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Is Apple MacBook Air able to output sound via Bluetooth to hearing aids?

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Edited

Apple apparently announced in May of this year that they would enable any Mac with and M1 or later processor to output its sound via Bluetooth to Bluetooth equipped . I have a MacBook Air with M1 chip, so am pretty interested in that, as it would enable me to play instructional videos without disturbing my wife when she is in or near the same room.

Has that update to the Mac OS happened or been made available yet?

Jim G

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Edited

I have the same question with respect to an M2 Mac and Philips 9040s; I have both on order. Direct Mac output would save me the cost of a Philips TV adapter.

It looks like the update happened with the most recent major release, MacOS 14 Sonoma.

That’s what I infer from the top of the Use hearing devices with your Mac59 Apple support article, which says “MacOS 14 Sonoma” in contrast to many support articles that offer a drop-down menu including Sonoma and less recent releases.

I know you have Jabra Enhanced Pro 20s, but for others reading this: the article specifies , not all Bluetooth-equipped ones.

@Gazza5982 said:

The

I have a MacBook Air (M1, 2020) presently running Monterey, but it has always since purchased new connected to my KS9s aka (Phonak Marvels) via Bluetooth, as well as with my Shokz bone conductors. I prefer the Shokz only because it tends to run down my hearing batteries more frequently, whereas the Shokz are rechargeable.

Yes I think the Phonic uses regular bluetooth. I am referring to the MFI (Made for iPhone) LE Bluetooth protocol that many ’s use (The Oticon, Philips 9040 and I think the Jabra). Without the latest MAC OS (And M2/M1 processor) you can only pair the aids with a connector like the Connect Clip with the Oticons.

In reply to @NateS

But only for phone calls, right? The more recent Mac software in conjunction with can, as I understand it, choose the HAs for any audio output such as from youtube videos or other streaming source.

IF my early M1-equipped MacBook Air CAN do feed its sound output to my Jabra Pro 20 , will I need to UNpair it from the HAs before trying to use my iPhone’s Bluetooth connection with the HAs?

Another way of asking this is: BOTH the Macbook Air AND the iPhone cannot be paired to the HAs simultaneously, right?

I that is the case, I really can’t use the HAs to recieve MacBook sound output, because if a call comes into the iPhone, I want to answer it with the HAs.

Or, is there a way to have BOTH the MacBook and the iPhone paired to the HAs, with a “priority” in place for the HAs to cooperate with the iPhone versus the MacBook when both the iPhone and the MacBook are sending signals simultaneously?

Jim G

Is this really a new upgrade? My 2018 Macbook Air predates the M1 chip by two years, but has bluetooth and streams to my the same way as any other bluetooth device. Is this just about easier pairing?

Again this is only new for ’s that use the technology (Which is most of them, I believe only Phonaks use standard Bluetooth.) The MFi technology is a proprietary LE Bluetooth connection that uses less power than the standard Bluetooth.
iPhones have had this for several year now, I never understood why Macs did not. It is not just for phone calls, it allows streaming of any audio source on your Mac/iphone (Youtube, Zoom etc.)

Jim if your MacBook is early basic M1 chip I think you are SOL it needs M1 Pro or M2 - to get the bluetooth streaming you will need to buy the Jabra equivalent of an Oticon Connect clip, this is a small device that converts standard Bluetooth to the MFI protocol (It also can act as a .)

In reply to @JimGnitecki

@JimGnitecki said:

IF my early M1-equipped MacBook Air CAN do feed its sound output to my Jabra Pro 20 HAs, will I need to UNpair it from the HAs before trying to use my iPhone’s Bluetooth connection with the HAs?

From the Apple support article I linked in a previous reply:

If your hearing devices are already paired to another nearby device, such as an iPhone or iPad, make sure Bluetooth® is turned off on those devices. (When you finish pairing your hearing devices to your Mac, you can turn Bluetooth on again on those devices.)

In reply to @Gazza5982

One more reason I’m glad I kept my KS9s and had them reprogrammed to my drop in hearing acuity (see my current ) rather than this year’s offerings. Perhaps next year’s will be more universal in connectivity, as well as more likely to include treatment for severe and profound hearing loss. Thank goodness for Costco Hearing Centers’ staff and their integrity in leading me in what was best for my situation.

@brec said:

If your hearing devices are already paired to another nearby device, such as an iPhone or iPad, make sure Bluetooth® is turned off on those devices. (When you finish pairing your hearing devices to your Mac, you can turn Bluetooth on again on those devices.)

This still does not answer my question. I realize that during the actual PAIRING process, I need to shut off Bluetooth on those other devices for the time period required to actually pair the MacBook to the . But AFTER doing the pairing, how do you prevent an “unresolved collision” if the MacBook is transmitting an actual sound stream to the HAs and at the same time the iPhone gets a call. To which Bluetooth stream (the MacBook or the iPhone) are the HAs going to give “prioirty”?

If there is no prioritization, that would imply that the Bluetooth must be disabled on either the MacBook or the iPhone to prevent the collision.

Jim G

@JimGnitecki said:

To which Bluetooth stream (the MacBook or the iPhone) are the HAs going to give “prioirty”?

I won’t be able to definitively answer that until after I get my M2 Mac and 9040s, which means after Dec. 11. But I think it’s probable that the phone will get priority, as that is the cultural norm. E.g., (not-) Phonak give the iPhone priority over the TV Connector.

In reply to @JimGnitecki

@JimGnitecki said:

But AFTER doing the pairing, how do you prevent an “unresolved collision” if the MacBook is transmitting an actual sound stream to the HAs and at the same time the iPhone gets a call. To which Bluetooth stream (the MacBook or the iPhone) are the HAs going to give “prioirty”?

Apple gives a wishy-washy description of what might happen in: Use Made for iPhone hearing devices3

Down near the bottom there is:

  • If your hearing device is paired with more than one Apple device, it might switch (hand off) to the other Apple device when it detects an incoming call on that device, or when you start playing audio on the other device. You can control this by changing the Audio Handoff setting in Hearing Devices settings on your iPhone or iPad.

I have no experience with macOS Sonoma (I only have Intel CPU Macs) and hearing devices but this hand off between an iPhone and iPad has been problematic for many users for many years from what I’ve read on the forum. I typically have bluetooth turned on only for one paired device at a time (in my case an iPhone 12 mini or iPad Pro 4th gen, both with 17.1.1 now) to prevent such issues with my MFi aids (More 1 with current firmware).

Of further interest at the bottom of the Apple document is a comment about Macs with bluetooth connected pointing devices (mouse or trackpad). Historically Apple has recommended a limited number of bluetooth device connections to a computer - I think I remember three but I may be wrong. Connected devices can add up quickly with keyboard, mouse, trackpad and so on and then hearing aids.

I have not been able to fully figure it out, I think it either stays paired to the device it was first paired with or it favours the phone. I just turn off Bluetooth on my phone when I am streaming from my MacBook, the MacBook then pairs automatically with the ’s (and turn it back on when I leave the house with my phone.)
Apart from this small annoyance it does work much better than the previous Connect Clip streaming dongle which had other issues.

@biggar said:

You can control this by changing the Audio Handoff setting in Hearing Devices settings on your iPhone or iPad.

Hmmm. I do have the latest Mac OS installed (Sonoma 14.1.1). I will look for that setting.

Jim G

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