Airdrop issue. Macbook doesn't discover devices and vice versa

Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hello guys.
So I have this issue for a while and I can't fix it and I desperately need help.
I can't transfer files from my devices to my Mac via Airdrop. The devices can't discover the MacBook.

iPhone 11 / iPad Pro 12.9 (3th gen) / MacPro 15 mid 2015 — All using latest OS

  • I have no trouble transferring between iPhone and iPad. All works fine and fast.
  • I notices that sometimes Mac become visible only when I turn on BOTH iPhone and iPad. But Macbook disappears after a while.
  • Sometimes MacBook finds the devices after a while, sometimes finds only one of the devices. But quickly looses them after that.
  • Also in the rare occasions that I make it work, when sending files the progress bar stops on various occasions as if the connection has dropped and sometimes it continuous, sometimes the transfer just fails.
  • MacBook discovers one of my colleges MacBooks on another networks, but doesn't discover the MacBooks of other colleagues on the same network.
  • I've tried signing out from iCloud on MacBook and iPad (iPhone is relatively new so didn't try signing it out)
  • I've tried turning off and on wifi & Bluetooth on mac
  • I've reset PRAM and SMC on mac
  • All settings and permission are properly set on all devices
  • The firewall is turned off on mac
  • I'm using only one iCloud account on all devices
  • All devices are in the same network.
  • I've tried restarting all devices.


Guys has anyone had a similar problem?
Any other ideas on how to solve this?

Thank you
 
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
10,702
Reaction score
1,158
Points
113
Location
Rhode Island
Your Mac's Specs
M1 Mac Studio, 11" iPad Pro 3rdGen, iPhone 13 ProMax, Watch S7, 2018 15" MBP, AirPods Pro
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thank you for answering ferrarr.

- The devices are right next to each other.
- No other Bluetooth devices connected. (MacBook has the magic mouse paired but currently not connected, and the iPhone has some bluetooth headphones paired but not connected at the time of testing).

Thank for the article, reading it I recall some cases:
- I rearly even see the Handoff icon on my MBP anymore.
- When I receive a call on the iPhone, my MBP almost never suggests me to take the call. That's something that used to happen before but not now.
- Universal clipboard doesn't work
- Instant Hotspot. Sometimes I see the icon of my iPhone among the available WIFIs on my MBP but most of the time I dont'
- Sidecar is not supported by my MacBook (mid2015)
- Haven't tested the rest.

Could the problem be the bluetooth?
 
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
10,702
Reaction score
1,158
Points
113
Location
Rhode Island
Your Mac's Specs
M1 Mac Studio, 11" iPad Pro 3rdGen, iPhone 13 ProMax, Watch S7, 2018 15" MBP, AirPods Pro
I think you may need to "Reset Network Connections" on your iOS devices, under Settings>General>Reset?
 
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I think you may need to "Reset Network Connections" on your iOS devices, under Settings>General>Reset?
This didn't worked as well.
Thank you for helping me by the way.
Do you have any other ideas? I've tried everything I've found on the internet. The one thing I haven't is complete reinstall of osx.
My best guess so far is that it's something with the bluetooth but not really confident about that
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
It sounds like you're experiencing interference which may be blocking the signal. Generally, devices on the same network in close proximity to one another should be able to airdrop. BT is notorious for causing interference and being interfered with. The fact that you're having difficulty with the "hot spot" being picked up also points to some kind of interference.

Where is all this happening? Is it at home or at your work place?
 
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
It sounds like you're experiencing interference which may be blocking the signal. Generally, devices on the same network in close proximity to one another should be able to airdrop. BT is notorious for causing interference and being interfered with. The fact that you're having difficulty with the "hot spot" being picked up also points to some kind of interference.
Where is all this happening? Is it at home or at your work place?

Work network. Here we have 2 networks, so I'll try switching all devices to the other network and test it. Will tell you the results after that.
I haven't tested my home network, I rarely bring this MBP home. But might test that as well when on the weekend.
About the BT, I've reset all it settings and I've reset the SMC and PRAM which supposedly also resets the BT. So I don't know what else can be done about that
 
M

MBAmtloin

Guest
I never has any 100% air drop connection flow with my  devices, macmini and macbook air.
i always had to reset or reboot something which was frustrating when the iPad could not send to the macmini.
Even after removing and replacing the metal furniture in the room, there were still problems.
what did help was plugging these  products into a surge protector that boosted the electricity.

does the new 13 iosx have a files sharing option were a USB drive can retrieve a psd or jpeg file now?
 
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
So still no solution to this problem.
However I've found a workaround that works in 70% of the cases.
1. Open airdrop on MBP
2. On iOS choose a photo and open airdrop as you are about to share it. (the screen where you choose device)
3. MBP appears on iOS
4. Only then iOS appears on MBP, and then I can use airdrop. But only if I'm fast, it disappears after 30-60sec.
5. If this doesn't work, I turn off and on again wi-fi and bluetooth and repeat the steps above.

This is an annoying solution to use daily but it works (most of the times). Hope this helps anybody with similar problem.

I'm still searching for general solution to the problem. So if someone has more suggestions/ideas please share it with me.
Thank you




@MBAmtloin not sure about the file sharing option.
 
M

MBAmtloin

Guest
we all know that airdrop is iffy, annoying and not stable when files wait to be sent, which is seldom, but this happens
sometimes having metal can interfere with the connection or a wifi router that needs to be reset can cause delays in airdrop.
there were may times airdrop had no issues and worked great, a few times, nothing.
i wish there was a definite solution like a "power on-off toggle" "airdrop turbo" or a code to make airdrop 100% but we need to accept this file transfer system is not 100% accurate and be happy when that works.
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
The issue is most likely interference from other BT devices at work. All of your colleagues have phones, all blasting out BT signals, plus if you have hand-free landlines, or wireless land-lines, those use the same frequency band as BT. Plus all of the other laptops in your office may well be sending out BT signals. Plus those on the floor above you and below you, or even across the street. BT works at about 30 feet, so every device in that globe around you could be interfering with your own connection.

As for the connection disappearing after a bit, that is how I have seen it work. I think that's the way it is designed, but I'm not sure. What I do know is that when I invoke Airdrop, it connects, but if I don't use it within about 30 seconds or so the connection is dropped.
 
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hey guys

So as now I'm working from home I have the time to test it a few days in my home network.
There isn't much of a change. MBP still can't find any of the devices (iPad & iPhone). So the problem is not in my work network or having lots of devices at work. At home we have 6 wi-fi devices in total.

Still the only way I've managed it to work (and it works most of the time) is when I first share image from a device to MBP, and only then for a short period of time MBP can see the device and share back whatever I want.

So after so long I haven't found a solution. I guess the only way is to clean re-install the MBP, which I might do when the next OSX comes out.

Thank you every one for the help.
Ofcourse if you have any new ideas I'm up to test them.
 
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
10,702
Reaction score
1,158
Points
113
Location
Rhode Island
Your Mac's Specs
M1 Mac Studio, 11" iPad Pro 3rdGen, iPhone 13 ProMax, Watch S7, 2018 15" MBP, AirPods Pro
I don't know if you have tried this, but you can make a new user account on your MBP, sign in with your Apple ID, then see if connects using the new account? This might confirm that there is an issue with your current user account, or not.
 
Joined
Feb 4, 2020
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
US, LA
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Air 2017
Turning off firewall Worked for me after searching the web for months and trying 100's of solutions!!!! FINALLY!!
 
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
10,702
Reaction score
1,158
Points
113
Location
Rhode Island
Your Mac's Specs
M1 Mac Studio, 11" iPad Pro 3rdGen, iPhone 13 ProMax, Watch S7, 2018 15" MBP, AirPods Pro
Turning off firewall Worked for me after searching the web for months and trying 100's of solutions!!!! FINALLY!!
That's a good point. I don't have mine turned on, since I have a Mac Mini.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,494
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
Turning off firewall Worked for me after searching the web for months and trying 100's of solutions!!!! FINALLY!!


Guess it's an interesting point for the future, if it's ever needed, that your Firewall works, but maybe just a little bit too well!!! :Smirk:

But glad to hear you found a solution.




- Patrick
======
 
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hello guys,
So finally I found the issue and fixed it.

It turned out 2 of the AirPort board cables had came off. I don't know how it happened but as I've opened my MBP to clean it I've noticed they are not attached. After attaching them it seems all my AirDrop problems are gone. Hope this helps somebody.

On the image I've marked which cables had came off (1 and 2)
VQTvHLllWWfZTIUl.large.jpg
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Great work on your part! Certainly is unusual that the airport board cables came loose. Anyway, glad you fixed it and thanks for posting back for us. :)
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,494
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
It turned out 2 of the AirPort board cables had came off.


Wow!!! They must have changed the contact method a fair bit as they used to take a fair bit of extreme pressure and force to remove on most Mac portables.

Anyway, glad to see you found the problem, and who would have guessed??? :Smirk:




- Patrick
======
 
OP
M
Joined
Jan 9, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Yep it was super weird, but later I remembered I gave my laptop to authorised service center and I guess they are the one to blame :/
Anyway, all good now
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top