Lost bluetooth connection with mouse

Question

I have a big problem with bluetooth on my Mac Book Pro.

I bought my first MacBook about month ago. For the first week everything was ok, but then my mouse began to lose connection with the computer. This happens very often (on average every two minutes) and is very annoying.

I'm pretty sure that is not Magic Mouse fault, because I tried connect standard bluetooth mouse and the problem also occurs.

It looks something like this: works with the mouse, suddenly the cursor disappears. even though I move the mouse, nothing happens on the screen (the touchpad works correctly). After about 20 seconds a message about lost connection with the mouse appears and after 10 seconds a message that the mouse has been connected.

And now the strangest thing: When bluetooth headphones are connected to the computer and I play audio, the problem does not occur. When the headphones are connected but I don't play music, the problem occurs but much less often.

Could this be a problem with the bluetooth module? It is worth noting that the bluetooth keyboard works flawlessly. Please help, because it prevents me from working.

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Devices:

• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)
• macOS Mojave 10.14.6
• Apple Magic Mouse 2
• Apple Magic Keyboard
• Headphones Phillips SHB3075 Bass+ Bluetooth

Answer 1

This shouldn't make a difference since you're talking about an Apple Magic Mouse 2 and not a 3rd party Bluetooth mouse, but one thing I have seen that does work in some cases is to make sure the mouse is the first Bluetooth device paired to your computer.

To do this you will need to reset both the macOS Bluetooth Device List and Bluetooth Controller. However, this will reset all connected Bluetooth devices, including your external keyboard and headphones.

In other words, this will remove all existing pairing information for Bluetooth devices, so each will need to be reconnected. I have some steps you can follow, but I strongly suggest you read all of the steps first before commencing (or perhaps print out the instructions / view them on another device).

Before starting, ensure you have the Bluetooth icon showing in the menu bar. If it is not there, open System Preferences > Bluetooth and enable the option Show Bluetooth in Menu Bar.

Also, since you're trying to resolve an issue with a Bluetooth mouse, you will need to use your built-in trackpad to follow these steps:

1. Hold down both the Shift and Option keys and at the same time click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar. Once the menu is showing, release the keys.
2. From the Bluetooth menu, choose Debug > Remove All Devices
3. Hold down both the Shift and Option keys again and at the same time click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
4. From the Bluetooth menu, choose Debug > Reset the Bluetooth Module
5. Shutdown your MacBook Pro
6. Ensure your Magic Mouse is fully powered off
7. Restart your MacBook Pro
8. Connect the Magic Mouse to your MBP via the USB cable
9. Now switch on your Magic Mouse
10. Now click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar and choose Open Bluetooth preferences...
11. When the Magic Mouse pairs with your Mac, it appears in the list of devices
12. Exit System Preferences

Now test the Magic Mouse long enough to see if it works okay. Once you're satisfied it is, you can go ahead and pair your other devices.

Let me know how you go.

Answer 2

Although this sounds more like a software issue, I don't think it is impossible that you are dealing with issues related to signal interference. The 2.4 GHz frequency that Bluetooth uses is rather crowded and most notably WiFi can be on the same band and cause issues.

I suggest to test your Wifi first. Press alt and click on the WiFi symbol. If under "Channel" it says 2.4 GHz, try switching your router to the 5 GHz band.

If that doesn't help, look for other sources of possible interference. Please find more troubleshooting suggestions on signal interference in Apple's support document and my answer here.

Answer 3

I had the same problem and tried all the usual apple troubleshooting procedures. Nothing worked for me. Finally, I came across these posts by Michael Kummer and Brad Moon.

Turning off Apple’s Handoff feature worked for me!

From Brad Moon post:

Simply open up your System Preferences, select General, look for a setting called Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices and make sure it’s un-checked.

You lose the ability to start writing an e-mail on your iPhone then “hand it off” to automatically continue working on it in Mail on your Mac, but it might be worth sacrificing the feature to finally nail a maddening Bluetooth mouse problem.

Answer 4

This person is also on Mojave, had similar problems, and seems to have tried all debugging steps I can think of. I suggest you follow those as well.

Surprisingly updating Xcode helped him remedy (not solve) the issue:

To update Xcode, open your Terminal and enter xcode-select --install. You may have to delete the old version of Xcode before installing the latest Xcode. Make sure to also install the command line developer tools.