Bluetooth Audio AAC (codec not working)

[SeanTek]

I have been trying to get AAC to work over Bluetooth between my Tesla Model S (mid-2013, firmware v8.1 2018.16) and my MacBook Pro (macOS High Sierra 10.13.4; hardware is mid-2014). I followed the instructions on MacRumors to enable AAC (and aptX, which is not supported anyway), but the Bluetooth drop-down menu indicates that the active codec is still SBC. I tried playing music through VLC, iTunes, and regular system sounds.

Have other people experienced this? Anything that I am doing that is wrong?

While I would assume that my iPhone 8 running iOS 11.2.6 is streaming AAC, I have no way to verify that for sure.

 

[GaryREM]

I have verified in the past that my iPhone was using AAC (although from Tesla firmware to firmware anything can happen).

I can also confirm that my MacBook also connects using SBC.

 

[SeanTek]

Thank you GaryREM. How did you verify that your phone was using AAC? How do I see this?

 

[GaryREM]

At the time it was a case of loading a developer profile to generate diagnostics on the phone, connecting to the Tesla then reading the diagnostics. Don't think the same thing works now.

You should be able to connect your iPhone to your MacBook and open the console application. The iPhone should show up in devices. Select the iPhone (don't start playing any bluetooth audio), try typing 'bluetooth' in the top right search bar, press enter and select 'Subsystem' instead of 'All'.

Start playing music, then stop. Search for 'a2dp' and you should be able to see which codec is being used.

Just tried with my AirPods and confirmed AAC used. Will try tomorrow on my Tesla and see what I find.