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Hi I have the 13 inch early 2011 macbook pro. I've been searching but can't find any compatible parts to upgrade my wifi card to 802.11ac. Currently the highest is N.
Has anyone done this with this model or know where I can find the compatible parts for it? Everything I've seen is for 2012 and up.
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Sadly it all comes down to the AirPort cards connection.
If you review the one yours has it uses a surface mount, while the newer units use an edge connector. BroadCom the manufacture of the part only made a limited number of AC boards with the surface connector which have long since disappeared to the winds. Apple never contracted them to make a production run of the part so only the engineering samples were available.
So where does that leave you?? You'll need to do some deep digging to try to find one or consider using a dongle. Even with a dongle the amount of performance gain will be slight. And if you where looking at Hand Off services they won't work with the WiFi dongle.
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If you're looking for the newer Hand-Off, Universal Clipboard and Instant Hotspot services than according to bsmulders.com (https://bsmulders.com/2016/11/macbook-20...) what your 2011 MBP needs is an inexpensive but tricky for some, Bluetooth 4.0 upgrade from your factory 2.1. That will allow you to enable 'Continuity' from Apple's new OS.
Heres the IFIXIT part: MacBook Pro Unibody (Early 2011 through Mid 2012) AirPort/Bluetooth Board 4.0 This is still a 802.11n board not the newer 802.11ac board.
That's right Dan. What Dan's saying is that although this hardware upgrade is avail. you'll get all the added features I listed (Mac 'Connectivity') But like Dan mentioned in his 11/23/2016 answer: since only Mac Airport Extreme 'n' boards are available for pre-2012 MBPro models and not an 'ac' version which only work on the later edge mount boards you won't benefit from the dual band antennas (2.7MHz + 5MHz) most modern router or WLAN signal extenders come with to get you better WiFi speeds.
Thanks Dan! :D
PS: Sadly, as far as I know, no aftermarket companies have been able to take advantage of this untapped market for surface mount 802.11ac Mac boards.
Easiest answer/solution is to just buy the smallest usb ABGN and AC compatible usb wifi adapter. I bought a tiny netgear branded one that's really small so very in-obtrusive and doesn't stick out 3 inches like some and it picks up AC wifi at my home or anywhere else that has it and it's MUCH faster....I only really use it when downloading large files N is perfectly finefor streaming netflix etc so I don't use it full time but it's nice to speed up those large downloads or move large files on my local intranet at home to my backup drive shared over my network plugged into my AC router's USB 3.0 port. it's waaaaay faster for those backus than the build in draft N but for most things N is perfectly cpable and most hotspots like Starbucks etc are so slow you wouldn't gain much if anything on their free wifi anyways. Most places publicly don't offer dual band even or know what it is. They ust plug in a router and share it and it crawls lol.
On the contrary! Most don't offer MacOS drivers.
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Hi! Peter
It does not make sense for me to change a card if it's working fine, but if you are looking is more speed try update and a deep cleaning of the MAC OS system (Maybe the web browser is obsolete) and this helps a little or you can try buying a external USB or Dongle Wifi Antenna more faster.
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his web browser wouldn't be obsolete at all in a 2011 macbook pro. Safari latest version still runs on that year machine and is updated frequently. He simply needs a USB dongle that has AC wifi and turn off the internal one when using the dongle to ensure he's on the faster dual band. Bluetooth will still be one even though they are all built into the same card, you can turn off wifi and still have bluetooth capabilities etc.
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Possibly someone has designed a surface mount to side mount adapter? Doesn’t sound too complicated to manufacture. And there’s plenty of space in the MacBook body if the user is willing to replace the dated DVD Burner for a much smaller Hard Drive. If that existed I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
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I’d like to update my previous answer! There is in fact a guy that creates custom 802.11 AC Wifi Cards for Unibody Macs! I have one installed in my 2012 MacBook Pro and Apple Watch unlock works perfectly. Here is a link to their website. Availability is quite rare. https://subtle.design/products/80211ac
He's been out of stock for over a year now.
@danj Negative; we've only been out of stock for a couple months due to Covid.
@subtledesign - I guess its been my bad luck every time I look you're out ;-}
When are you expecting new product?
@danj Soon! In the final assembly phase and then another round of testing after that. Be sure to sign up for the waitlist feature to be notified :)
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The only way is a USB adapter that's MacOS capable. They're out there and there's some very small ones too.
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Excuse me, Dan. What are those modules you talk wiith surface connectors and AC? Is it possible to buy one in the second hand market? Do you have the model number?
Thanks
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Search "USB AC wifi adapter" for Mac on Amazon. I've bought several. NOT AT work so don't know models offhand. You won't find an internal option to replace your WiFi card. They haven't made any for such machines. You can disable the airport card and use a USB AC wifi adapter to achieve the same result but disabling the airport card will kill Bluetooth also so I'd just get a 10-20.00 USB AC wifi card on Amazon or wherever and just choose it in your WiFi connections as the default device.
Thank you so much, but I was talking of those few modules Broadcom made with AC and the same connector. I have now my Macbook with a BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX and it has Handoff, Bluetooth LE and Instant Hotspot support. But as it´s not 802.11AC ,so Apple Watch can ´t unblock my laptop.
Much appreciated.
Sorry Trifero, Broadcom did an engineering run of aprx 1000 boards, nothing more with the needed surface mount connector Vs the edge type.
Well, I solved this problem in my two Macbook Pro 17” 2011. Same solution applies to 13” ones.
Airdrop, continuity, etc, as well as Unlock with Apple Watch works now.
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