Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
here as well...Airdrop is not working even between 2 macs : one with yosemite and the other with maveriks
 

GlenK

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2013
1,451
898
St. Augustine, FL
I have a late 2011 MBP and Airdrop is not working either. I thought that feature would work on older machines.

Does the HandOff/Continuity deal with older mchs also affect AirDrop??
 

KLinPA

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2012
109
0
PA
iPhone 6 and AirDrop not working. Also can't get MarkUp to work either.

Late 2011 MBP and I thought these would work.

Your computer is not compatible to AirDrop to the iPhone. It only works with Macs 2012 and later. Airdrop will work to other Macs. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6510

Check to see that you have the ability to share in Safari. Also check System preferences-extensions-actions to see if you have Mark up. If you are not seeing sharing options and you can't use markup look at this for the fix http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6545?viewlocale=en_US

For AirDrop issue with Yosemite and Mavericks:
Make sure wifi and Bluetooth are on. Make sure you are not blocking the connection or that the other computer is prevented from being seen, contacts vs everyone. Check firewall settings. In yosemite's AirDrop screen select "don't see who you are looking for" and pick "older Mac". Restart both if needed.
 
Last edited:

GlenK

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2013
1,451
898
St. Augustine, FL
Your computer is not compatible to AirDrop to the iPhone. It only works with Macs 2012 and later. Airdrop will work to other Macs. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6510

Check to see that you have the ability to share in Safari. Also check System preferences-extensions-actions to see if you have Mark up. If you are not seeing sharing options and you can't use markup look at this for the fix http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6545?viewlocale=en_US

Thank you. and no I don't have MarkUp either. It surprises me that so many of these don't work on a less than 3 year old machine.

Appreciate your time for the feedback!!!
 

KLinPA

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2012
109
0
PA
Glad I could help! Try the link for ht6545 for the fix to the shareable/markup issue. I had it on my 2012 MacBook Pro. The terminal command fixed it!
 

GlenK

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2013
1,451
898
St. Augustine, FL
Your computer is not compatible to AirDrop to the iPhone. It only works with Macs 2012 and later. Airdrop will work to other Macs. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6510

Check to see that you have the ability to share in Safari. Also check System preferences-extensions-actions to see if you have Mark up. If you are not seeing sharing options and you can't use markup look at this for the fix http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6545?viewlocale=en_US

For AirDrop issue with Yosemite and Mavericks:
Make sure wifi and Bluetooth are on. Make sure you are not blocking the connection or that the other computer is prevented from being seen, contacts vs everyone. Check firewall settings. In yosemite's AirDrop screen select "don't see who you are looking for" and pick "older Mac". Restart both if needed.

Thanks again for this post. Got it all done and only AirDrop is not working now. My mch is on the system requirements list so it should work. I see many others are having issues with AD as well.
 

KLinPA

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2012
109
0
PA
GlenK - you posted before you have a 2011 Mac. AirDrop will not work with your IPhone.

Are you having an issue seeing other Macs?
 

GlenK

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2013
1,451
898
St. Augustine, FL
GlenK - you posted before you have a 2011 Mac. AirDrop will not work with your IPhone.

Are you having an issue seeing other Macs?

I don't know I don't have another mac to test it with. I have a iPhone 6 and my wife has a 5S and we can use AirDrop with each other.

I'm going to try a friend of mine that is pretty proficient with this stuff and see if he'll help me do the bluetooth upgrade to get handoff/continuity. At that time maybe he can help me with AD. . On that link you gave me before it shows that MBP has to be 2012 or later model to use AD between iPhone and a Mac. (I thought it was 2008 or later) See below:

In order to transfer files between a Mac and and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed and your Mac needs to be a 2012 or later model. To transfer files between two Mac computers, you need one of the Mac models listed below and OS X Lion or later.

MacBook Pro (Late 2008 or newer)*
MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)*
iMac (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2009 with AirPort Extreme card, or Mid 2010)
*The MacBook Pro (17-Inch Late 2008) and the white MacBook (Late 2008) do not support AirDrop.

I guess I'm screwed unless that bluetooth updates fixes AD too. Hard to believe a less than 3 year old mac isn't included in these features. Mine is a 17" too which I love!! Oh well...Love Yosemite anyway!!
 

Oohara

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2012
3,050
2,423
I can't get it to work properly either.

I can transfer files fine from Mac to iPad Air, but not the other way around. The iPad won't find my Mac.

I've tried restarting both devices several times, turned wifi and bluetooth off and back on, logged out and back in to iCloud, everything I could think of. Still doesn't work.

Anyone else?
 

benji888

macrumors 68000
Sep 27, 2006
1,889
410
United States
I have a late 2011 MBP and Airdrop is not working either. I thought that feature would work on older machines.

Does the HandOff/Continuity deal with older mchs also affect AirDrop??
iPhone 6 and AirDrop not working. Also can't get MarkUp to work either.

Late 2011 MBP and I thought these would work.
I heard this worked in early betas of yosemite, but, things changed by the time it was finished.

You need to have a 2012 or newer MBP, one with Bluetooth 4.0 LE built-in (not an adapter), (and wifi direct).

my 2010 MBP won't do it either.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6337
 

twintin

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2012
744
274
Sweden
I can't get it to work properly either.

I can transfer files fine from Mac to iPad Air, but not the other way around. The iPad won't find my Mac.

I've tried restarting both devices several times, turned wifi and bluetooth off and back on, logged out and back in to iCloud, everything I could think of. Still doesn't work.

Anyone else?

Same here.
 

Oohara

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2012
3,050
2,423
Same here.

Update: I got it to work.

My Mac found the iPad the second I went into Sharing > Bluetooth Sharing > Bluetooth Preferences. I didn't even have to change any settings. My guess is that the iPad finally saw the Mac when the Mac pinged the iPad to update the 'Devices' list.

Eventually though I had to turn on Bluetooth Sharing (When receiving items: Never Allow/When other devices browse: Never Allow) to get the connection to work without opening Bluetooth Settings each time.
 

dannys1

macrumors 68040
Sep 19, 2007
3,663
6,799
UK
Update: I got it to work.

My Mac found the iPad the second I went into Sharing > Bluetooth Sharing > Bluetooth Preferences. I didn't even have to change any settings. My guess is that the iPad finally saw the Mac when the Mac pinged the iPad to update the 'Devices' list.

Eventually though I had to turn on Bluetooth Sharing (When receiving items: Never Allow/When other devices browse: Never Allow) to get the connection to work without opening Bluetooth Settings each time.

Don't worry, it'll break again soon, as soon as you restart either device. Happens all the time just when you think you've cracked it. Its so so delicate.
 

Oohara

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2012
3,050
2,423
Don't worry, it'll break again soon, as soon as you restart either device. Happens all the time just when you think you've cracked it. Its so so delicate.

It seems a bit delicate yeah but it's quite manageable now. I restarted the iPad, at first it worked but after a minute the Mac disappeared from the iPad's AirDrop. I opened a Finder window and it showed up immediately again, I hadn't even chosen 'AirDrop'. I then clicked AirDrop and the connection was lost. Opened BT Prefs from the menu bar and it came back. Since then I only have to open the AirDrop window on my Mac to get it to work.

So basically, after a restart I'd only have to open BT prefs once and then AirDrop window on the Mac whenever I want to do a transfer. I can live with that.
 

dannys1

macrumors 68040
Sep 19, 2007
3,663
6,799
UK
It seems a bit delicate yeah but it's quite manageable now. I restarted the iPad, at first it worked but after a minute the Mac disappeared from the iPad's AirDrop. I opened a Finder window and it showed up immediately again, I hadn't even chosen 'AirDrop'. I then clicked AirDrop and the connection was lost. Opened BT Prefs from the menu bar and it came back. Since then I only have to open the AirDrop window on my Mac to get it to work.

So basically, after a restart I'd only have to open BT prefs once and then AirDrop window on the Mac whenever I want to do a transfer. I can live with that.

Thing is, with Instashare you don't even have to do that. The 3rd party app which has allowed you to do it for 2 years now :/

The airdrop flakey ness is combined with the instant hotspot flakeyness and the handoff flakeyness. Its all related to Bluetooth LE which seems quite unreliable, i'm guessing Apple can fix that though as its reliable between iOS devices, so must be a Yosemite bug.
 

PhaseOne

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2014
10
0
Portugal
Update: I got it to work.

My Mac found the iPad the second I went into Sharing > Bluetooth Sharing > Bluetooth Preferences. I didn't even have to change any settings. My guess is that the iPad finally saw the Mac when the Mac pinged the iPad to update the 'Devices' list.

Eventually though I had to turn on Bluetooth Sharing (When receiving items: Never Allow/When other devices browse: Never Allow) to get the connection to work without opening Bluetooth Settings each time.

This solved the problem for me, thank you. :)
 

mdwsta4

macrumors 65816
Jul 23, 2007
1,300
175
Ugh. No Air Drop, no Handoff. These were two main reasons I updated to Yosemite, but on a 2011 MBP neither are supported. It's a 3 year old machine!! Give me a break Apple. Handoff requiring BT 4.0... okay, maybe I can get on board with that. What does Air Drop require? You need to have both wifi and bluetooth connected. You're telling me neither can accept files from my phone?! BS.



In order to transfer files between a Mac and and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed and your Mac needs to be a 2012 or later model. To transfer files between two Mac computers, you need one of the Mac models listed below and OS X Lion or later.

MacBook Pro (Late 2008 or newer)*
MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)*
iMac (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2009 with AirPort Extreme card, or Mid 2010)
*The MacBook Pro (17-Inch Late 2008) and the white MacBook (Late 2008) do not support AirDrop.
 

KLinPA

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2012
109
0
PA
Ugh. No Air Drop, no Handoff. These were two main reasons I updated to Yosemite, but on a 2011 MBP neither are supported. It's a 3 year old machine!! Give me a break Apple. Handoff requiring BT 4.0... okay, maybe I can get on board with that. What does Air Drop require? You need to have both wifi and bluetooth connected. You're telling me neither can accept files from my phone?! BS.



In order to transfer files between a Mac and and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed and your Mac needs to be a 2012 or later model. To transfer files between two Mac computers, you need one of the Mac models listed below and OS X Lion or later.

MacBook Pro (Late 2008 or newer)*
MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)*
iMac (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2009 with AirPort Extreme card, or Mid 2010)
*The MacBook Pro (17-Inch Late 2008) and the white MacBook (Late 2008) do not support AirDrop.


The 2012 amd later Macs have Bluetooth hardware that supports Bluetooth LE which is needed for the iOS Airdrop to work. There is a way to update your equipment and/or tweak the software to get it to work. Check this out from UncleSchnitty: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1803192/ You may only need the tweak.
 

minicard

macrumors regular
Oct 31, 2014
241
86
Oregon
The 2012 amd later Macs have Bluetooth hardware that supports Bluetooth LE which is needed for the iOS Airdrop to work. There is a way to update your equipment and/or tweak the software to get it to work. Check this out from UncleSchnitty: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1803192/ You may only need the tweak.

I can confirm that this technique works. I used it both on my mid 2011 mac mini and my early 2011 13" MBP. I can now do Airdrop between IOS and Mac.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.