AirDrop for mid-2011 iMac with USB Bluetooth dongle ?

[winterquilt]

Can an iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) be retrofitted with a USB Bluetooth dongle to allow AirDrop to work ?

 

[hg.wells]

Nope, if the Mac didn’t support AirDrop initially it won’t work.

 

[winterquilt]

Even if the OS does ?

 

[weckart]

Yes and no. I can AirDrop between my MacPro 5,1 running Mojave and my 2011 iMac running High Sierra. However, you will need to switch to Legacy Devices, which I believe uses WiFi rather than Bluetooth. This is without using a BT dongle on the iMac.

 

[winterquilt]

What is this "Legacy Devices" feature you speak of ?

 

[weckart]

What is this "Legacy Devices" feature you speak of ?

AirDrop Not Working? Use Compatibility Mode for New Mac to Old Mac AirDrop Support

Using AirDrop is one of the easier ways to share files between Macs since its debut some time ago in OS X, but many Mac users have discovered that new Macs can’t seem to find old Macs with Ai…

osxdaily.com

 

[winterquilt]

Unfortunately the iMac still has High Sierra and does not have those bottom options.

I'm going to try with a USB Bluetooth dongle to see if it does the trick..

 

[weckart]

Unfortunately the iMac still has High Sierra and does not have those bottom options.

I'm going to try with a USB Bluetooth dongle to see if it does the trick..

That was the same with mine but the options appeared on the other Mac (also a legacy device). What are you trying to copy to or from?

 

[winterquilt]

iPhone to iMac.

 

[Apolloza]

iPhone to iMac.

What sub dongles are you considering?

 

[winterquilt]

USB WiFi Bluetooth Adapter, 600mbps Wireless Wi-Fi Dongle Driver Free Dual Band 2.4G/5.8G USB Bluetooth Network Card WIFI Receiver for PC Laptop Desktop Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10

1

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[winterquilt]

It arrived today, I just plugged it in and nothing

I expected it to be plug'n'play, but no go. Perhaps I need to look into configuring it, but it doesn't show up anywhere.

 

[weckart]

iPhone to iMac.

Forget iOS with legacy devices. Not an option. By choosing Legacy Devices in the options you disable AirDrop support for iOS.

 

[winterquilt]

I cannot access the legacy option from a legacy device anyway.

 

[weckart]

I cannot access the legacy option from a legacy device anyway.

You access it from a non-legacy OSX device. In my case, it was a Mac Pro 5,1 (2010, so older than the iMac) updated via OCLP to run Ventura and with an upgraded WiFi/BT card. If you want to access stuff on your iPhone via the iMac, then you will need to hook them up via USB and try via iTunes or third party software. Either that or sharing over the cloud: iCloud/GoogleDrive/OneDrive etc.

 

[winterquilt]

iTunes has been predictably obstinate on that front and iCloud is what I presently use to bridge the two.

I am looking into StackExchange advice and shall report back, either way: https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...uetooth-dongle-instead-of-built-in-controller

 

[winterquilt]

Unfortunately I could not get the Bluetooth dongle to override the built in one, according to the many workarounds available.

However, I did not try the Developer tools method, as I just didn't have the time, nor patience.