Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods • Hacker News Board

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#21

Post by BHSPitMonkey » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

LeoPanthera wrote: post #3

To summarize: If you use a Logitech bluetooth device, it creates enough interference that high-bandwidth products like the Airpods will not function correctly. If you switch the Logitech device to use their "unifying" adapter, which doesn't use bluetooth but a different proprietary wireless protocol, the problem goes away. Logitech acknowledged the problem about six months ago but thus far have deflected any further…

Is this a flaw/weakness in the Bluetooth spec, or is one of these products misbehaving in a way that means it should have its Bluetooth qualification revoked?

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#22

Post by Macha » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

darkteflon wrote: post #16

Anecdata, but I’ve had a terrible experience with Logitech mice on all sorts of Macs over the years - both Intel and Apple Silicon. Bluetooth is almost always a non-starter. The Unifying dongle works, but you’ll need to keep it physically close to the mouse. Unfortunately, Logitech also makes my favourite mouse - the light-weight G Pro X wireless. Their software is atrocious, too. Steermouse to the rescue, thankfully…

Anecdata here also, but I've got a logitech mice and formerly had a logitech headset that had no issues connecting to a mac with bluetooth.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#23

Post by AceJohnny2 » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:19 PM UTC

It's not just Logitech's use of bluetooth.

My Airpods also caused me lose wifi connectivity on my Macbook when using 2.4Ghz wifi (802.11n to an old Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H/WZR-600DHP running OpenWRT [1]). The issue only happened when using the airpods, and only when using the 2.4Ghz network. Switching to 5ghz solved the issue, and I've since switched to wired.

I was kind of stunned that Apple's own wifi was incompatible with Apple's own bluetooth.

[1] while I'm at it, anyone have a recommendation for a modern access point that can run OpenWRT with Wifi 5 (ac) or Wifi 6 (ax)?

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#24

Post by sdflhasjd » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:19 PM UTC

darkteflon wrote: post #16

Anecdata, but I’ve had a terrible experience with Logitech mice on all sorts of Macs over the years - both Intel and Apple Silicon. Bluetooth is almost always a non-starter. The Unifying dongle works, but you’ll need to keep it physically close to the mouse. Unfortunately, Logitech also makes my favourite mouse - the light-weight G Pro X wireless. Their software is atrocious, too. Steermouse to the rescue, thankfully…

More anecdata, but I think this is a more general Apple problem rather than Logitech, I always had very poor performance with non-Apple BT devices with Macs - devices that work fine with a range of other computers.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#25

Post by wronglyprepaid » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:20 PM UTC

SicSemperUranus wrote: post #7

LeoPanthera wrote: post #3

To summarize: If you use a Logitech bluetooth device, it creates enough interference that high-bandwidth products like the Airpods will not function correctly. If you switch the Logitech device to use their "unifying" adapter, which doesn't use bluetooth but a different proprietary wireless protocol, the problem goes away. Logitech acknowledged the problem about six months ago but thus far have deflected any further…

They're probably staying silent because here in Canada at least, this could be violating federal laws. I must assume this is also true of the USA, which is usually quite comparable in these areas.

> They're probably staying silent because here in Canada at least, this could be violating federal laws.

Could you elaborate?

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#26

Post by cjdoc29 » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:21 PM UTC

Of all the years I've been reading HackerNews, this is the one that moved me to actually sign up.

So I have three Intel-based MacBook Pros but of different model years - 2017 (15in), early-2019 (13in), and mid-2019 (16in).

The mid-2019 16in MacBook Pro in combination with Logitech MX Mouse (Mac version) and AirPod Pros cause significant interference on the microphone.

The result? I sound like a "robot" on Zoom calls. It drives me crazy - enough to revert back to my early-2019 laptop to handle calls.

I'm not really sure what to do here other than remove one of those factors from the equation... and I'm not sure the dongle is compatible with the Mac-version of the MX Master mouse.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#27

Post by symlinkk » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:22 PM UTC

I use both together on my MPB every day and have no issues. Where does it say they aren’t compatible?

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#28

Post by dt2m » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:22 PM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #20

pram wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s annoying they still don’t make a usb-c unifying receiver.

Also annoying that the unifying receiver doesn't work with a Thunderbolt dock. I tried using it for a while and got a lot of lag and stuttering. It was really bad. So now I have a Thunderbolt dock that everything else uses, and a single USB-C to USB-A adapter hanging off the laptop just for the precious unifying receiver. I'd be less annoyed if it was USB-C plugged in directly, but still not happy. Previously I used…

I’ve found that if I use it on an extension lead on a USB 2.0 port (i.e. via another hub) it works fine thru a TB dock

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#29

Post by CTDOCodebases » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:22 PM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #20

pram wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s annoying they still don’t make a usb-c unifying receiver.

Also annoying that the unifying receiver doesn't work with a Thunderbolt dock. I tried using it for a while and got a lot of lag and stuttering. It was really bad. So now I have a Thunderbolt dock that everything else uses, and a single USB-C to USB-A adapter hanging off the laptop just for the precious unifying receiver. I'd be less annoyed if it was USB-C plugged in directly, but still not happy. Previously I used…

Was it the fact that it was connected to your dock that caused the lagging and stuttering issue or was it the location of the receiver when it is plugged into the dock?

The reason I ask is I have noticed this issue too when too many things are placed between the receiver and the device.

Re: Logitech MX Products are incompatible with AirPods

#30

Post by stefan_ » Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:25 PM UTC

Is there an actual statement here from Logitech to this effect? While the regulatory rules for the 2.4 GHz band state that you must play nice with some sort of medium access control scheme, it of course doesn't guarantee something like AirPods will always have the RF environment that allows their unimpeded use.