You are master at using AirPods Pro or AirPods with your iPad or iPhone or your perhaps Android phone, but you may have a question about how to connect AirPods to Mac, be it a laptop or desktop.
On condition that the operating system of your computer is completely up to date, you can make this connection without any hassles. Before you begin, just make sure your macOS Catalina is the upgraded version and it is patched up to 10.15.1. This supports a vast variation of computers, including Mac Mini, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook and MacBook Pro. If that’s done, the next steps on how to connect AirPods to Mac will be super easy.
To make up to date your computer’s operating system may take longer duration than connecting wireless earbuds, especially if you have not implemented system updates in a while. If you do not know how to connect AirPods to Mac, all you need to do is simply follow this guide. Make allowances for an upgraded computer to prop up Catalina. If you have been working with the same Mac for over a decade, it might be too aged. Catalina has been supporting the systems since 2012.
Now let us take a look at the easy steps on how to connect AirPods to Mac. The steps are simple and effective and with these steps you’ll easily learn how to connect AirPods to Mac.
Grab your airpods
Power up your computer and unlock it nearby with your charging case – with airpods inside. The H1 chip in the headphones makes it easy to pair with iOS phones and tablets, but does nothing to help you setting them up with the Mac.
For this reason, keeping any nearby iOS devices in lock mode is not a bad idea. At a time, you can adjoin airpods with multiple numbers of devices, therefore you do not have to change things, but the pairing process is much smoother if other devices do not compete with their vision.
Open up bluetooth priority pane
Right now, tap on the Bluetooth icon on your updates Catalina Mac. It is usually displayed next to the clock, in the upper right corner of your screen. The drop-down menu shows a list of connected devices and below is an option to open Bluetooth preferences – you need to click here.
If the drop-down does not appear near your clock, open the Bluetooth Preferences pane by clicking on your System Preferences menu. If you want to enable quick access from the drop-down mentioned above, check out the “Show Bluetooth in menu bar” option.
Ask for connectivity
With the Bluetooth Preference option, detect your AirPods – our AirPods Pro called Escape Pods as you can see on our screen. It will ask you to open a new connection request window and ask if it is OK to connect to AirPods. Click Connect. If the window disperses before clicking to connect, click again on the AirPods in the list of Bluetooth devices.
Once you press Connect, you are all set. That is, it is a more manual process than iOS devices, and we need to start this process shortly before we can pick it up. Once the airpods are attached, it is a delicate sailing.
Make small changes in settings
Now that we know how to connect Airpods to Mac, it’s time to adjust some basic settings. If you’ve already done this on your iPhone or iPad, you do not need to do it again. If you missed out that step before, there is no time like the current step. After you successfully completed the steps on how to connect Airpods to Mac, and get it connected, there should be an options button to the right of your connected airpods in the Bluetooth device list. Then click on it.
Option menu
You would view a similar window. It reveals the AirPod settings that you can configure. Let’s go through the list.
Settings of microphone
First field, click on the microphone. It shows a pull-down menu with three options. You can automatically switch between airpods (default), always the left airpod or always the right airpod.
Unless you have a better reason for the mic to be on the left or right side of the earpiece by default so far, you should automatically switch it off as airpods. This allows you to use the earpiece to take calls and command the Siri, which is useful when you use only one earpiece.
Automatic ear recognition
The checkbox right next to automatic ear recognition automatically converts audio from your computer speakers. They are nowhere near when you wear them. With a single tap on the control surface of the airpod, you can play and pause the music in your Max Music app. Double tap or triple tap will skip the track forward or backward just like on your iOS device.
Pulling out the headphones will switch back to your computer speakers, but they will not turn on the music. Playback will get paused when you are removing them, therefore you should make a serious effort to replay the music.
Press and Hold setting
The next two are Press & Hold – one on the left and the other on the right earpiece. By clicking on the pull-down menu, you can select Volume Control or Siri like your Press & Hold commandment.
This indicates that when you press the control area shaft on each earpiece it will call Siri or if you put it in volume control mode it will cycle through volume cancellation modes. You can do this with Siri Ear Call and Controlled Volume Control.
Noise settings
You can personalize the volume control cycles through different modes. In this window the next option set reads out the volume control toggles and there are three items that you can check or select.
If you check the three noise cancellation, off and transparency, tapping and holding on the control surface will cycle through three modes. But you can omit any of these, for example, you can toggle between transparency and off modes.
Shifting between Mac and iPhone
This may take some time, but AirPod’s H1 chip makes it easy to switch between your Mac and iPhone as a voice source indefinitely. On your phone, you can select AirPods as the audio output on the audio screen, which breaks the connection with the computer.
To get back to your Mac, make connection via the Bluetooth menu as we did before and you can quickly listen and control your computer’s audio. These steps are an efficient and fast toggle system in between sound sources. We hope this guide on how to connect Airpods to Mac will help you and along with the steps on how to connect Airpods to Mac, you also get some extra tips on its features and settings!
Looking for more such effective and simple tutorials on Apple devices? You can also read our blog on How To Unpair An Apple Watch.