Upgrade 2012 iMac Airport/Bluetooth card to get 802.11ac

[Fried Chicken]

I’ve read reports of people successfully upgrading their 2012 iMac airport/Bluetooth cards to take advantage of 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.

I just got upgraded to gigabit internet, something I want to take advantage of.

I see two options. The inelegant one is to get a usb dongle like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PKMFPF7/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3KHUM65I50XQR&psc=1

However the much more elegant solution IMO is to upgrade the airport card in the iMac with something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Broadcom-Bcm...rport/1839253691?iid=282015385309#UserReviews

I’ve heard mixed reports of Bluetooth not working under Mac, or WiFi antenna incompatibility. The latter I have a hard time believing as 802.11ac sits on the same 5GHz as 802.11n.
The Bluetooth compatibility issue I’ve read mixed reports on.

Does the listed airport card was in the 2013 iMac. Do newer iMacs have even faster cards? Are they all compatible?

 

[Fishrrman]

Forget about "elegance".

Fastest, cheapest, easiest way:
Get a dongle and plug it in.

 

[mikehalloran]

Forget about "elegance".

Fastest, cheapest, easiest way:
Get a dongle and plug it in.

Absolutely.

You say that you now have gigabit Ethernet. Does this mean that your wireless router supports 802.11ac? If not, you'll need to get one that does.

My son-in-law was on the development team for that standard. The day after Apple released the Time Capsule and Airport towers, that department ceased to exist and everyone on the team was assigned elsewhere.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Absolutely.

You say that you now have gigabit Ethernet. Does this mean that your wireless router supports 802.11ac? If not, you'll need to get one that does.

My son-in-law was on the development team for that standard. The day after Apple released the Time Capsule and Airport towers, that department ceased to exist and everyone on the team was assigned elsewhere.

I currently have a Netgear R7000 which supports AC. Unfortunately the WAN --> LAN speed is only around 400mbps, and I will need to extend the 5GHz throughout the whole house somehow. As such I will be upgrading the browser.

The question remains on the reliability of upgrading the Airport/Bluetooth card, especially since I do plan on opening up my machine at some point.

 

[priitv8]

The question remains on the reliability of upgrading the Airport/Bluetooth card, especially since I do plan on opening up my machine at some point.

Can't say about this card and iMac, but I successfully did same upgrade on my Early 2013 MacBook Pro 15".
Works to this day. As added bonus I also got the "unlock with Apple Watch" feature, which is also officially not there on 2013 MBP.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Can't say about this card and iMac, but I successfully did same upgrade on my Early 2013 MacBook Pro 15".
Works to this day. As added bonus I also got the "unlock with Apple Watch" feature, which is also officially not there on 2013 MBP.

That’s awesome.

There is little information on the 2012 iMac, however I did see this:
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/162178/Wireless+Airport+Card+Replacement+with+New+802.11ac

Saying that they’re having bluetooth issues (as well as noobs who don’t believe in upgrading)

 

[priitv8]

That guy seems to have used a MacBook Pro card (BCM94360CSAX. It is exactly the card I've installed).
Here's the story: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...802.11ac+AirPort+Card+on+my+RMBP+15+(mid2012)

That's why the form factor doesn't match (uses adaptor card), antenna connectors and counts do not match (uses adaptor cables).
So I would do it following exactly the same logic I did with my MBP - get original Apple card, from similar but later iMac.
The best would be to find out the designation of the card your current iMac uses and look it up on internet - size, form, connectors etc.
If you are unable to do that, then you should open up the iMac and look inside.

PS Found my pics!
Before and after:

The card I bought:

 

[Fried Chicken]

That guy seems to have used a MacBook Pro card (BCM94360CSAX. It is exactly the card I've installed).
Here's the story: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...802.11ac+AirPort+Card+on+my+RMBP+15+(mid2012)

That's why the form factor doesn't match (uses adaptor card), antenna connectors and counts do not match (uses adaptor cables).
So I would do it following exactly the same logic I did with my MBP - get original Apple card, from similar but later iMac.
The best would be to find out the designation of the card your current iMac uses and look it up on internet - size, form, connectors etc.
If you are unable to do that, then you should open up the iMac and look inside.

Wow good catch! Then I’m definitely upgrading myself. I think the 2013-2017 iMacs used the same card, and the 2019 iMac has one upgraded from that, unfortunately it’s unavailable.