AppleInsider Staff
A number of new M1 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini owners are facing Bluetooth connectivity issues, a particularly vexing situation for the standalone Mac mini.
As noted by YouTube creator Patrick Tomasso, the issues range from sporadic disconnections with peripherals to complete failures.
In a tweet, Tomasso outlined broad connectivity issues with his M1 Mac mini and pointed to forum posts that echo his concerns. He also posted a video detailing the Bluetooth difficulties.
"I'm going crazy trying to figure out the [B]luetooth issues with this machine. I thought maybe a few of us had an isolated issue but forums/reddit are popping up now all over," the tweet reads.
On Reddit, a handful of M1 Mac owners complained that both first- and third-party peripherals, including mice, keyboards and headphones, suffered from intermittent connectivity. The list of impacted devices includes Apple's AirPods.
The issue appears to lie in Apple's hardware or macOS Big Sur, as users were able to successfully connect Logitech accessories using that company's Unifying Receiver Bluetooth dongle. One Redditor contacted Apple to replace his Mac mini, but the substitute suffered from the same problem.
Apple is no stranger to Bluetooth woes. In 2014, for example, users complained of sluggish performance with the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, Apple wireless keyboard, and third-party wireless accessories after updating to the then-current OS X Yosemite.
It is unclear how many M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini units are impacted at this time, and Apple has yet to confirm the issue.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
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Malcolm Owen
20 Comments
Anybody else having difficulty getting their MBA to Auto Unlock with their Apple Watch?
I’ve been raising bluetooth issues since 2018, especially on iMac5K. Many issues.
I had difficulty getting my MBA to unlock with my Apple Watch until I moved my old MBA away from near the new MBA.
Working fine for me, no problems. When I got the Mac mini I just restored everything from Time Machine backup. When that was done
everything looked just my old Mac (iMac 2017). Currently running a beta of Mac OS Big Sir 11.
Just started noticing issues with Apple mini BT keyboard and Magic Mouse 2 (and a Logitech MX Master in BT mode). Works most of the time, but other times the mouse moves erratically or not at all, and twice I've seen the on-screen display of Mouse disconnected and keyboard disconnected, then both reconnected.
I thought it was just RF interference with the monitor or other peripherals, but I guess not.
Hopefully they will fix it soon.