Older MacBook Pro doesn't see new modern Bluetooth speaker, why not? MacBook Pro Mid 2012 readily connects to all my modern Bluetooth devices except it doesn't see my new Sony SRS XB43 speaker.
I turn off any devices that my MBP tries to connect to so only the Sony speaker is available with its Bluetooth light blinking to indicate attempting to pair, but it has never shown up on the MBP Bluetooth list.
The speaker readily connects to my iPhone 6 Plus.
From the Sony specs page:

Bluetooth
Communication System
Version 5.0
Compatible Profiles
A2DP/AVRCP/HSP/HFP/SPP
Supported Codecs
SBC,AAC,LDAC

From MBP system report

Apple Bluetooth Software Version: 7.0.6f8   Hardware, Features and
Settings:   Name: Mr’s MacBook Pro
Address:  14-10-9F-D0-3B-20   Bluetooth Low Energy
Supported:    Yes   Handoff Supported:    Yes   Instant Hot Spot
Supported:    Yes   Manufacturer: Broadcom   Transport:   USB
Chipset:  20702A3   Firmware Version: v156 c5918   Bluetooth
Power:    On   Discoverable:  On   Connectable:   Yes   Auto
Seek Pointing:    On   Remote wake:   On   Vendor ID: 0x05AC
Product ID:   0x8286   Bluetooth Core Spec:   4.0 (0x6)   HCI
Revision: 0x171E   LMP Version:   4.0 (0x6)   LMP
Subversion:   0x229C   Device Type (Major):   Computer   Device
Type (Complete):  Mac Portable   Composite Class Of
Device:   0x38010C   Device Class (Major):    0x01   Device Class
(Minor):  0x03   Service Class:   0x1C0   Auto Seek
Keyboard: On

Is there a way to manually enter the device address of the speaker to my MBP?
I have restarted MBP, debug Bluetooth on MBP to reset module, restarted again, turned speaker off and on etc.
Is the MBP so old now it cant see modern Bluetooth devices?
I havent been able to test this idea yet with a modern Mac to see if it can discover the speaker.
Any help much appreciated thank you
Thankyou for the level of detail you've provided. Saying that, it's unclear from Sony's spec page as to backwards compatibility.
Your MacBook can do up to bluetooth 4.0, the speaker is 5.0, which according to the standard is backwards compatible with 4.0 &amp; 4.1.
When you say you've debugged bluetooth on MacBook, what steps did you use?
The bluetooth module is combined with wifi, so if you reset it I'm imagining you needed to setup wifi again?
If your investigation doesn't go anywhere, an option would be to buy a small usb bluetooth 5 dongle. You may need to tell the Mac to ignore the built in module. Details here. Force OS X to use Bluetooth dongle instead of built in controller
Hope you are able to resolve it. If not usb adaptors are pretty cheap.
Sorry should've added that specifying an address in bluetooth is not really a thing. device and service discovery are really the only path to connecting any bluetooth device.