I just got a new work laptop. I would like to seamlessly switch my bluetooth devices (headphones, magic keyboard, touchpad) between work / personal Macs without complex repairing.
Has anyone solved this problem?
Ideally, I would love it if my bluetooth devices just paired with the computer docked into my dongle that connects to my monitor / power. Like if there was some kind of USB bluetooth controller that exposed my bluetooth devices as USB devices to whatever was connected to it, that would be awesome. But I haven’t found anything like that. I’m curious if people have different solutions?
It would also be ideal if this could be used for other bluetooth devices, ie seamlessly switch headphones…
Best Answer
Yes.
You purchase Bluetooth devices (keyboard, mouse, headset, etc.) that have multiple device support.
The Magic Keyboard, Mouse, and Trackpad are designed to be paired with a single computer (they make no reference to multiple device pairings). However, products like the Logitech MX series as well as the K380 (typing on it right now) can pair with up to 3 devices and switch with the press of a button.
Sennheiser headphones (my personal choice) can pair with up to 8 devices total and with 2 simultaneously. There are many other brands (Bose, Apple AirPods, Sony, etc.) that have this functionality.
There’s no software that is going to your initiate your Bluetooth devices to switch from one device to another - you can only imagine the security implications!
Bottom line, to easily switch between devices without complex the re-pairing as you describe, you need devices that support multiple pairings. If the device doesn’t support it, you’ll need to pair and unpair it each time.