Does macOS 10.15 Catalina no longer support aptX?

On version 10.15 Beta (19A558d) I can't seem to get aptX to work anymore and was wondering if anyone else has aptX working still? Could this possibly have been removed?

Hardware: Late 2018 MacBook Pro 15, Bowers & Wilkins PX.

Trying to force aptX via Bluetooth Explorer from Additional Tools for XCode 11 GM Seed doesn't seem to be giving any results either. I have tried the following combinations, restarting Bluetooth each time:

☐ Force use of aptX ☐ Disable AAC
☐ Disable aptX ☑️ Enable AAC
Result: Active Codec: AAC

☑️ Force use of aptX ☑️ Disable AAC
☐ Disable aptX ☐ Enable AAC
Result: Active Codec: SBC

☑️ Force use of aptX ☐ Disable AAC
☐ Disable aptX ☑️ Enable AAC
Result: Active Codec: AAC

I was testing the theory today with a codec name error.

Indeed, aptX remained 100 %. Very similar to Bug with the name. I hope they correct in the future. Checked in Bluetooth Explorer. Ran using the check box in the SBC codec menu and aptX to check bitrate in one case or another.

It turned out when put in priority aptX the bitrate was exclusively 384 kb/s and it was not possible to change it by any software, which is possible only with this code. Then banned aptX and it turned out bitrate which is possible only in SBC 327 kb/s.

Plus it was possible to change bitpool, which immediately led to the fall of bitrate and sound quality.

For those still looking, it appears that aptX support has been silently removed from macOS Catalina (10.15); even in the public release.

I was trying to get my Sony wh-1000xm3 headphones to work in AAC / aptx (they were stuck in SBC despite following the usual guides) . I was unable to get them to work as expected until I enabled the "Priority on Sound Quality" option in the Headphone android app. Presumably the same option exists in the iOS app

I had the exact same issue with a 13 inch model. Searching elsewhere, some people on r/headphones discussed what is better between AAC and aptX and seems to have agreed AAC is better. In that sense, I think I'm satisfied to listen to my PXs on AAC.

I didn't realize Catalina had this issue until I switched my PXs from my iPad to my Mac and heard a huge difference in the balance between frequencies (equalizers off on both devices), so checked in my Bluetooth menu and found it was also to AAC, like your situation. For what it's worth, I also ran sudo defaults write bluetoothaudiod "Enable AptX codec" -bool true and with "Enable AAC codec -bool false (and restarted my Bluetooth module). They had no impact – but I think does the same as your approach.

However, when I'm using my PXs, it's to focus on work, not music. If sound quality really bothers you and you prefer aptX, I hope there's another solution! Maybe this is just a beta build bug!