iM 4,1-14,4 iMac (late 2007 to mid 2011) 802.11ac + BT 4.0 internal upgrade

[marvin_95l]

Will work, you need these adapter cables to convert from the smaller to the bigger antenna plugs. Check the posts about the other CS modules. All use the same type of connector.

Thanks for your answer !
That's great, then I don't have to buy a new one. I will order the parts from Aliexpress and then I will report if it works.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks for your answer !
That's great, then I don't have to buy a new one. I will order the parts from Aliexpress and then I will report if it works.

But please check out the support running the latest macOS versions yourself, AFAIK only BCM94360XX will work natively on Ventura.

 

[marvin_95l]

But please check out the support running the latest macOS versions yourself, AFAIK only BCM94360XX will work natively on Ventura.

I have a working Macbook Pro 2012 Retina with the exact same wifi module and it works fine with OCLP and MacOS Ventura. Or is there a reason why it shouldn't work in the iMac?
I'll stay with Monterey anyway because of the lack of CPU support.

 

[idenis42]

Models: BCM94360CS
Bluetooth + Wi-Fi = OK

 

[LutzRFrank]

Finally - after patching my old iMac 10,1 with OpenCore to Monterey which was awesomely easy) - I decided to add Airplay and changed the card to a BCM94360CD on a MiniPCI Adapter. I attached the Bluetooth antenna and routed the D+/D- from the old Bluetooth Card to the MiniPCI Adapter (same as on post #729).

Card looks installed fine, Airdrop and Bluetooth works - the system info looks exactly the same on a MacBook Pro 10,2 but WiFi finds no available networks and continues searching.

I'm just trying to reapply the root patches... any other idea? Soldering the 3.3V line on R1 of the adapter?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Finally - after patching my old iMac 10,1 with OpenCore to Monterey which was awesomely easy) - I decided to add Airplay and changed the card to a BCM94360CD on a MiniPCI Adapter. I attached the Bluetooth antenna and routed the D+/D- from the old Bluetooth Card to the MiniPCI Adapter (same as on post #729).

Card looks installed fine, Airdrop and Bluetooth works - the system info looks exactly the same on a MacBook Pro 10,2 but WiFi finds no available networks and continues searching.

I'm just trying to reapply the root patches... any other idea? Soldering the 3.3V line on R1 of the adapter?
View attachment 2107857

rerun OCLP and install OC, again.
reboot
reseat the PCIe adapter card

re^3

 

[LutzRFrank]

Thank You - just on it

 

[LutzRFrank]

Thank You - just on it

Perfect after reapplying patches !
Great

 

[LutzRFrank]

rerun OCLP and install OC, again.
reboot
reseat the PCIe adapter card

re^3

Perfect!

The MacBook Pro 10,2 and iMac 10,1 both on Monterey thanks to the OpenCore Patch - big Kudos !!

 

[chechugarriga]

3.3v is there discreetly. Undecided on solder or glue.

I'll be up upgrading my second iMac in a few weeks. I am seeing if I can make a BCM94331CD plug and play for under $20 USD ?

Might try to sell a few on eBay for the people that want a cheaper plug and play solution than OSX WiFi.

View attachment 1768545

Good morning / afternoon for everyone. Hope You are doing fine. I tried to look inside newer posts, but no clue on it. It was possible to set any package including a plug'n'play option for A1312/A1311 wifi, as it was suggested?. Many thanks, regards.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Good morning / afternoon for everyone. Hope You are doing fine. I tried to look inside newer posts, but no clue on it. It was possible to set any package including a plug'n'play option for A1312/A1311 wifi, as it was suggested?. Many thanks, regards.

First post of this thread mentions a single commercial PnP solution.
Every other one needs soldering and honestly it is the most reliable way, and it is cheap.

 

[Thatguywhofixesphones]

I was very excited to complete my upgrade for my 27 inch iMac to 4.0 BT. I am running open core and I have wired directly to the original BT cable. So far the wifi is working right but BT won’t turn on. The card I am using is: BCM94360CD.

I am using Open Core on Monterey. The instructions say to revert the patches, reboot, rerun Open Core, rewrite to disk, reboot, and then reapply. I have followed these steps and end up with Bluetooth in System Info reporting the following:

Is this a sign of a faulty card? The remenants of the original BT card? Or is there something else going on that I don’t understand?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I was very excited to complete my upgrade for my 27 inch iMac to 4.0 BT. I am running open core and I have wired directly to the original BT cable. So far the wifi is working right but BT won’t turn on. The card I am using is: BCM94360CD.

I am using Open Core on Monterey. The instructions say to revert the patches, reboot, rerun Open Core, rewrite to disk, reboot, and then reapply. I have followed these steps and end up with Bluetooth in System Info reporting the following:

View attachment 2108974

Is this a sign of a faulty card? The remenants of the original BT card? Or is there something else going on that I don’t understand?

PRAM reset!
Otherwise boot and test your hardware using High Sierra. Monterey is the worst macOS to check BT/WiFi hardware.

Edit: Yes, very often the BT part of those cards is broken.

 

[Thatguywhofixesphones]

PRAM reset!
Otherwise boot and test your hardware using High Sierra. Monterey is the worst macOS to check BT/WiFi hardware.

Thanks! I tried the PRAM reset and it hasn’t helped. I will try High Sierra next. Will post an update later.

 

[chendh]

Hey

I have iMac Late 2009 27" and want to change BCM94360cd card to it.

I bought these:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Mini-Pci-e-52pin-Adapter-for-Bcm94360cd-Bcm94331cd/1631968703?iid=112425691492&opts=opick

https://www.ebay.com/p/Broadcom-Bcm94360cd-802-11ac-WiFi-Card-Bluetooth-4-0-for-Apple-27-iMac-Airport/1839253691?iid=282015385309&opts=opick

and one wifi antenna and extension cable for bluetooth antenna.

I cut the old bluetooth cable and soldered d+,d- and power wires directly to the old bluetooth cable
Is it correct that I have to put the cable to mini pic e adapter cn3 connector and solder wires like this:

red wire (d+) to the third wire from left to the old bluetooth cable
black wire (d-) to the second wire from left to the old bluetooth cable
wire from mini pci e apter's r1 to first wire from left to the old bluetooth cable

like this picture:imgres

EDIT:

I soldered wires like I mentioned earlier:

from mini pci e adapter:

wire from R1 point to old bluetooth cable power wire
wire from red d+ wire to old bluetooth cable d+ wire
wire from black d- wire to old bluetooth cable d- wire

Bluetooth is working and my trackpad and keyboard are working but wi-fi is not working (no device installed).

What could be wrong?

Sorry about bad english

My connection mode is the same as yours. R1 is connected to 3.3V power supply, USBD+is connected to D4, and USBD - is connected to D3. However, my Bluetooth cannot be opened, and WIFI works well.

 

[iLazarus]

so I upgraded an 12,2 with a BCM***331CD and initially after the upgrade

- wifi didnt work (! in the wifi icon)
- BT was activated, but devices didn't react - so no input
- Hackintool says no Firmware loaded

after resetting & rebooting (OCLP did not suggest me any actions or patches - I only get the Nvidia Kepler Patch) now

- wifi works
- BT works (for MKB & MM so far)
- Hackintool still the same - says no FW loaded... (old BT Card is removed!)

If everything works, does that even matter??

System Information shows this

so basically the card works on Monterrey but only with BT 2.0?

The BCM94331CD depends now on ongoing updates of the BlueToolFixup.kext created by @dhinakg and fixed by @khronokernel (versions 2.6.2 for Monterey 12.4).

Is this supposed to be included in OCLP or where is that?

- - - - -

(this is not a final build, I just had the **331 left and tried it because the ***602CDP can't fit the PCIe adapter with the D+/D- plug on the right side.... )

 

[sveinung]

Installed a BCM94331CD to an iMac12,2. After trying a few different antenna connection combination, I can confirm that J1 is for 5GHz antenna, which is the circular one behind the HDD. J0 & J2 are for 2.4GHz antennae. And the BCM94331CD has the same layout as BCM94360CD.
View attachment 1960562

I'm not sure about this, but according to my tests, on BCM94360CD, J0 is actually the BT antenna connection. Evidence in favor of this: When either of the two original WiFi antennas of my iMac11,1 were connected to J0, BT worked just fine. When no antenna cable was connected to J0, BT could connect to some existing devices – notably to a Beats Flex headphone, which has the BT long range W1 chip – but not others – notably my Magic Mouse and Keyboard – could not discover new devices, and was also not visible to other devices' BT searches.

*Edit 15.11.2022*
After more extensive testing, J0 indeed appears to be the BT antenna attachment on my specimen of BCM94360CD. Leaving it unconnected to an antenna cable causes terrible BT performance, having it connected results in excellent BT performance.

I also got Handoff and Watch Unlock to work by following this guide:

1. Disable Handoff on iMac
2. Reboot
3. Enable Handoff on iMac
4. Restart iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch

 

[sveinung]

I am, however, still having problems with continuity. Certain aspects work just fine, like AirDrop and AirPlay to Mac (WiFi-dependent?). But Handoff, Apple Watch Unlock and Universal Control do not work (BT dependent?). iMac11,1, Monterey 12.6.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I am, however, still having problems with continuity. Certain aspects work just fine, like AirDrop and AirPlay to Mac (WiFi-dependent?). But Handoff, Apple Watch Unlock and Universal Control do not work (BT dependent?). iMac11,1, Monterey 12.6.

Have you disabled the old BT module? AFAIK most modern macOS features need a BCM94360xxx card. And I am pretty sure we added this to the first post here.

 

[sveinung]

Have you disabled the old BT module? AFAIK most modern macOS features need a BCM94360xxx card. And I am pretty sure we added this to the first post here.

Yes. That is, I have disconnected the cable to the old BT module at the logic board, and plugged in the D+/D- premade cable that came with my adapter card into the female BT plug on the logic board (seating it to the extreme right, on the advice of someone on here).

Indeed, following the advice of the first (wiki) post, and after reading through most if not all the discussion, I ordered a BCM94360CD (the one that is recommended for iMac11,1 and older).

I have tried most suggestions I could find in the discussion, but to no avail.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Yes. That is, I have disconnected the cable to the old BT module at the logic board, and plugged in the D+/D- premade cable that came with my adapter card into the female BT plug on the logic board (seating it to the extreme right, on the advice of someone on here).

Indeed, following the advice of the first (wiki) post, and after reading through most if not all the discussion, I ordered a BCM94360CD (the one that is recommended for iMac11,1 and older).

I have tried most suggestions I could find in the discussion, but to no avail.

You started the OCLP app, rebuilt the OC, rewrote it your internal EFI and rebooted? After reach HW change you need to rebuild OpenCore!

The BT antenna is 100% sure J3 as shown on the first picture. Most antennas used in your iMac are 2.4 GHz suitable for both BT and WiFi, only the single 5GHz antenna needs to be connected to the single 5 GHz port.

Having no antenna connected to J3 will limit BT reception.

 

[sveinung]

You started the OCLP app, rebuilt the OC, rewrote it your internal EFI and rebooted? After reach HW change you need to rebuild OpenCore!

Yeah! Pretty familiar with OCLP by now, have been using it for a longish time to keep my iMac11,1 and MPB10,1 up to date. I have done this and also removed and reapplied root patches.

The BT antenna is 100% sure J3 as shown on the first picture. Most antennas used in your iMac are 2.4 GHz suitable for both BT and WiFi, only the single 5GHz antenna needs to bee connected to the single 5 GHz port.

I will have a look at this again and report back what I find. Thanks for engaging with me thus far!

 

[sveinung]

(As a side note, I also ordered and installed a BCM94360CS for my MacBookPro10,1 which is working brilliantly under Ventura)

 

[sveinung]

The BT antenna is 100% sure J3 as shown on the first picture. Most antennas used in your iMac are 2.4 GHz suitable for both BT and WiFi, only the single 5GHz antenna needs to be connected to the single 5 GHz port.

So, I tried connecting the right hand 2.4 GHz antenna to J3 (Right hand = on the upper right side of the frame, as seen from the front. Originally for WiFi), and the 5 Ghz antenna (circular, behind the screen) to J1. This resulted in extremely poor BT performance, with keyboard and mouse only connecting when held right up against the screen of the iMac, loosing connection whenever moved even a little bit away. Also checked with discoverability: iPhone 6s could not see iMac from 1 m, but could see iMac when held directly up against the screen of the iMac.

I then tried connecting the right hand 2.4 GHz antenna to J0, while keeping J1 attached to 5 GHz antenna. This results in very good BT performance.

These findings weakens the hypothesis that (for all) BCM94360CD cards, J3 is BT. On my card, at least, BT seems to be J0.

I rebuilt and installed OC and unpatched and repatched.

I also tried to install OC with "Feature Unlock = Enabled" (standard is = Partial (no AirPlay/Sidecar)).

WiFi and BT works fine, but I still can't get handoff and Watch Unlock to work.

 

[sveinung]

WiFi and BT works fine, but I still can't get handoff and Watch Unlock to work.

OK, partial success here:

I followed a guide suggesting to:

1. Disable Handoff on iMac
2. Reboot
3. Enable Handoff on iMac
4. Restart iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch

After about 5 minutes, Handoff between iPad and iMac seems to be working (more testing needed).