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Bluetooth LE Adapters Don't Enable OS X Yosemite's 'Handoff' on Older Macs

floyd-pinkerton said:
[url=http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc176/Ian2TG/ScreenShot2014-06-18at233703_zps1c514905.png]Image[/URL]

My 2011 MacBook Pro 15 has a 2012 bluetooth/Airport card in it, as that was all I could get when I repaired it. I get this in System Profiler on 10.10 DP2, so it looks like some Macs will be somewhat upgradable hardware wise.

Interestingly I remember hacking Airdrop back on Lion on an upgraded 2006 iMac with a 2008 Airport card in (so I could have wireless n) it and that worked flawlessly!
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So, a $20 card adds handoff/continuity support. Sweet!
 
So everyone has to go out and by an up to date mac? Seems to me this idea of limiting new s/w features due to h/w (when it doesn't have to) is a dangerous game apple is playing. It will put people off the brand.

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luckydcxx said:
Time to upgrade people!
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Thats what apple wants. Not everyone has the cash to upgrade every time apple brings a new feature out. Have they not hear of the GFC?
 
Nermal said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the Hackintosh crew gets it working within a couple of weeks of release. From there, it should be easy to get it working on Apple hardware too.
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hehe That's what I'm hoping for, still need to get a new BT usb dongle
 
currocj said:
says the person with unlimited income?
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Best buy is selling a new MacBook Air for $649.

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Serban said:
i don't think for someone who bought a macbook pro 2011 is time to upgrade just for this feature. This is ugly marketing for Apple to sell more macs
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I don't think upgrading for 1 feature is a good idea, but I do think that a 3 year old piece of technology is outdated.
 
KaPOWitsCHRIS said:
As long as the SMS & Calls work over Wifi I'll be happy.
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For me as well (mid-2009 MBP owner here). When I saw the handoff between emails and safari I was like, "wow, that's kinda neat." When I saw the handoff with SMS and Calls I was like, "OMFGBBQ!"
 
If enough people file a report or spam them about Yosemite and a Mac not being able to use a USB Bluetooth 4.0 receiver to enable Handoff, they may reconsider. I don't think they would want angry customers.
 
captain kaos said:
So everyone has to go out and by an up to date mac? Seems to me this idea of limiting new s/w features due to h/w (when it doesn't have to) is a dangerous game apple is playing. It will put people off the brand.

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Thats what apple wants. Not everyone has the cash to upgrade every time apple brings a new feature out. Have they not hear of the GFC?
Click to expand...

Yup. Apple has been doing this for awhile. Like when FrontRow came out not supporting previous Macs that didn't have front facing IR ports (even though USB IR remotes were available and worked just fine at the time). Usually...there is a hack.
 
i don't get it...this crap is 100 percent gimmick...cool..yes...need...maybe.....required...um..nope

making this required to buy newer macs...sorry...but that is bs...
sure, they can do this method of business as they pleased...but morally or business ethically...that's totally wack.

they got money..so why are they hustling customers to buy newer mac each year?
 
Nickerbocker said:
Yup. Apple has been doing this for awhile. Like when FrontRow came out not supporting previous Macs that didn't have front facing IR ports (even though USB IR remotes were available and worked just fine at the time). Usually...there is a hack.
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Damn I miss Front Row. Why do you have to bring it up!
 
GhostRaider said:
If enough people file a report or spam them about Yosemite and a Mac not being able to use a USB Bluetooth 4.0 receiver to enable Handoff, they may reconsider. I don't think they would want angry customers.
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speak on it...how do we report it?
 
I currently have a late 2011 MBP. As long as SMS and Calls work then I'm fine with not having the other features. Definitely not buying a new Macbook this year just for those reasons.
 
captain kaos said:
So everyone has to go out and by an up to date mac? Seems to me this idea of limiting new s/w features due to h/w (when it doesn't have to) is a dangerous game apple is playing. It will put people off the brand.
Click to expand...

Microsoft has been doing this forever... people still buy Microsoft...

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iolinux333 said:
Originally Posted by luckydcxx

I don't think upgrading for 1 feature is a good idea, but I do think that a 3 year old piece of technology is outdated.

I think thinking like that is bordering on nuts.
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not sure how this is bordering on nuts... its a fact and he is 100% correct... technology is outdated well before it is 3 years old, technology evolves quickly.

I think you may be confusing outdated with obsolete - outdated just means it is no longer among the most advanced technology available. Obsolete means there is no use for it (and actually a lot of technology becomes obsolete just as quickly as this).

Same is true for cars... a big part of the reason a new car is suddenly worth less as soon as you drive it off the lot.
 
Did anyone bother to check the wifi chipsets ? They are a limiting factor for AirDrop support on IOS devices and could certainly be relevant here.
 
MacRumors said:
Apple is instead enforcing a stricter requirement for built-in Bluetooth LE support, perhaps by defining specific models that are able to use the feature.
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has anyone tested changing the SMBIOS to change the model of your mac and see if it works with a Bluetooth LE Dongle?

Or see if changing it disables it on one of the systems it works by default on...
 
luckydcxx said:
Time to upgrade people!
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Not everyone can afford to buy a new Apple computer every two years you know...

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bushido said:
but mac os x isnt a closed system like iOS is. shouldnt it be possible to simply enable it using some 3rd party trick in the future? (not that i need it, mine is supported but still wondering)
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At this point I think Apple will have to explain WHY Continuity features aren't supported on the older machines. Our theory was that it required BT 4.0, but we now see that enabling this on an older (and otherwise Yosemite compatible) machine doesn't do the trick. Again, Apple doesn't have a history of blatantly leaving out older devices without a concrete reason. I'm very curious to hear what it is, or better yet, to see them relax the spec and be more inclusive for Continuity support.

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acedout said:
It just goes to prove that Apple don't like people hanging on to old hardware for more than a few years.
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No, at this point it only goes to show that people like to jump to conclusions and accuse Apple of a lot of things they have no basis for. This is Apple, not Samsung. They will not lower their standards to support older devices, but they are unlikely to drop older devices purely for a profit motive.
 
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