Apple M1 Mac Owners Complain About Bluetooth Instability

With all the news floating around the M1 Mac minis and MacBooks, you'd think that these products are perfect. Of course, nothing comes out perfect the first time, even for Apple, and there are some problems that may have been buried under the ton of good news. There is, for example, the serious macOS restore issue that practically bricked some of these new Macs or missing compatibility with some iOS and x86 software. While the latter will probably be fixed over time, one problem that deserves immediate attention is the case of randomly disconnecting Bluetooth peripherals that are giving owners of these new Macs a lot of headaches.

Complaints about Bluetooth connectivity issues seem to be varied and wide, ranging from random disconnects to completely non-working Bluetooth connections. And in case some might suspect third-party products as the cause, even Apple's AirPods were listed as one of the affected peripherals. Others include keyboards, mice, and even headsets.

The problem affects both new MacBooks and Mac minis but it is especially problematic for owners of the latter. Given the limited number of ports, some may have hoped to rely only on Bluetooth keyboards and mice. It's not a deal-breaker unless you don't have spare USB input devices lying around.

Unfortunately, the exact cause of these issues remains a mystery. It's easy enough to worry about hardware causes, which would mean sending back affected units for repairs or replacements. That said, at least one user reported having the same problem even after getting a replacement Mac mini.

Hopefully, this means it is a macOS Big Sur or driver problem, something that can be more easily fixed by a software update. Given how Apple is heavily pushing Bluetooth-connected peripherals and accessories, however, you'd think it would take extra care to ensure these are working properly with its new generation of Macs.