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Open Sound Connect
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Open Sound Connect

Sony headphones
keep disconnecting

If your Sony headphones drop off your Mac every so often, or don't come back after it sleeps, one of a handful of causes is usually behind it.

Applies toMDR-1000XWH-1000XM2WH-1000XM3WH-1000XM4WH-1000XM5WH-1000XM6WH-1000XX

Short answer

When Sony headphones keep disconnecting from a Mac, check these in order:

  1. Distance and obstacles: stay within a few meters of the Mac, with nothing metal or a wall in between.
  2. Another device: your phone or another computer can take the headphones over. Turn off its Bluetooth to test.
  3. Power settings: the headphones may be turning themselves off after a while; check Automatic Power Off.
  4. The pairing: choose Forget This Device in System Settings → Bluetooth and pair again.

Range and interference

Bluetooth reaches only a few meters reliably, less through walls, metal desks and your own body. A MacBook in a closed backpack, a Mac mini behind a monitor or a Mac in another room can all drop the connection.

  • Move closer to the Mac and see whether the drops stop.
  • Move things that crowd the 2.4 GHz band away from the Mac: USB 3 hubs, drives and cables, other wireless gear and the Wi-Fi router.
  • If the sound breaks up before it drops, see stuttering and crackling.

A phone or another computer taking over

The WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM5, WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX can stay connected to two devices. When you start playing on the other device, playback can move there, which feels like the Mac disconnected. Without two-device connections, a phone that reconnects to the headphones can take them away from the Mac completely.

  • Turn off Bluetooth on the other device for a while. If the drops stop, the other device was taking the headphones.
  • On the WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5, decide whether you want Connect to 2 devices simultaneously on or off; Mac and iPhone together covers both setups.
  • On headphones that report it, Open Sound Connect's Pin to this Mac (Wearing → Connectivity) keeps playback on the Mac while both stay connected.

Sleep and automatic power off

When your Mac goes to sleep, it stops sending audio, and its connection to the headphones usually ends. The headphones may then connect to your phone, or turn themselves off after a while. After waking the Mac, reconnect them from Control Center → Bluetooth if they don't come back by themselves.

The headphones also turn off on their own:

  • The WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM5, WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XX turn off after about 15 minutes of not being worn.
  • The WH-1000XM5 also turns off after about 15 minutes without a Bluetooth connection, by default.
  • If the battery runs out, they turn off without warning.

Open Sound Connect shows Automatic Power Off on the Wearing page (⌘4) under Wearing & Power, with the choices your headphones offer, such as After 15 minutes, When taken off or Don't turn off. See Sony headphones turning off by themselves.

Charging and the cable

  • The WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5 stop working while connected to a charger or a computer, so plugging them in to charge ends the connection.
  • On every model, plugging in the 3.5 mm cable turns Bluetooth off.
  • The WH-1000XM4 moves an active call to your phone when you take the headphones off.

Settings that reconnect on purpose

Some of the headphones' settings only take effect after a short reconnect: two-device connections, sound quality versus a stable connection, and button assignments. If the headphones dropped right after you changed one of these, that's expected. They come back by themselves, and Open Sound Connect waits for them and reconnects its controls.

Pairing and the Mac's Bluetooth

If none of the above explains it:

  1. Turn Bluetooth off and on in Control Center.
  2. Choose Forget This Device for the headphones in System Settings → Bluetooth, then pair them again.
  3. Restart the Mac.
  4. Reset the headphones. The plain reset keeps your pairings; the not connecting guide has the buttons for each model.

Model notes

  • MDR-1000X, WH-1000XM2, WH-1000XM3: they play music from one device at a time, so a phone reconnecting is the usual culprit. The WH-1000XM3 has Automatic Power Off but no wearing sensor.
  • WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM5: check the charger and the two-device setting first.
  • WH-1000XM6, WH-1000XX: they work while charging, so a charger isn't the cause; starting playback on the other device takes over.

What Open Sound Connect shows

The app's controls use their own connection, on top of the audio. When the headphones drop, the app says Reconnecting to… and tries again several times, and when they come back it connects by itself. If the drops keep happening, the Activity page (⌘7) lists the messages the app exchanged with the headphones and any error, such as a timeout; export it with Export… if you report the problem. If audio stays connected but only the app's controls drop, see connected but not detected.

Common
questions

Why don't my Sony headphones reconnect after my Mac wakes up?

While the Mac slept, the headphones may have connected to your phone or turned themselves off. Turn them on if needed and click their name in Control Center → Bluetooth.

Do the headphones disconnect when I change a setting in Open Sound Connect?

Only for settings that need it, such as two-device connections or Bluetooth Connection Quality. The app asks first and reconnects by itself afterwards.

Is it the Mac or the headphones?

Use the headphones with your phone for a while in the same place. If they drop there too, look at the headphones (battery, reset); if not, look at the Mac's Bluetooth and its surroundings.

Where to next

Put your headphones
in the menu bar

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macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon and Intel