Got to the bottom of this. Contrary to the popular belief a macOS installation is NOT required so this should work great after macOS is no longer supported on these Intel iMacs.
Let Windows 11 install normally. Once you have gone through the bootcamp process it will ask you to restart.
Do NOT let Windows update.
Once you restart open Device Manager:
On the device manager menu bar click "View" and then "Show Hidden Devices"
You should see the following:
Under "Other Devices" you should see TWO "Unknown Devices" - Click Uninstall Device on BOTH of them. If you see the option to "Attempt to remove the driver for this device" click that option.
Under "System Devices" you should see - Intel LPSS: UART #0 - 06A8 AND Intel LPSS: UART #1 - 06A9 - Right click and uninstall device on BOTH of them. If you see the option to "Attempt to remove the driver for this device" click that option.
On the device manager menu bar click "Action" and then "Scan for Hardware Changes"
Under "Other Devices" you should now see two new "PCI Simple Communication Controller" devices. Right click each one - click update driver - Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer - double click "show all devices" - click "have disk" - navigate to your bootcamp folder -> $WinPEDriver$ -> IntelSerialIO -> iaLPSS2-UART2_CNL.inf - click "Open" then click OK
You should now be back to the screen that will read either one of these:
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A8
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A9
Make sure it is highlighted and then click "Next"
Windows should now confirm that it has successfully updated your drivers.
Repeat this entire process for "PCI Simple Communications Controller" on the device manager until both 06A8 and 06A9 have been successfully updated. It is the same "iaLPSS2-UART2_CNL.inf" file for both.
Once you are back on device manager confirm that under "system devices" you see:
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A8
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A9
Next, still on device manager. Click "Action" on the menu bar then click "Scan for Hardware Changes"
Bluetooth should now display on device manager and on the top bottom left next to your sound icon, wifi, clock and everything else as normal.
Test by attempting to connect a device via Bluetooth and you should be good to go with your windows installation. If you still see things under "Other Devices" that is normal before letting Windows update resolve them. If you still have something lingering around in there you would have to try and figure out what else might not have installed, but this guide was specifically for the pesky bluetooth problem.
Let Windows 11 install normally. Once you have gone through the bootcamp process it will ask you to restart.
Do NOT let Windows update.
Once you restart open Device Manager:
On the device manager menu bar click "View" and then "Show Hidden Devices"
You should see the following:
Under "Other Devices" you should see TWO "Unknown Devices" - Click Uninstall Device on BOTH of them. If you see the option to "Attempt to remove the driver for this device" click that option.
Under "System Devices" you should see - Intel LPSS: UART #0 - 06A8 AND Intel LPSS: UART #1 - 06A9 - Right click and uninstall device on BOTH of them. If you see the option to "Attempt to remove the driver for this device" click that option.
On the device manager menu bar click "Action" and then "Scan for Hardware Changes"
Under "Other Devices" you should now see two new "PCI Simple Communication Controller" devices. Right click each one - click update driver - Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer - double click "show all devices" - click "have disk" - navigate to your bootcamp folder -> $WinPEDriver$ -> IntelSerialIO -> iaLPSS2-UART2_CNL.inf - click "Open" then click OK
You should now be back to the screen that will read either one of these:
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A8
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A9
Make sure it is highlighted and then click "Next"
Windows should now confirm that it has successfully updated your drivers.
Repeat this entire process for "PCI Simple Communications Controller" on the device manager until both 06A8 and 06A9 have been successfully updated. It is the same "iaLPSS2-UART2_CNL.inf" file for both.
Once you are back on device manager confirm that under "system devices" you see:
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A8
Intel(R) Serial IO UART Host Controller - 06A9
Next, still on device manager. Click "Action" on the menu bar then click "Scan for Hardware Changes"
Bluetooth should now display on device manager and on the top bottom left next to your sound icon, wifi, clock and everything else as normal.
Test by attempting to connect a device via Bluetooth and you should be good to go with your windows installation. If you still see things under "Other Devices" that is normal before letting Windows update resolve them. If you still have something lingering around in there you would have to try and figure out what else might not have installed, but this guide was specifically for the pesky bluetooth problem.
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