Bluetooth connectivity issues

Turning off 2.4ghz worked for me.

I have similar problems with my new 2018 Mac mini.

My old wireless apple mouse and keyboard were working mostly OK with a 2012 iMac. These were essentially unusable due to loosing connection/not being able to connect initially with the new Mac mini.

After resetting the Mac mini's bluetooth module and deleting some bluetooth .plist files as well as resetting the keyboard and mouse to factory settings, the performance was upgraded from unusable to annoying. Connecting now works fine but I still get occasional dropouts from both periferals and poor mouse precision/delays in response.

I've found that it's a power problem, but complicated immensely because the power is SHARED between the USB and Bluetooth hardware. Similar things happened to PCs back in the early days of USB. What a fun mess, I bought several hubs before I found a mystical combination that worked, then I never changed it. So far, the addition of a powered hub has fixed my mouse tracking problem. Like any good game of Jenga, I'll probably think twice before adding another USB device to the mix.

It is unlikely a power issue, but a "shielding" issue from the USB-3 cable, which is an known issue of USB-3 to interfere with BT. In your case, when you switched to a powered hub, the power version may have different shielding so the problem did not occur. For a device that the shielding is fundamentally bad, plug in the power or not, does not matter.

I am having major issues with Bluetooth, Apple must know this by now but are staying silent. My first Mac Mini 2018 3.2Ghz i7 kept diconnecting the mouse and the keyboard randomly and when I plugged in the trackpad to pair it also loses intenet connectivity. I sent it back as presumed faulty unit as was totally unusable. I now have the replacement and although not quite as bad I constantly lose keyboard connection and was losing Magic Mouse too until I swapped to my logitech which is more stable. The tackpad also works, however, if I plug my SD card reader into a thunderbolt port I lose internet again - WiFi shows connected but no internet. Once I unplug the SD card reader it I get the internet back. There is a fundamental design issue here and Apple need to either recall the Mac Mini 2018 or issue a fix of some sort as it's infuriating. As I write this I have lost keboard connection 3 times, seems to be when taking a pause typing.

What do you have connected to Mac Mini by wire? I mean everything that physically plugs into the Mini.

Have you tried to have wifi on, but not connecting to any network at all?

After the update to macOS 10.14.4 I have not seen any disconnections anymore. It's been 36 hours without any problems. Fingers crossed they solved it!

Hi Buster, I assume you've not experienced these sorts of nauseatingly frustrating problems yourself.

I'm actually taking my brand new MacBook Pro 15" 2018 to the store tomorrow for exchange, hoping that it'll better the unbearable situation of otherwise flawlessly working Magic Mouse and Keyboard cutting out and lagging every 20 seconds or even more often.

The problem many of us users from the 2018 generation of MacBooks or - apparently - MacMini's face is that all former generations of hardware have worked beautifully, regardless of the fantasy of 'unshielded cables'. I'm sitting at home with my trusty Late-2013 MBP Retina, which has NEVER had a bluetooth problem. Other users report the same up to the 2017 generation. Since the 2018 gen, something has changed. Now don't come on here saying: 'It's not Apple's fault' when clearly it is.

Usually when we first have connection issues, turning BT on and off, forget the device, ... etc, can clear some of the hiccups and these problems, not a hardware one, can be addressed after OS update because in the process everything is rebooted. This is not because the new OS has a specific “fix" for BT.

This might be Apple's new strategy to have people buy Magic Mouse 2 and new Apple Keyboards. It's amazing to see people falling into this trap. I also ditched my Magic Mouse for Magic Mouse 2. There was no magic! I tried a (cheap) external bluetooth dongle, too. It did not work for me (dropping connections, moments of no sound with airPods, same as the internal bt)

My status with Apple support is, they told me Apple is going to release a fix soon. Now I have macOS 10.14.3

But, my recommendation is return your macmini while you can (first two weeks after purchase) otherwise Apple will make you regret that you didn't act.

It's not update, tbh. Just reset bluetooth module.

I'm having the exact same issues with my 2018 Mac Mini. Firstly, the Bluetooth range is dismal.I can't move my magic trackpad more than 10 inches from the mini or it becomes unusable. Second, Bluetooth audio devices have hella time connecting, and disconnect without fail after 15 seconds or so. My Bose sound link Mini and beats headphones are so frustrating to use with it, I gave up on them. I'm using a wired lan, so WiFi interference isn't the issue. I might actually try a separate Bluetooth USB dongle at this point. I'm not sure if there's any other solution.

Anyone got this problem resolved? Hope more of you can call Apple for help, which I did, but the problem persists. In this way, they will be aware of this issue and a solution may come soon. If this is a software issue, an OS update will be issued; if hardwares, there may be a recall of some kind. I thought of sending mine in for repair but since this problem is so wide spread, sending it in too early may not be useful before they have a firm solution. Keep calling people!

I replied down thread that I was having problems with my Trackpad2. Yesterday I began having the same connectivity problem with my Apple Bluetooth Extended Keyboard.

I sent this message to Apple at this URL: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macmini.html

"I am using a Mac Mini 2018 with a Bluetooth Apple Extended keyboard and a Magic Trackpad2. Both of these devices have trouble maintaining Bluetooth connections. The only ways that I can keep them connected to the Mini is to either plug them in via Lightning cables or run the Mini with an ethernet cable and wi-fi turned off. Neither solution is acceptable.

Please reply with either a fix for this issue or how I can get this issue resolved."