Air Drop on unsupported devices

[bmac89]

Hello,

I realise my old iMac (model 9,1 early 2009) does not meet the official requirements for air drop but I came across an article that has steps to activate airdrop (using terminal command) even on unsupported macs back to 2008.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/16/enable-airdrop-ethernet-and-unsupported-macs/

I realise it is an old article and maybe the newer versions of OS X no longer have this workaround.


So my iMac (running El Capitan) already has the air drop icon in finder by default but of course does not work. I followed the steps in the article but I still can not see my iPad listed under air drop (iPad Pro iOS 11 beta), nor can I see my Mac on the iPad.

I don’t hold much hope of getting this working but If I know others have got this method to work I can persist and possibly narrow down a solution.

So has anyone successfully used this method to enable air drop on unsupported devices?

Thanks

 

[iModFrenzy]

I believe it depends on your wifi card, which one do you have?

My MBP 2010 doesn't airdrop with my iPhone 6S however it detects my 2015 MBA just fine. I read somewhere that you need a AC wifi card, which my MBP 2010 doesn't have but the MBA does.

 

[bmac89]

I believe it depends on your wifi card, which one do you have?

My MBP 2010 doesn't airdrop with my iPhone 6S however it detects my 2015 MBA just fine. I read somewhere that you need a AC wifi card, which my MBP 2010 doesn't have but the MBA does.

Thanks for the reply.

I have an early 2009 iMac (9,1) with an AirPort Extreme card (0x14E4, 0x8E).

Under system information > network > wifi it says AirDrop: supported
Not sure if this is just after entering the terminal command or whether it has always said that.

 

[iModFrenzy]

Thanks for the reply.

I have an early 2009 iMac (9,1) with an AirPort Extreme card (0x14E4, 0x8E).

Under system information > network > wifi it says AirDrop: supported
Not sure if this is just after entering the terminal command or whether it has always said that.

(Removed it cause it has my IP/Mac Address)
Could you tell me what Support PHY Modes there are? This is a screenshot from my MBA that Airdrops fine with my iOS 11 iPhone 6S, my MBP 2010 only says A/B/G/N but can't do it to my iPhone 6S(has a AirDrop folder though as if I can)

 

[bmac89]

View attachment 711170
Could you tell me what Support PHY Modes there are?

802.11 a/b/g/n

 

[iModFrenzy]

802.11 a/b/g/n

Just like my MBP 2010, no AC wifi.

You might be able to upgrade the wifi card to an AC wifi card, that should allow you to airdrop. I could try testing the theory on my iMac Mid-2007, just got to find a wifi card.

 

[bmac89]

Just like my MBP 2010, no AC wifi.

You might be able to upgrade the wifi card to an AC wifi card, that should allow you to airdrop. I could try testing the theory on my iMac Mid-2007, just got to find a wifi card.

Thanks heaps for your help.

I don’t think upgrading the wifi card would be worthwhile? Maybe it will work as is between my old iMac and MacBook (both non-AC wifi cards)? ...but I would need to update OS X on my MacBook first.

In the meantime I have found some air drop alternatives. So far I have tried intashare airdrop which works with wifi & Bluetooth between iPad and iMac but I’m only using the free trial app on Mac.

I wonder if anyone has any recommendations for air drop alternatives? (preferably free but paid ok as well)

Thanks again

 

[ernest_mecca]

This is a little late but hopefully it helps as well http://www.idownloadblog.com/2015/06/23/how-to-mac-compatible-airdrop/
There is a section in this article highlighting not only which devices are airdrop compatible, but also what devices they can airdrop with.
I believe airdrop is more of a hardware-dependent feature, but I’m sure there could be a number of workarounds.