View MAC addresses of local bluetooth devices I have never connected to

Question

I want to view the MAC address of a Bluetooth device I haven't paired. Like a WiFI scanner can put the wireless radio in listen / scan mode (which on ethernet is sometimes called promiscuous mode), I’d like to operate my Mac bluetooth radio to list and log nearby transmissions.

• https://www.bluetooth.com/specifications/bluetooth-core-specification/

I’m much more familiar with windows and Linux than macOS and am running Catalina (10.15.6) on a 2019 MBP. I'm looking for some equivalent to "bluetoothctl" or "hcitool."

Is this something Apple provides or do I need third party software to log or collect identifying information from nearby bluetooth transmissions and identify devices that have not yet been paired?

Answer 1

I've been spoiled by the Apple Developer tools, so I haven't needed to use any command line tools.

• https://developer.apple.com/download/more/?=bluetooth

In the additional tools download for your Xcode version (get Xcode from the App Store even if you have a developer account). The link above probably requires a paid account, but might work for free developers.

Bluetooth explorer and PacketLogger are two tools suited for your task. The former would be the best tool for scanning Bluetooth radio and deconstructing the advertised devices that are in range.

It's got a ton of other tricks and tools like dashboards, RSSI sweepers, throughout testers, but if you need professional level first party tools, I'd recommend this.