Questions

How to use Bluetooth MIDI on a Mac

Bluetooth MIDI devices are connected from Audio MIDI Setup. Open it, choose Window, Show MIDI Studio, and click the Configure Bluetooth button in the toolbar. Put the keyboard or controller in pairing mode, select it in the list and click Connect. After that it behaves like any other MIDI device on the Mac.

These steps are Apple's, from its Audio MIDI Setup guide. A Mac can also advertise itself as a Bluetooth MIDI device, so another Mac, an iPhone or an iPad can connect to it. Both directions are below.

On this page: 8 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Connect a Bluetooth MIDI device to the Mac
  3. Make the Mac itself a Bluetooth MIDI device
  4. Know what Bluetooth MIDI needs
  5. Choose between Bluetooth and a cable
  6. Use a Bluetooth MIDI device for shortcuts
  7. The short version
  8. Questions

Steps

  1. Install any software the device's maker provides.
  2. Open Audio MIDI Setup and choose Window, Show MIDI Studio.
  3. Click the Configure Bluetooth button in the toolbar.
  4. Put the Bluetooth MIDI device in pairing mode.
  5. Select it in the list and click Connect.

Connect a Bluetooth MIDI device to the Mac

  • You: In MIDI Studio, click Configure Bluetooth. Put the device in pairing mode, select it in the list of devices and click Connect.
  • macOS: Connects as the host, the side that starts the Bluetooth connection.
  • Check: The device appears in MIDI Studio and in your music app's MIDI inputs.

Apple's guide says to install any software the peripheral's maker provides before you begin. The Mac is the host and the keyboard is the peripheral: the peripheral makes itself discoverable, and the host connects. The page is Set up Bluetooth MIDI devices.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreInputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Make the Mac itself a Bluetooth MIDI device

  • You: In MIDI Studio, click Configure Bluetooth. Change the name if you like, then click Advertise.
  • macOS: Advertises itself so Bluetooth hosts can find and connect to it, and stops advertising when one connects.
  • Check: On the other Mac, iPhone or iPad, the Mac's name appears as a Bluetooth MIDI device.

Apple's guide lists Mac to Mac, and Mac to an iPhone or iPad, and says the connection carries MIDI both ways. Advertise is how an iPad music app sends notes to a Mac with no cable.

Know what Bluetooth MIDI needs

  • Bluetooth low energy. Apple's guide describes Bluetooth MIDI as using Bluetooth LE hardware.
  • A device that supports it. A keyboard has to offer Bluetooth MIDI itself. An ordinary Bluetooth keyboard for typing is a different thing.
  • The connection made in MIDI Studio. That is where the guide puts it, not in a music app.

If a Bluetooth MIDI device is missing from your music app, check that it is connected in MIDI Studio first.

Choose between Bluetooth and a cable

Bluetooth frees the desk of a cable, and for pads that fire shortcuts or a keyboard on the sofa that is all that matters. Notes over Bluetooth MIDI arrive a little later than over USB, which matters for playing in time and does not matter for shortcuts. For recording a performance, use the cable. For control, Bluetooth is fine.

Use a Bluetooth MIDI device for shortcuts

InputConfig, the free Mac app I make, reads a Bluetooth MIDI device the same way as a USB one, with no driver, once it is connected in MIDI Studio. Each key, pad and knob can send a keyboard shortcut, a click, volume or an app launch. A small Bluetooth pad controller makes a wireless macro pad for a Mac. MIDI to keystroke on a Mac has the setup, and the MIDI tester shows what the device sends.

The short version

  • Connect a device. Audio MIDI Setup, MIDI Studio, Configure Bluetooth, pairing mode, Connect.
  • Offer the Mac to another device. The same window, Advertise.
  • Timing. A cable for recording, Bluetooth for control.

Bluetooth MIDI lives in Audio MIDI Setup, and everything else follows from connecting it there.

Questions

How do I connect a Bluetooth MIDI keyboard to a Mac?

Open Audio MIDI Setup, choose Window, Show MIDI Studio, click Configure Bluetooth, put the keyboard in pairing mode, select it in the list and click Connect.

Does a Mac support Bluetooth MIDI?

Yes. Audio MIDI Setup connects Bluetooth MIDI devices, and it can also make the Mac itself a Bluetooth MIDI device that another Mac, an iPhone or an iPad connects to.

Why is my Bluetooth MIDI device not showing in my music app?

It probably is not connected in MIDI Studio yet. Open Audio MIDI Setup, click Configure Bluetooth, and connect it there first.

Can I send MIDI from an iPad to a Mac over Bluetooth?

Yes. On the Mac, open MIDI Studio, click Configure Bluetooth and click Advertise. Apple's guide lists Mac to iPhone or iPad connections, and they carry MIDI both ways.

Is Bluetooth MIDI slower than USB?

Notes arrive a little later over Bluetooth than over a cable. That matters when you play in time with a recording and does not matter when a pad fires a shortcut.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreFree. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.

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