New keyboard/trackpad with old Mac?

[Richdmoore]

i read today that the new keyboard/mouse/trackpad requires Bluetooth 4.0, which older macs do not have.

USB 4.0 dongles are available however fairly cheaply. Has anyone attempted to use one of those to connect these new devices on unsupported macs yet?

 

[essiw]

This is not stated on the apple website, I also saw comments on a dutch forum that since bluetooth is backwards compatible it will work with older devices as well, just not as fast as with bluetooth 4. I am wondering if someone can clear this up...

 

[Richdmoore]

This is not stated on the apple website, I also saw comments on a dutch forum that since bluetooth is backwards compatible it will work with older devices as well, just not as fast as with bluetooth 4. I am wondering if someone can clear this up...

Good to know that it is still to be determined for older macs. Hopefully we will know soon if it will work out of the box or not.

 

[madsci954]

i just checked the keyboard and trackpad, the trackpad says BT 4.0 Mac, the keyboard is just BT Mac. Both need OS X 10.11 though.

 

[essiw]

^Would make sense as the trackpad has Force Touch (when will they decide on the term lol) while the keyboard is just a normal keyboard.

 

[eyeseeyou]

"Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac computer with OS X v10.11 or later"

So this won't work with my 2011 macbook!?

 

[eyeseeyou]

This is not stated on the apple website, I also saw comments on a dutch forum that since bluetooth is backwards compatible it will work with older devices as well, just not as fast as with bluetooth 4. I am wondering if someone can clear this up...

The track pad page it states:
"Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac computer with OS X v10.11 or later"

 

[essiw]

The track pad page it states:
"Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac computer with OS X v10.11 or later"

I know now, though I was looking at the keyboard page because I am not interested in the new trackpad and assumed they are the same.

 

[Richdmoore]

The track pad page it states:
"Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac computer with OS X v10.11 or later"

That's why I am hoping I can just add a dongle like this:

http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Blueto.../dp/B007GFX0PY/ref=cm_cr_pr_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

One problem I foresee is that previous OS X systems only allowed one Bluetooth host device. I was able to use an app called Bluetooth Explorer, that allowed me to select between the internal and USB Bluetooth. The downside was that after repairing the (old) keyboard/trackpad to the USB Bluetooth I lost the ability to do the boot key presses such as option to select between OS X & boot camp, or enable recovery mode. I assume this was due to lack of firmware support before OS X loaded?

To be fair, I have not played with it recently to troubleshoot the USB dongle further.

Maybe this has changed in El Capitan to allow two active Bluetooth dongles at the same time? Probably not, but I have not tested.

Ideal setup for me would be to have the internal Bluetooth run the keyboard (to keep boot key presses active), and the external dongle run the new magic trackpad to add the force touch features, if possible.

 

[eyeseeyou]

That's why I am hoping I can just add a dongle like this:

http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Blueto.../dp/B007GFX0PY/ref=cm_cr_pr_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

One problem I foresee is that previous OS X systems only allowed one Bluetooth host device. I was able to use an app called Bluetooth Explorer, that allowed me to select between the internal and USB Bluetooth. The downside was that after repairing the (old) keyboard/trackpad to the USB Bluetooth I lost the ability to do the boot key presses such as option to select between OS X & boot camp, or enable recovery mode. I assume this was due to lack of firmware support before OS X loaded?

To be fair, I have not played with it recently to troubleshoot the USB dongle further.

Maybe this has changed in El Capitan to allow two active Bluetooth dongles at the same time? Probably not, but I have not tested.

Ideal setup for me would be to have the internal Bluetooth run the keyboard (to keep boot key presses active), and the external dongle run the new magic trackpad to add the force touch features, if possible.

I've read that 4.0 Bluetooth dongles aren't recognized on old macs

 

[No-Me]

I assume that it will work on every mac with USB since it also works with the lightning cable.

 

[eyeseeyou]

I assume that it will work on every mac with USB since it also works with the lightning cable.

Good point.

I guess either way it would take up a USB port

 

[Macalway]

was going to say it will work, but I'm not so sure. There's probably a point of no return.