M1 Mac Mini Useless Without USB Keyboard and Mouse

I thought the same thing, I just recently got my first new mac (An M1 Mini) in about a decade, and I had to go dig up an old USB keyboard and mouse. I was left thinking "How would this possibly work if I didn't have a bin of dusty old computer just in the basement?" It's been an interesting couple of months working with this thing. I moved from an Ubuntu box I built myself, to an M1 Mini and I can't say it's much of an upgrade. I've had 2 kernel panic complete crashes on this thing so far, and never had one in years of running on something I built from random parts. It hasn't been TERRIBLE, but I honestly expected more.

Might as well add my anecdata...it works perfectly for me.

I have an M1 Mac Mini, with an Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple Trackpad.

On first setup I had to connect them via the lightning/USB cable at which point they paired automatically. Then I disconnected them and they've been working since, through multiple reboots, via BT.

And no kernel panics either.

It does make sense that you need something wired on first setup, though it should not be forgotten on reboot. That could easily be an issue with either the peripheral or the M1.

I wonder what this means for data centers hosting Mac Minis? I know that’s a bit of a silly thing for some people to imagine but the reality is there are thousands of the intel minis out there deployed in data centers headless. That’s a lotta keyboards!

I'm just curious how somebody lives their life where they buy a Mac desktop and they don't have an entire Rubbermaid tub of old USB mice and keyboards begging for an excuse to be rousted out and put to use.

Of course you cannot pair a bluetooth device to a computer without interaction.

Why did you post this here? Just plug in your keyboard, set it up, and then unplug. My mac mini works fine booting with Bluetooth.

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