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LEOMODE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2009
564
57
Southern California
Is there any way I can update my Mac Pro 7,1 with either Wifi6E or 7 chip? Is external USB dongle the only method? I've done this before when I had a 5,1 with the PCIE card upgrade but I am wondering about 7,1. Thanks.
 

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,454
13,601
Apple AX chipsets are soldered into the logic board, no cards that you can replace.

AX PCIe cards have no macOS drivers, when you install a PCIe card it usually works only with Linux or Windows.

Btw, even for the Wi-Fi 802.11ax chipsets that have open source drivers that work with macOS, like for some of the Intel AX chipsets, the performance is considerably inferior when compared with Apple Broadcom 802.11ac chipsets and the cards stop working after you enter sleep. https://openintelwireless.github.io/

Forget 802.11ax compatible cards and macOS.
 
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LEOMODE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2009
564
57
Southern California
Apple AX chipsets are soldered into the logic board, no cards that you can replace.

AX PCIe cards have no macOS drivers, when you install a PCIe card it usually works only with Linux or Windows.

Btw, even for the Wi-Fi 802.11ax chipsets that have open source drivers that work with macOS, like for some of the Intel AX chipsets, the performance is considerably inferior when compared with Apple Broadcom 802.11ac chipsets and the cards stop working after you enter sleep. https://openintelwireless.github.io/

Forget 802.11ax compatible cards and macOS.

Thanks for the thorough information. Since I use Windows 11 more than Mac OS, I guess the only way would be to add an external PCIE card. It is unfortunate that this time for 7,1 they soldered it. Wasn't Mac Pro supposed to be modular :)
 
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