Bluetooth audio stuttering on Sierra

One commenter here suggested to leave the bluetooth app open on the settings screen. Since I began trying this, I have had no more issues with my Bluetooth Headphones (either pair) skipping. The settings screen can be reduced to the app bar. So far this seems to be an easy workaround, until this bug is fixed by Apple.

Leaving the Setting app open in bluetooth window, while operating headphones has been working for me. You can reduce the window to the appear and it still works. I have been doing this for a week now and it seems to be a good workaround.

Thank you, I tried going to System Preferences->Bluetooth but I am still having the stutter. I'm tempted to say it is better, but it is difficult to quantify: there is definitely still some stuttering but it is hard to judge if there was an improvement. I'm still hearing audio drops every couple of seconds.

I also put in a report to support, and am working with them through chat.

I got a new pair of Bluetooth headphones (Sony MDR1000x) and I had this problem. Pretty annoying as everything else works fine with them. I had some QC35s for a little while - no such problem, but the Sonys use aptx which I think means more data - so maybe that caused the issue.

I browsed around a bit and saw a solution which suggested switching off handoff in Settings>General.

I did this and it seems to have fixed it (handoff uses bluetooth to speak to iPhone/ipad in the background about webpages and so forth and the choppiness was worse when browsing).

I will let you know if this solution is permanent - it has been okay for about 30 mins. I have no other bluetooth devices, so this may not fix things if you do, as the data transfer must be right on the threshold for this change to work.

Ludicrous that Apple didn't sort this out, as not being able to use handoff at the same time as using bluetooth headphones which use aptx is baffling.

I tried leaving the Bluetooth preference open. This "fix" seems to be mostly working for me. Seems odd. I can hypothesize that with the Bluetooth preference open, and bluetooth discoverable, it might have a higher priority. Just a theory. But it has been working though Apple should really fix this.

I have this same issue (MacBook Pro Retina 15 2014, Sierra 10.12.3, Bose noise cancelling headphones).

It seems to play ok sometimes but more often than not it stutters so badly that is unlistenable.

Nothing so far has worked: reboot, pram zap, bluetooth reset (option+shift menu), disconnect/reconnect etc.

Curiously I thought I'd share what seems to work. I open the bluetooth system preferences and leave the window open. While the window is open the stuttering stops completely. Open another system pref and it starts up again.

I know it's completely daft to leave the window open - but I can live with that if it 'cures' the problem.

I'm sure with this info Apple should be able to find out what is cutting in and causing the stuttering.

I unsuccessfully tried other methods (PRAM, reset cache delete Bluetooth preferences, etc.). The Bluetooth module reset using the option+shift menu worked after I deleted and then re-paired the devices. If you fiddled with the audio bluetooth advanced options using the Bluetooth Explorer app, you may need to reset it back to default. I'm using a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) and Bose QC35. I also recently updated the Bose headset firmware.

Leaving the bluetooth system preferences window open worked as well (not sure why this worked), although it sometimes still dropped out but not as much.

I have the same problem as others are describing. I am using iMac 5k and Bose Soundlink Mini II.

Contacted Bose yesterday and they gave this response.These system

'These systems were never designed to work with PCs or Macs. They are designed as a portable speaker.

In your case the Mac is not compatible. The Mac uses a different bluetooth technology compared to Bose systems.

There is really nothing I can advise at this point. Possibly having a look at an A2DP mac dongle on Amazon to resolve the issue but again, this uses third party accessories so cannot be guaranteed.'

The mention of A2DP led me to this: https://adampreiser.com/macbook-pro-bluetooth-audio-fix-a2dp/ but I haven't tried it yet.

Anyone know much about 'A2DP' on iMacs?

Further to my suggestion of leaving the Bluetooth Prefs window open to cure the stuttering, I have found that this does not work if the window is opened BEFORE connecting the headset.

If, like me, you connect the bluetooth headset every day, you have to first close the Bluetooth prefs and reopen it once you have reconnected. It can take a few seconds of stuttering to settle down too. Strange eh?

from eagles2k3 - "A solution that has worked for me is to open Sound Preferences and on the Input Tab double-click on Internal Microphone so it is set to Built-In. Immediately solved my problem."

eagles2k3 - thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This did the trick for me. You have ended countless hours of frustration and given me back my seamless music. Don't know why it works and frankly don't care. Thanks again! 😀

Thank you very much Khusie, I tried your suggestion but it is not working for me as I understood it:

* I verified that I was not using Bluetooth audio

* I verified that I did not have the Bluetooth Preferences window open

* I connected my device

* I then opened Bluetooth Preferences and closed it again.

* I then re-opened Bluetooth Preferences

I still hear significant stuttering, making sustained audio (in my case a streaming radio station) unlistenable.

Just realized that it's not actually helping. It helped at first, but later I could not get the stutter to stop. One thing that helps is closing any app that renders HTML (Safari, Mail). I don't know why, but I see a connection there.

OK, a little bit of digging showed me that somehow Google Software Update Agent is connected with all this - it showed up in the Bluetooth Explorer Event Log with a lot of errors. After removing the Agent (wiping it from the /Library/LaunchAgens and ~/Library/Preferences) there are no more errors in the bluetooth event log and the audio stopped stuttering.

I actually have a fix for this in my case, a very odd one. I noticed that if I keep the Bluetooth preference pane open my audio is fine (i.e. can just Cmd + H hide it and keep it running). The moment I quit/close out of the Bluetooth preference pane the audio goes stuttering.

I've been having this problem for a wee while in an iMac that has just been replaced. Just fired it up and the same problem exists. Until I added my Apple watch (to unlock the iMac) I had a magic trackpad, magic mouse, magic keyboard and UE Megaboom speaker connected. It worked fine. Added the Apple watch and it started cracking spitting and missing. Disconnected one and it cleared up. Reconnected and it came back. I've also been talking with Apple chat and just go this:

The official Bluetooth specifications state that seven is the maximum number of Bluetooth devices that can be connected at once. However, three to four devices is a practical limit, depending on the types of devices and profiles are used. It can cause degradation of the connection for some devices after 3 or 4. The official Bluetooth specifications state that seven is the maximum number of Bluetooth devices that can be connected at once. However, three to four devices is a practical limit, depending on the types of devices and profiles are used. It can cause degradation of the connection for some devices after 3 or 4.

Make of that what you will but it looks like Apple is wishing their hands of the problem.