

     

    Robsa

  • by UncleBobble,

    UncleBobble UncleBobble Aug 20, 2016 11:20 AM in response to stuckboss
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 20, 2016 11:20 AM in response to stuckboss

    Hey there Stuckboss

     

    UPDATE

     

    So, I set up a new, temporary user account and bluetooth suddenly started working perfectly on that account, then I tried my account and it was all working perfectly!  For two blissful weeks bluetooth has been connecting to my UE Boom 2 and my Sony SBH80's without a hitch.  Then, today, in the bath and watching YouTube, the sound suddenly cut out... then bluetooth crashed my system preferences menu and I couldn't restart, reset bluetooth or anything useful.  I finally logged out and into my temporary account, but that had frozen bluetooth too.

     

    I've performed a SMC reset on my MacBook now and it's working fine again at the moment, so we will have to see....

     

    Robsa (Uncle Bobble)