I really wish Apple would stop with their endless regression they have in software. No lie, there seems to be a bunch of morons running the show IMHO.
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802.11ac and BT 4.2 are here for unibody MBPs and A1342 MB!
- Thread starter troop231
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I'm sorry but that's crap. They did this to fix bugs, not to be compatible with your cards.
Not really. Look at the software QA as a whole; iOS is the same story. The cards have always been solid and are also used in the Retina machines.
With APFS and Time Machine, if WiFi doesn't work because of the supplemental update, you can do a complete restore of your System Drive in less than 5 minutes (takes about 2 minutes for me).
Ok, for those who do not know about APFS Snapshots, now's a good time to learn.
APFS Snapshots thread
This is possible because Time Machine writes a Snapshot at the beginning of each backup.
For instant restore to work, the following conditions must be met: You must have Time Machine active, you cannot have another OS visible to your System (if installed on a removable, just disconnect) and you must restore from a Snapshot written within the previous 24 hours.
If you miss any of those three or are using cloneware, a System Restore is still possible but it will take many hours, not a couple of minutes.
Ok, for those who do not know about APFS Snapshots, now's a good time to learn.
APFS Snapshots thread
This is possible because Time Machine writes a Snapshot at the beginning of each backup.
For instant restore to work, the following conditions must be met: You must have Time Machine active, you cannot have another OS visible to your System (if installed on a removable, just disconnect) and you must restore from a Snapshot written within the previous 24 hours.
If you miss any of those three or are using cloneware, a System Restore is still possible but it will take many hours, not a couple of minutes.
You missed my point.
By the way, my WiFi works great after today's update with your card on my 2012 MacBook Pro i7.
But they aren't "their cards" it's just an Apple OEM card in an adapter...
We're having similar issues on a MacBook Pro Retina 15" Mid 2012 with an upgraded card, even before installing yesterday's supplemental update. After resetting SMC and NVRAM the issues are resolved for a while, however not permanently. So far it is unclear to us what triggers them to reoccur.
Does a reset solve anything on the affected device? I'm postponing the update on my 15" Mid 2012 Unibody MacBook Pro with @troop231's card because it is still my daily device, so I cannot test this there.
Does a reset solve anything on the affected device? I'm postponing the update on my 15" Mid 2012 Unibody MacBook Pro with @troop231's card because it is still my daily device, so I cannot test this there.
Unfortunate comment. They are not "his cards". They are the same Apple uses. And would not be the first time Apple use an update just for bang out certain hardware.
Hello @troop231! Just letting you know that I have received the card(s) and am thrilled with the results! Was worried initially when Wi-Fi networks could not be found in Internet Recovery Mode, but somewhere along the updates to Catalina, driver support was added within macOS.
I attached the card with a command strip after letting it fall into place from where the ribbon cable reached. And used some double stick 3M tape along the front of the Disk Drive for the extra coaxial cable.
Outside of someone (potentially, have never seen) offering a risky BGA CPU swap to a 3840QM, I predict this to be the final upgrade for the great 2012 MacBook Pro. And it is amazing to know that WiFi/BT will no longer be an issue inside Big Sur.
Thank you for your work.
FYI, the QR code on the packaging did not work for me. Took me to a blank page on my iPhone XS.
I attached the card with a command strip after letting it fall into place from where the ribbon cable reached. And used some double stick 3M tape along the front of the Disk Drive for the extra coaxial cable.
Outside of someone (potentially, have never seen) offering a risky BGA CPU swap to a 3840QM, I predict this to be the final upgrade for the great 2012 MacBook Pro. And it is amazing to know that WiFi/BT will no longer be an issue inside Big Sur.
Thank you for your work.
FYI, the QR code on the packaging did not work for me. Took me to a blank page on my iPhone XS.
Attachments
What do you mean by Big Sur exactly? That's interesting on the QR code; we tested each of them with an iPhone X.
Wasn't aware that drivers for internet recovery/EFI boot are in Catalina.
Thank you again!
Equally curious about Big Sur.What do you mean by Big Sur exactly? That's interesting on the QR code; we tested each of them with an iPhone X.
Wasn't aware that drivers for internet recovery/EFI boot are in Catalina.
Thank you again!
Can confirm Internet Recovery over WiFI on my 2012 15" — I, too, am running Catalina. Funny but I had just accepted that it wouldn't work so I didn't bother testing till just now.
QR code gave me a blank page, too. I found it easily enough on your web site and was good. Being an experienced Mac tech, the only thing I really needed to know was that the old bracket was no longer being used. Having only one working arm, that was great news—those tiny screws in the bracket are a real PIA.
I've been working on Macs since the Plus and I'm comfortable with what I wrote.
Since some have a problem and others don't, the likelihood that it's an old bit of code or unsupported .kxt causing the problem is very high. Apple Support is very good at finding the conflicts and helping remove the offending code.
Yesterday's update fixed a couple of issues on my new iMac Pro. That's what I needed it to do. It didn't cause issues with my 2012 but that's ok. I'm entitled to free tech support.
One thing Apple has always been good with is that OS issues are entitled to free tech support—as long as it's a supported MacOS on supported hardware. With Catalina, the 2012s are entitled to it; 2011 and earlier are not. That isn't such a big deal as the techs don't care if you've been successful in initiating the call but if it requires escalation, that won't happen. If necessary, engineering can install a tracker to find the exact cause and help you run it down. Again, a 2012 gets this 2nd or 3rd level while a 2010-11 will not if running Mojave or Catalina.
BTW, High Sierra tech support officially runs out the day that Big Sur ships. 3 years of OS support is mandated by California law and many international agreements. This applies to late 2009–2011 Macs running OS 10.13 only. Schedule calls through Apple's web site and they'll call you. Actually, OS support runs out a few days after Apple sends letters and email to large corporate and government users announcing the date (I'm copied on it and it hasn't been sent). I don't know if Apple will still accept support calls on HS after Big Sur ships.
I've been reading up. It's possible to install Big Sur on these with a patch but wireless isn't supposed to work. It may or may not be a firmware issue with the stock cards but the only way to know is to try it and see what happens with these.
Big Sur on Older Macs
With APFS Snapshots and Time Machine as I outlined earlier, the only thing I have to lose is a bit of time. This was my Catalina test machine also — my routine was to install 10.15, see what didn't work yet then roll back to Mojave via Snapshots. I did this a few dozen times before I considered my apps/upgrades and 10.15 "done" enough to make the update permanent.
I learned the hard way about the 24 hour window when I missed it once and the resulting Time Machine Restore took over 10 hours instead of 2 minutes — oops!
Not gonna do this till Big Sur ships. Although I'm part of the developer program, I don't install Apple betaware anymore unless I'm being paid—not that curious.
If wireless is really dead on these past Catalina, then I'll make the decision to roll back to Mojave on the MBP or to High Sierra on one of the 2009–11 iMacs I have around here. One of my old bread-and-butter apps never made it to 64 bit and I've not found a replacement I like as much.
First world issues, I know but I'm ok with that.
Big Sur on Older Macs
With APFS Snapshots and Time Machine as I outlined earlier, the only thing I have to lose is a bit of time. This was my Catalina test machine also — my routine was to install 10.15, see what didn't work yet then roll back to Mojave via Snapshots. I did this a few dozen times before I considered my apps/upgrades and 10.15 "done" enough to make the update permanent.
I learned the hard way about the 24 hour window when I missed it once and the resulting Time Machine Restore took over 10 hours instead of 2 minutes — oops!
Not gonna do this till Big Sur ships. Although I'm part of the developer program, I don't install Apple betaware anymore unless I'm being paid—not that curious.
If wireless is really dead on these past Catalina, then I'll make the decision to roll back to Mojave on the MBP or to High Sierra on one of the 2009–11 iMacs I have around here. One of my old bread-and-butter apps never made it to 64 bit and I've not found a replacement I like as much.
First world issues, I know but I'm ok with that.
Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know of a problem I had, and fixed, with my new 802.11ac card in case anyone else is having problems with "Bluetooth: not available" after installing it.
I'm using a mid-2010 MBP 15" running High Sierra, and got one of the new cards from the most recent batch. Physical install was quick and worked fine. Wifi was on and working right off the bat. Good and fast, no issues there.
The problem I had was that Bluetooth would work for a while after a restart, but then after some time would stop responding. Shortly thereafter I would get the "squiggly line" through the Bluetooth symbol in the menu bar, and the message "Bluetooth: Not available" when I click it. This was especially common after a long period of sleep. Notably, I didn't have this problem with my OEM BT 2.0 card, so I thought it must be related to the new one. I tried manually resetting the Bluetooth module, safe boot, NVRAM and SMC resets, removing the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file from /Library/Preferences/, etc. etc. etc. No joy.
Turns out it wasn't the card - it was the Android File Transfer app! At last I found this discussion thread which tipped me off (and includes detailed steps to solve): https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8631469?answerId=8631469021#8631469021
I was very skeptical, but after deleting the app and associated files (which never really worked well anyway), it's been two days including long periods of sleep and everything is working as intended. Dunno why, but that solved it. Maybe it will work for you too.
Thanks Troop231 and Subtle.Design for a great product that keeps my decade-plus machine working well beyond its planned service life! Cheers!
I'm using a mid-2010 MBP 15" running High Sierra, and got one of the new cards from the most recent batch. Physical install was quick and worked fine. Wifi was on and working right off the bat. Good and fast, no issues there.
The problem I had was that Bluetooth would work for a while after a restart, but then after some time would stop responding. Shortly thereafter I would get the "squiggly line" through the Bluetooth symbol in the menu bar, and the message "Bluetooth: Not available" when I click it. This was especially common after a long period of sleep. Notably, I didn't have this problem with my OEM BT 2.0 card, so I thought it must be related to the new one. I tried manually resetting the Bluetooth module, safe boot, NVRAM and SMC resets, removing the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file from /Library/Preferences/, etc. etc. etc. No joy.
Turns out it wasn't the card - it was the Android File Transfer app! At last I found this discussion thread which tipped me off (and includes detailed steps to solve): https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8631469?answerId=8631469021#8631469021
I was very skeptical, but after deleting the app and associated files (which never really worked well anyway), it's been two days including long periods of sleep and everything is working as intended. Dunno why, but that solved it. Maybe it will work for you too.
Thanks Troop231 and Subtle.Design for a great product that keeps my decade-plus machine working well beyond its planned service life! Cheers!
Well, that's the point I was trying to tell you. @dosdude1 and his inspired followers offer OS support via patches to unsupported machines. They used to have a site rmc-team.ch/home but it recently went down...The GitHub repository is still live though.
These 2012 MacBooks are fully compatible with these patches, except for the Airport card. With your card, this hurdle has disappeared!
As far back as MacBook 4,1 can currently run Catalina. I've done it, and yes it is surprisingly usable. Also have a 2010 MacBook Pro running Mojave and am very impressed.
We don't recommend running any patched OS versions for these older machines.
Hello again. I was able to pick up a card even though I missed the last batch (I'm sure you'll remember my sulking..) (Thank you, @0423MAC!)
I wanted to verify one point before I do the install. The target machine is an Early 2011 MBP 13" (8,1/2.7/i7) and I had previously stated I am stuck on Sierra due to some older software that I still need access to. I've now confirmed that I can update to High Sierra with some tweaks to those apps (not patching the OS but tweaks to the older software I need to use).
Based on how I read your instructions, it would appear that it's safest to do the OS upgrade and sort out all issues prior to installing the card. I just wanted to verify that's the case.
Thank you!
(Thank you, @0423MAC!)I wanted to verify one point before I do the install. The target machine is an Early 2011 MBP 13" (8,1/2.7/i7) and I had previously stated I am stuck on Sierra due to some older software that I still need access to. I've now confirmed that I can update to High Sierra with some tweaks to those apps (not patching the OS but tweaks to the older software I need to use).
Based on how I read your instructions, it would appear that it's safest to do the OS upgrade and sort out all issues prior to installing the card. I just wanted to verify that's the case.
Thank you!
One of my macbook 17 2011 runs a patched Mojave and runs like a charm. Also patched Catalina. Perfect. Just in case anyone wants to try. When a full installer of Catalina with the last Security Update is realeased, I will tell you how it goes.
Hello again. I was able to pick up a card even though I missed the last batch (I'm sure you'll remember my sulking..)
I wanted to verify one point before I do the install. The target machine is an Early 2011 MBP 13" (8,1/2.7/i7) and I had previously stated I am stuck on Sierra due to some older software that I still need access to. I've now confirmed that I can update to High Sierra with some tweaks to those apps (not patching the OS but tweaks to the older software I need to use).
Based on how I read your instructions, it would appear that it's safest to do the OS upgrade and sort out all issues prior to installing the card. I just wanted to verify that's the case.
Thank you!
That should be good! I would install the card before installing 3rd party apps and mods first, that way you will know if any of them break things.