'Continuity Activation Tool' Enables Handoff on Older Macs

[iolinux333]

Will future software updates wipe this out?

They want to, but I think at this point they dare not.

 

[Renzatic]

There is a reason: a ridiculous obsession with thin, thin, thin. I didn't say it was a good reason...

Thing is, it's the same size as the old Mini!

Like I said in the soldered ram thread, maybe this Mini is an interim release, and the new, thinner Mini will be coming out alongside Broadwell. But until that time comes, it seems like Apple did it just so you'd have to buy your ram from them.

 

[Steeley]

I have an Early 2011 13 inch MBP....I don't even see it on the list. Does this mean I'm dead in the water?

No you're fine. It's on the list and it's included on the line that says "MacBook Pro mid 2009 to late 2011". You'll need the card though.

 

[iolinux333]

I'm sure you would be the same person complaining that the feature you implemented on a unsupported device is killing you battery life because the Bluetooth chip is not efficient enough.

They disabled it on other Macs with THE SAME CHIP as supported Macs.

 

[Apollonian]

'Continuity Activation Tool' Enables Handoff on Older Macs

I feel like this problem is representative of where Apple as a whole is headed. They are spreading themselves thin and quality is taking a hit in return, the OS releases in particular just feel sloppy. With increases in the number of product lines and models something is bound to give!

 

[John.B]

The catch is, lure you with a FREE OS upgrade then you upgrade only to find out the shiniest things don't work and you need a new $34325251135 dollar computer to make it all work. They do the same crap with the phones. Business or no business that's shady.

Shady bastards, giving away a free OS that still works on 5+ year old hardware, how dare they... /sarcasm

 

[wolfie]

If anyone is in the media business please report on this and let the world/Joe Bloe know whats going on. The more publicity this issue gets, the more people will know and the more embarrassed Apple will get.

Through many voices they may learn think twice before shafting people over a an artificial boundary.

 

[Biscotti]

Did Not work for me

I have a MBA Mid-2011 and this tool did not work for me. I installed and ran the tool but it still does not show that it works for me. I have attached 2 screen shots as well.

Did this really work for other Mid 2011 macbook airs? if it did it might give me hope.

Lastly, I DID (unsuccessfully) try to do the continuity a couple days ago by modifying the Kext kernels but I replaced them with the originals because it didn't work. Could that be why it's not working?

any help would be appreciated.

 

[daroca]

I have a MBA Mid-2011 and this tool did not work for me. I installed and ran the tool but it still does not show that it works for me. I have attached 2 screen shots as well.

Did this really work for other Mid 2011 macbook airs? if it did it might give me hope.

Lastly, I DID (unsuccessfully) try to do the continuity a couple days ago by modifying the Kext kernels but I replaced them with the originals because it didn't work. Could that be why it's not working?

any help would be appreciated.

Yes.. it worked for me, MBA Mid 2011... Ran the tool, rebooted manually.
I had done fresh install of Yosemite.

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)

Apple Bluetooth Software Version: 4.3.0f10 14890
Hardware, Features, and Settings:
Name: Daroca’s MacBook Air
Address: 12-13-CE-XD-4B-3B
Bluetooth Low Energy Supported: Yes
Handoff Supported: Yes
Instant Hotspot Supported: Yes
Manufacturer: Broadcom

 

[hybrid_x]

Seriously? You are sad that nearly 4 year old computers don't support a new feature?

I am personally glad that they wrote this code for bluetooth low energy.

The way Apple was talking about Continuity, i thought they had developed a universal mobile-to-VoIP handoff over WiFi. Instead, they gave us the Mac-as-a-glorified-Bluetooth-speakerphone-accessory.

I was dialling and sending SMS messages from my Address Book with my Ericsson T86 back in the iSync days. I hoped for bigger, better things with Continuity, and not more forced obsolescence through software features i already had a decade ago.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Sound interesting, but where exactly on the logic board is this mysterious "encryption chip" you are talking about? iFixit confirmed that the MBA 2012 had the same wifi/bt board as the 2011 model. Not just another BT LE capable chip. The exact same.

That's the thing I'm having trouble finding out. I tore it down, and comparing the two wifi/bt board, and they both look identical. Yet the one on the 2012 MacBook air is sending out different signal for Handoff than the 2011 MacBook air with the new wifi/bt chip installed that supports Bluetooth LE.

I'm thinking there may be more to the 2012 wifi/bt board for 2012 MacBook Air compared to the 2011 MacBook Air. (identical look, but different in terms of chip. The encryption might be integrated into one of the existing chip already there. This is normal for Apple. For example, A7 chip on iPad mini 2 is different compared to A7 chip on iPad mini 3, as it houses one of the component of Secure Element that powers Apple Pay)

Only one way to find out for sure is to get a transistor-level pic of the two wifi/bluetooth card.

 

[InfoTime]

I bet Apple is just as upset that it doesn't work on as many Macs as possible too. Why? Because it would sell more Macs and more iPhones and more iPads. If more people can use the feature and show it off to their friends and coworkers then you'd have more people excited and impressed. That might be enough to get them to finally dump Windows and go all Mac. It might make them buy an iPhone instead of an Android. An iPad instead of a Kindle Fire.

There's a whole lot of upside to getting this working on as many Macs as possible. Remember, Macs don't make up much of their overall revenue, but iPhones do.

 

[Arcady]

Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason this doesn't work on a 2011 MacBook Air if it has the correct hardware? Is there some other reason anyone can think of that Apple would stop otherwise functional hardware from using this?

BTW, I went and looked at current MBA on the Apple store and it all seems to be slower and have less functionality than my 2011, other than USB 3, which I care nothing about.

 

[Maxipeg]

Who made it work?

Whatever the reason behind the decision of Apple not to support Handoff on older devices, there have been enough posts of users complaining abut their policy.

I think it is time for those who tried to install it, success or not, to tell the community about what they did to make it work, and what their experience was.

I just tried to install it on my MBA Mid 2011, so far no success. Restarted several times, run it twice. The second time I ran it the software asked me to allow it to control my Mac (in System Preferences Privacy Settings).

Any chance that this software is trying to do more than it tells us?

 

[MacVidCards]

Whatever the reason behind the decision of Apple not to support Handoff on older devices, there have been enough posts of users complaining.

I think it is time for those who tried to install it, success or not, to tell the community about what they did to make it work, and what their experience was.

I just tried to install it on my MBA Mid 2011, so far no success. Restarted several times, run it twice. The second time I ran it the software asked me to allow it to control my Mac (in System Preferences Privacy Settings).

Any chance that this software is trying to do more than it tells us?

Everything it does is explained, or you can do the terminal commands yourself instead of running the app.

 

[RMo]

I just proved that a BT USB Dongle can work, but it has to be one using Apple parts. (or you need to do more kext hacking)

Go a 2010 MBP running Handoff and Airdropped pix from a 5S using USB Dongle and this software tool.

Does "one using Apple's parts" simply mean one using a chipset that Apple has used in other Macs? Would this include the IOGEAR GBU521, which my Mac reports as chipset 20702A3 but other sites say BCM20702A0? (One claims BCM20702B0 will work, but I don't think that's in USB form.)


Thanks for any input you may have.

 

[Maxipeg]

Smart Guy

Everything it does is explained, or you can do the terminal commands yourself instead of running the app.

Thanks for your "helpful" comment. Yes, I can read and I did everything exactly as explained. I guess you want to express tha my question was stupid, I didn't appreciate that.

For me It just did not work.

I ran the tool twice, the second time it told me that nothing had to be done since everything was fine. MBA Mid 2011, BT Low Energy on board and machine not on Blacklist.

Did you install it yourself? Which Mac? Is your Yosemite a fresh install or just an upgrade?


Again, every really helpful comment or user experience would be nice.

 

[Roadstar]

There's a reason why Apple doesn't have Handoff enabled on capable macs: Encryption.

The 2011 MacBook Air and 2011 Mac Mini has Bluetooth 4.0 LE, but doesn't have the proper chip to help encrypt the handoff signals to limit it to matching devices with matching Apple ID. So while Handoff may work with the enabler, the signal is not encrypted and is very open to attacks.

Without the proper encryption authentication, there are high chance that some non-matching iOS devices nearby may be able to pick up the handoff signal. That can mean disaster in terms of privacy.

(Imagine you were searching XXX content on your mac, but you decided that you may be comfortable watching it on your phone, so you hand it off to your phone. But, since that mac is sending unencrypted handoff signal, junior using his iPad may accidentally see your XXX content if bluetooth is turned on and has the compatible iOS device)

Basically, for handoff to work safely, Bluetooth LE signal has to be encrypted, and Older Macs and USB Bluetooth Dongles don't have proper chip to encrypt to signals

(note that encryption chip I'm talking about is proprietary)

If this is indeed the reason they excluded the affected Macs out of Handoff, they would've avoided quite a deal of bad blood from longtime Mac users if they had just published a knowledge base article with this exact information. However, as the exclusion occurred around the same time they came up with the new Mac mini with RAM soldered in for no good reason whatsoever (the case retained its previous dimensions), it's hard to blame anyone for connecting the dots and interpreting this as yet another money grab. Apple's secrecy works against them in this case. A sound technical reason for exclusion is always better than making yourself look like you're cutting off features just out of greed/spite.

So if my mid-2011 Mac mini is going to blast its Handoff data unencrypted, I think I'll pass this hack. However, it's too bad that Apple just closed the upgrade path for me with the new mini. I'm not going to support that dick move they did (soldering in the RAM for no reason), and in that case their lineup doesn't have a desktop computer for me. An iMac is not feasible for me as my display serves also as my PS4's display in another input, and my desk is not large enough to accomodate both my full HD monitor and an iMac. The current Mac Pro, on the other hand, is out of my budget. Maybe I need to start considering the alternatives.

 

[imilad]

Not working mac book pro late 2011

The tool is not working for me neither.. I had it working on the latest GM version by modifying kext. Once i upgraded to Public release it wen't away.. I tried modifying kext... no luck... ran the tool.. still no luck... Any suggestions?

 

[RobQuads]

BTW, I went and looked at current MBA on the Apple store and it all seems to be slower and have less functionality than my 2011, other than USB 3, which I care nothing about.

Its not slower thats for sure. you can't just compare the speeds as each generation of chips are different i.e. an old i7 2.6 might be slower than a current i7 1.4 due to all the other changes.
The other machine change is the IO interfaces which are much quicker which will make it feel way quicker due to the faster SSDs. I would swap my 2011 MBA for a current generation straight away if offered

 

[Maxipeg]

... but doesn't have the proper chip to help encrypt the handoff signals to limit it to matching devices with matching Apple ID. ...

...for handoff to work safely, Bluetooth LE signal has to be encrypted, and Older Macs and USB Bluetooth Dongles don't have proper chip to encrypt to signals...

Is it possible, that some Some Mid-2011 MBAs have a version of the BLE chip that supports encryption and some don't? It wouldn't be the first time that apple installs different versions of components...

 

[zezioen]

Still not able to activate Handoff

Got the error message:

Verifying Bluetooth hardware... NOT OK. Incompatible Bluetooth hardware detected. LMP Version=4, but expected 6 (Bluetooth 4.0 LE).

I've got a late 2011 Macbook Pro 17 Inch, It does however have a new logic board (twice, first one from Apple failed after 2 weeks...) because I once spilled my drink over it accidentally (yay insurance, saved me 50% of the original retail price to get it repaired)

Any way I can still enable handoff or is it a no no for me?..

 

[Smigit]

So I am a bit confused. What exactly does continuity not provide on older computers? I thought it was SMS and phone calls but I get those on my early 2011 MBP. Am I missing something?

Handoff and Instant Hotspot. I also believe theres no Airdrop between OS X and an iOS device.

 

[surroundfan]

...

Without the proper encryption authentication, there are high chance that some non-matching iOS devices nearby may be able to pick up the handoff signal. That can mean disaster in terms of privacy.

...

FWIW, I have just played around with my iPad mini retina and mid-2011 Mac mini using a different iCloud account on my iPad mini.

Not surprisingly, the Mac mini did not show the iPad as an instant hotspot, and the website shown on the Mac mini's Safari was not handed off. I signed back into my main iCloud account used on the Mac mini and up popped the iPad as instant hotspot and Safari showed up in the bottom left corner of my iPad.

Further, my Keychain viewer on the Mac mini is showing encryption and decryption keys for my mini in com.apple.continuity.encryption.

So, I think Apple has just blacklisted this for reasons of commercial expediency, rather than any security or encryption reasons.

 

[Hellothere99]

I did the hack manually on my 2011 MBA yesterday, works perfectly and also enables AirDrop from iOS and vice versa.

I'd love to know why Apple disabled this, makes no sense.

This is such *********. I just don't know Apple any more. I'd love to hear their response as to why they disabled it on seemingly perfectly capable hardware.

I pretty much hate the company now.

Planned obsolescence just like 2004's Dirty little secret of iPod battery life being as long as Apples support for hardware - too short!