Open Radar

 
Basic Information
Please provide a descriptive title for your feedback:
Bluetooth audio fails after connecting iPhone via USB port

Which area are you seeing an issue with?
Bluetooth

What type of issue are you reporting?
Incorrect/Unexpected Behavior

Details
What does the Bluetooth issue you are seeing involve?
Something else not on this list

What kind of device were you trying to use?
Headphones / speakers

What is the make / model of the device?
Multiple, for example Apple AirPods and JBL Flip 5

Has the device ever been paired with a different computer before?
Yes

Do you have any third party Bluetooth software installed?
I don't know

Do you use any other Bluetooth devices with your Mac?
No

What time was it when this last occurred? (Example: 12:00 pm EST 02/14/2018)
10/14/2020

Description
Please describe the issue and what steps we can take to reproduce it:

This is an issue that is present for at least 5 years in macOS. 
However, I decided to open a radar now that I could reproduce it (somewhat consistently). 
For full context, please read this post of mine here: https://gist.github.com/nicolasembleton/afc19940da26716f8e90#gistcomment-3422499

The issue is that bluetooth audio (e.g. my Apple AirPods) starts failing "randomly" (more on this later), and once it does, only a bluetooth/audio daemon restart fixes it (or a mac reboot). Interestingly, a daemon restart is not always possible - not sure why - so I have to do it at least a couple times until my macOS menu bar audio icon grays out (so I know it's actually restarting). I haven't figured out the reason for this yet.

Steps to reproduce:
- With AirPods paired and playing music, connect an iPhone to the USB-C port.

What happens:
- Audio will either go silent, or start transmitting lots of noise (cut off music, on/off stream).

What was expected to happen:
- The audio shouldn't fail at all.

Note that this is not the only way to reproduce this issue, but it's ONE way that I was able to somewhat consistently reproduce it. 
If you read the thread I linked above, you'll see this has been happening for at least 5 years, and multiple users see different behaviors/fixes, but the issue is there. 
This is by far the #1 problem with macOS in my opinion. It has been happening TO ME for over one year, and I've even bought new AirPods, but no luck. I have yet to buy a new macbook to see if this still happens.