2011 MacBook Pros can support Handoff/Continuity

[MacBookJames]

There's no need to actually pair the devices together in the Bluetooth menu unless you want to make use of Bluetooth tethering.

All the Handoff/Continuity features are configured automatically. As long as you've enabled it on both devices and signed into the same iCloud account on both, you are not required to connect the two devices yourself.

Sorry - I should have added. AirDrop, Handoff/Continuity is not working. I just thought this information might help diagnose the problem.

I should also add when the activation tool was run it said that continuity should be working - as did the system profiler.

Does anybody have any clues?

 

[Da_Hollow]

Nevermind! I found my answer on this same site but on another thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-macbook-pros-can-support-handoff-continuity.1747240/

for any one that is running "El Capi" and don't have alot of knowledge on how to use Mac's. Good Luck & hope this works for you as it worked for me.

 

[Yabadabadoo]

I'm having a problem with my BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX card. The Bluetooth and Handoff works fine, but my wifi is really slow. Trying to load a website will usually stall. Apple's wireless diagnostics says my Tx rate is 5 Mbps. When I put my old card back in, the Tx rate is 195 Mbps. I'm running El Capitan. I disabled SIP and used Continuity Activation Tool 2.3.

Anyone know what could be wrong. Could the new card be defective?

Thanks

 

[mac_dummy]

Hello,


Late 2011 MBP
Got a CAX card coming.
This one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151455422782

That should work right?

Also, with 10.10.5 does it still work? Do I just install the card then run the
Continuity-Activation-Tool?

Or do I follow the steps outlined at the beginning?


Thanks.

EDIT

I just realized the wifi doesn't support AC. Which card do I need exactly?

 

[phoenix155]

After doing some research for the past few hours there might still be chance for the 2011 macbook pros to get the features that require bluetooth 4.0 / LE...

EDIT
Thanks to Dokterdok who have created an activation tool (based on instructions compiled by UncleSchnitty) which is available on Github

...

Does this still need to be done for MacOS Sierra (10.12.1)? Thanks!

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Does this still need to be done for MacOS Sierra (10.12.1)? Thanks!

Yes.

 

[amanda650]

I did a bad thing. I bought the bluetooth card was all ready to upgrade my Mac, but I didn't read through everything before I got started. I ran the first Terminal command before I even installed the card (sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"). Then I realized you were supposed to install the card first. So I looked for those instructions only to realize that the card for the 2011 fix doesn't fit my mid 2010 machine. So now I am wondering two things:

1. Does anyone know if there's a way to upgrade Bluetooth on the mid 2010 Mac (some old 2014 posts say no, but I'm hoping there's new info)
2. I ran this command in Terminal to undo the boot arguments change: sudo nvram boot-args="" Is that all I need to do? My wifi and bluetooth are working.

Thanks!

 

[ogoidluis]

If its the 13' model the only way is to use an USB dongle

 

[amanda650]

Mine is the 15" model A1286

 

[ogoidluis]

It should work with a new card
Link: https://github.com/dokterdok/Contin...blob/master/CompatibilityChart-13.12.2014.png

 

[amanda650]

The thing is, I can't find any newer cards. I can only find replacement cards of the same part number as what is already in the machine. Which new card is compatible with my mid-2010 15" MBP?

 

[phoenix155]

Does this still need to be done for MacOS Sierra (10.12.1)? Thanks!

Yes.

I installed this Bluetooth 4.0 card with no issues. However, I haven't done anything in Terminal yet and it's working just fine. I'm not going to mess with the innards any more in the hopes that I won't have to! Thanks, everyone.

 

[redpandadev]

I have been using CAT to activate continuity tool on a 2011 MBP with upgraded bluetooth card. Everything has always worked great, but one annoyance has been having to logout and log back in to iCloud when enabling after an OS update (especially since I've been using 10.12.2 betas). I've finally found a workaround to not have to log out and back in to iCloud.

1) Create a new user (admin/standard doesn't matter)
2) Log in to the new user, skipping iCloud login in the setup assistant
3) Log in to iCloud in system preferences of the new user
4) Wait about 5 minutes for Handoff to kick in - keep an app that supports Handoff open on your iOS device and you'll notice it's working when you get an icon in the Dock for the Handoff
5) Log out of the new user you created and into your normal user
6) You will notice that Handoff is now working for your normal user
7) Delete the new user you created, if desired

Hopefully this saves someone else the trouble of logging out and back in to iCloud (for me it was a problem because iCloud Drive and iCloud Photo Library always insisted on re-syncing which took hours of high CPU use)

 

[caughron01]

I am new to mac and I have a 2011 13". I have combed through many of these pages trying to learn how to do this properly. I tried to download the kext from here, http://d-h.st/2eZ it just keeps opening spam pages when clicking all of the download links. Is there somewhere to get the proper file without all the spam junk?

Also I am running Sierra, so still hoping this post can apply to my setup.

Do I even need to do this if I have downloaded the CAT? Or is this a separate piece of the setup?

I can get my way around technology fairly well, I just don't want to screw this up being my first in depth mac mod.

TIA,

JC

 

[caughron01]

Hoping someone can help me, so I was able to get the chip installed successfully, everything worked as it should when I connected my MX Master. Then I went to connect my phone with my mac and it starting going crazy now nothing will connect. Please Help . Edit **Note- so far my wifi is working just fine without issues.

See video,

 

[simon lefisch]

Hoping someone can help me, so I was able to get the chip installed successfully, everything worked as it should when I connected my MX Master. Then I went to connect my phone with my mac and it starting going crazy now nothing will connect. Please Help . Edit **Note- so far my wifi is working just fine without issues.

See video,

Your previous post states you downloaded a file however all you need to do is run the CAT tool. Have you done this?

 

[caughron01]

Your previous post states you downloaded a file however all you need to do is run the CAT tool. Have you done this?

I did not end up utilizing that file from http://d-h.st/2eZ because I could never figure out how to actually download it.

I just installed the new chip, and ran the CAT tool. After doing that it apparently broke something. So I deleted the bluetooth files, reset the bluetooth chip, and reset PRAM and so far everything is working. I have been doing a lot of googling, and I think I am to the point of working. Just trying to learn more about all of continuity and what it can do to benefit my use.

 

[caughron01]

So now I am having to regularly reset my pram to keep this working, any ideas?
My MX Master shows connected in the bluetooth menu but does not respond.
Thanks.

 

[FormerAppleMgr]

Could you help with mine? I'm getting terminal errors that say not permitted.

I would like to try screen sharing, and make it from home.
I have to go now, but i'll be back in one hour, if someone who is desperate wanna try, i'm your man.

----------



No, Messages app has what it takes. I'm back in an hour.

 

[theoholdt]

i just ****ed up my computer trying to do this. is there a way to undo?

 

[FormerAppleMgr]

After doing some research for the past few hours there might still be chance for the 2011 macbook pros to get the features that require bluetooth 4.0 / LE

As it turns out the 2011 MacBook Pro can use the same Airport/Bluetooth card as the mid 2012 Macbook pro and its user replaceable so by replacing the 2011 macbook pro Airport/Bluetooth card you should have the ability to use Handoff/continuity

View attachment 477577

after replacing your bluetooth card with a bluetooth LE/4 card

make sure the bluetooth card is BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX

if it docent have the C then its a bluetooth 2 card which wouldn't work

do the following
1. on your desktop press command+shift+g
2. type: /system/library/extensions/
3. find: IO80211Family.kext in the extensions folder and copy it to your desktop
4. on the new copy show package contents > Contents > PlugIns > AirPortBrcm4360.kext > show package contents > Contents > MacOS > open AirPortBrcm4360 with 0xED
5. Text search Mac- it should be followed by a number
6. type the below code in terminal this will show your board id example early 2011 macbook pro is Mac-94245B3640C91C81

ioreg -l | grep "board-id" | awk -F\" '{print $4}'

7. replace the first number in your kext with the number u get in terminal
8. save it
9. go to terminal and paste:

sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"

10. delete the original IO80211Family.kext in system>library>extensions
11. restart
12. your wifi will not be working after restart
13. use kextdrop to install the modified kext
14. restart
15. your wifi should start working again after installing the kext and restarting
16. go to system preferences > general and there should be an option to enable handoff

these are the exact steps i did with OS X Yosemite gold master candidate on a 13 inch early 2011 macbook pro and got handoff working with my iPhone 5s running iOS 8.0.2

EDIT
Thanks to Dokterdok who have created an activation tool (based on instructions compiled by UncleSchnitty) which is available on Github

The tool is designed to activate Continuity by doing a compatibility check, creating backups of original System drivers, and disabling a Mac-model blacklist in the Bluetooth code that prevents Continuity from working on ineligible Macs. From there, it also whitelists Mac board-ids within the Wi-Fi code to get the feature working.

View attachment 508125

Tool Link

Article link

[doublepost=1490922845][/doublepost]Thank you so much. The same day I posted the question I found the continuity tool and it works wonders. You just have to make sure that you install OS on a USB thumb drive and then you will able to disable SIP For continuity to work. I've been transferring files all day long from my phone to 2011 MBP and loving it

 

[ExplorerExplorer]

Is it possible to upgrade this for 10.13 High Sierra?

 

[MrAverigeUser]

Hi there,

use some old MBPs of 2011 and one of the last cMBP 2012 (Production in 2013) .

Need now sometimes to use handoff to connect MBP (Sierra) and iPhone (IOS 10) to transfer documents elaborated on my MBP via my iPhone and back.

System Information of my cMBP 2012 shows 3x "yes" (Bluetooth 4.0).
But the MBP has only a/n WiFi and not a/c

Will I be able to use Handoff without changing Kext?
Will I have to buy a a/c WiFi USB-stick to work in "continuity" as well?

Many Thanks in advance....

 

[benji888]

Hi there,

use some old MBPs of 2011 and one of the last cMBP 2012 (Production in 2013) .

Need now sometimes to use handoff to connect MBP (Sierra) and iPhone (IOS 10) to transfer documents elaborated on my MBP via my iPhone and back.

System Information of my cMBP 2012 shows 3x "yes" (Bluetooth 4.0).
But the MBP has only a/n WiFi and not a/c

Will I be able to use Handoff without changing Kext?
Will I have to buy a a/c WiFi USB-stick to work in "continuity" as well?

Many Thanks in advance....

I’m not sure why you’re asking, if you own the 2012 MBP, you should be able to find out. Anyway, the 2012 MBP should give you full continuity/handoff, as long as both devices are signed in to the same Apple ID. If not, you may be able to use some functions, but not all. (AirDrop for photos should work, but, not sure about document handoff, I don’t have a Mac new enough to try).What is required is WiFi direct and BT 4.0, ac WiFi is not required. (You may have to turn the handoff function on with the Mac.) also: iPhone: Settings>General>Handoff

2011 MBP will do some things, like iMessage, SMS, phone calls, again if logged into same Apple ID, and functions turned on with the Mac. (I use these functions with my 2010 MBP -Sierra)

You also need to go into iPhone settings for the above to work, Settings>Phone>Calls on Other Devices, Settings>Messages>Text Message Forwarding

 

[pavelecbass]

[doublepost=1490922845][/doublepost]Thank you so much. The same day I posted the question I found the continuity tool and it works wonders. You just have to make sure that you install OS on a USB thumb drive and then you will able to disable SIP For continuity to work. I've been transferring files all day long from my phone to 2011 MBP and loving it

I Already installed the new internal card for 4.0bluetooth, I´m using high sierra, and I can´t activate the continuity .... pleas can you help me??
[doublepost=1509864043][/doublepost]High sierra and the bluetooth upgrade doesn´t works.... please help me.