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Bluetooth LE Adapters Don't Enable OS X Yosemite's 'Handoff' on Older Macs
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would you recommend thishttp://www.ebay.com/itm/BroadCom-Apple-BCM4331-BCM20702-BT-WLAN-Card-A1278-A1286-A1297-661-5867-607-8792-/120893270586?pt=US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item1c25ccea3a for a early 2011 macbook pro 13 in?
do you have any tips?
I'm finding an unsettling degree of ambiguity regarding part numbers and which got BT 4.0 when.
Basically, you need to cross reference from Everymac.com to see when a particular model got 4.0.
I tried this with MBA which got 4.0 in 2011 refresh.
Then I went to Ifixit and checked which card they list for 2010 vs 2011 vs 2012. They seem to list same card for all 3 and don't clarify which BT it uses. This is probably because up until a couple weeks ago, nobody really cared.
Oddly it appears that they don't list specific parts for those boards.
Best case scenario would be to use a wireless AC card along with BT 4.0 but I think for the MBPs that have cards with little push in plug on one side of board (vs edge connector like in latest ones) you can only hope for BT 4.0 but won't find Wireless AC.
The other thing to look for is quantity and size of antennae connections. Be aware that there are 2 size antennae connectors. I have not actually held the older style MBP card so I can't speak for those but I know that iMac card in MP works because it uses MHF connector while the card in my rMBP has same connecting slot but uses a much smaller MHF4 antennae connection.
Ideally we should have a thread with just Apple part numbers, which ones are BT 2.1 EDR vs which ones are BT 4.0. In addition, which ones are Wireless N vs which ones are Wireless AC.
Basically, you need to cross reference from Everymac.com to see when a particular model got 4.0.
I tried this with MBA which got 4.0 in 2011 refresh.
Then I went to Ifixit and checked which card they list for 2010 vs 2011 vs 2012. They seem to list same card for all 3 and don't clarify which BT it uses. This is probably because up until a couple weeks ago, nobody really cared.
Oddly it appears that they don't list specific parts for those boards.
Best case scenario would be to use a wireless AC card along with BT 4.0 but I think for the MBPs that have cards with little push in plug on one side of board (vs edge connector like in latest ones) you can only hope for BT 4.0 but won't find Wireless AC.
The other thing to look for is quantity and size of antennae connections. Be aware that there are 2 size antennae connectors. I have not actually held the older style MBP card so I can't speak for those but I know that iMac card in MP works because it uses MHF connector while the card in my rMBP has same connecting slot but uses a much smaller MHF4 antennae connection.
Ideally we should have a thread with just Apple part numbers, which ones are BT 2.1 EDR vs which ones are BT 4.0. In addition, which ones are Wireless N vs which ones are Wireless AC.
I believe they list the same card because they use the same chip for WiFi, with a different BT chip depending on the model year. For instance, the early 2011 unibody MBP uses a BCM4331 for WiFi and BCM2070 for BT. The mid 2012 unibody MBP uses the same BCM4331 for WiFi, but now has a BCM20702 for BT 4.0.
You can check iFixit's teardowns, they usually list the parts numbers for each chip.
All the parts I need to attempt to upgrade my mid-2011 21.5" iMac to BT 4.0/AC arrived today, however I'm out of town until tomorrow.
One thing I'm curious about heading into this is antenna compatibility. The antenna I ordered to swap out with the Bluetooth antenna was a replacement left-side wifi antenna, as it has a longer wire which will be necessary to route to the bluetooth antenna connection on the new AirPort card. I'm assuming that the bluetooth and wifi antenna bars are identical, as I couldn't find anything to differentiate them upon visual inspection last week aside from the cable lengths, but I have on solid evidence to support this theory past visual inspection. I also don't know if they're tuned differently as some previous wifi antennas had to be replaced in pairs on older Macs. If anyone has any insight on this, I'd appreciate it.
Worst case scenario, I'll simply extend the cable on the current bluetooth antenna with a pig nose male-female or possibly by soldering in the longer cable from the replacement left side antenna I bought.
Can't wait to get this going. I'll be sure to document all steps and report back.
One thing I'm curious about heading into this is antenna compatibility. The antenna I ordered to swap out with the Bluetooth antenna was a replacement left-side wifi antenna, as it has a longer wire which will be necessary to route to the bluetooth antenna connection on the new AirPort card. I'm assuming that the bluetooth and wifi antenna bars are identical, as I couldn't find anything to differentiate them upon visual inspection last week aside from the cable lengths, but I have on solid evidence to support this theory past visual inspection. I also don't know if they're tuned differently as some previous wifi antennas had to be replaced in pairs on older Macs. If anyone has any insight on this, I'd appreciate it.
Worst case scenario, I'll simply extend the cable on the current bluetooth antenna with a pig nose male-female or possibly by soldering in the longer cable from the replacement left side antenna I bought.
Can't wait to get this going. I'll be sure to document all steps and report back.
Please do. I don't think I will attempt internal upgrades myself, but it is good to have options for the future in case I change my mind.
I got my iogear today, same thing happen here, no handoff no continuity, waiting for update
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My just tried this command in my 2010 macbook air with a iogear bluetooth adapter installed, but unfortunately, doesn't work
I have a Mid 2010 Macbook Pro 17" and am hoping to upgrade with bluetooth 4 by using the following Broadcom Chipset BCM4331, ordered from here:
(http://www.os-store.com/broadcom-ap...8-a1286-a1297-661-5867-607-7291-607-8792.html)
I know this card has 1 more antenna connectors than my macbook has antenna's to connect - not sure what the effect of this will be, was planning on just not using the J0 socket - perhaps if necessary then disabling 3x MIMO somewhere in software? If so Perhaps I should connect J0 & J1 instead, anyone know whether this card can be forced into 2x MIMo and if so which 2 of the 3 antenna connectors I should use?
(http://www.os-store.com/broadcom-ap...8-a1286-a1297-661-5867-607-7291-607-8792.html)
I know this card has 1 more antenna connectors than my macbook has antenna's to connect - not sure what the effect of this will be, was planning on just not using the J0 socket - perhaps if necessary then disabling 3x MIMO somewhere in software? If so Perhaps I should connect J0 & J1 instead, anyone know whether this card can be forced into 2x MIMo and if so which 2 of the 3 antenna connectors I should use?
Any updates? I am also monitoring another thread where someone replaced the wifi card with a 2013 version in an adaptor, no bluetooth from it, but did get ac wifi (which may be needed for some features after all, although that is tbd...)
What thread is this? I am looking into replacing the wifi/bluetooth card on my MacBook Pro (Mid 2010) with a newer wifi/bluetooth card and want to make sure I get the right card.
This thread here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1748061/
User dxnmb5205 reported that he got the ac wifi fitted and working, but not the bluetooth.
Of course, things are moving fast, with the latest DP 3 it looks like some hacking is required, but by doing that you can use wifi N vs wifi AC. (Still need apple official bluetooth 4.0).
It looks like once some things are sorted out, it may be possible to upgrade without having to crack open the iMac computer.
See this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1747240/
Any additional upgrade steps?
I recently added this same card to my 15" 2011 MBP and the System Profile still says the old chipset. Is there any additional steps required to upgrade the new chip to enable BLE and recognize the new card/chipset?
I recently added this same card to my 15" 2011 MBP and the System Profile still says the old chipset. Is there any additional steps required to upgrade the new chip to enable BLE and recognize the new card/chipset?
Hi man i have MBP2010 and i have bought bluetooth 4.0 dongle. Soon it will arrive to me and i'll check and will post here about results
hello all
I found this great website looking on Google for a solution to use handoff on my macbook pro 2010 (6.2 i5 2.4ghz)
it seems that the internal card is quite different than the one that it's upgradable on the mac book pro 2011 (the 2010 got only 3 antennas connectors instead of 4 on the 2011 models...)
does anyone have found a solution about this? can the macbook pro upgrade its internal Bluetooth card to the 4.0 and run handsoff on Yosemite?
thanks!
I found this great website looking on Google for a solution to use handoff on my macbook pro 2010 (6.2 i5 2.4ghz)
it seems that the internal card is quite different than the one that it's upgradable on the mac book pro 2011 (the 2010 got only 3 antennas connectors instead of 4 on the 2011 models...)
does anyone have found a solution about this? can the macbook pro upgrade its internal Bluetooth card to the 4.0 and run handsoff on Yosemite?
thanks!