Upgrade to Bluetooth 5.0?
I know there is a 4.0 Bluetooth, but is it possible to upgrade to 5.0?
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You would need an external dongle that supports bluetooth 5, but yes. All bluetooth 5 devices are backwards compatible though, so they will already work with your bluetooth 4.
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Hello Ian,
Thank you for your answer. I now have a MacBook Pro 13” (early 2011). It has 2.0 Bluetooth at the moment. Can I change the card inside to a 5.0 card or a 4.2? Or is it only possible to change that airport card to 4.0?
Yes, if you get a later card that supports it and fits in your mac. There's guide of the replacement here:MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early 2011 AirPort/Bluetooth Board Replacement. I don't think you can get a card that supports beyond 4.0 from what I've seen.
@ian_ Is correct! You can go to Bluetooth 4.0 MacBook Pro Unibody (Early 2011-Mid 2012) AirPort/Bluetooth Board
There was a point you could have upgraded your internal AirPort board a few years ago to 4.1 for HandOff support. Broadcom did create a board that was a direct drop in. Sadly, it was an engineering run that no one picked up and Broadcom only did a limited run and that was it!
Given the connector interface used in this system is now no longer being used by Broadcom I don't see any 5.0 Bluetooth support ever coming to the older Mac's internally.
Ian and Dan,
Thank you for taking the time to answer. This is most helpful!
I would like to add that sadly both parts of this answer is sadly no longer true. I just bought a new pair of Audio-Technica bluetooth headphones, and (1) they support 5.0 but NOT 4.2, and (2) I haven't found ANY external USB 5.0 dongle that is compatible with Mac, and I've spend dozens of hours searching. :( This may be an increasing problem in the future. Even my iPad Pro only has 4.2.
Hey everyone I tried an external usb bluetooth adapter by NAXA,( #MD:3678-07-20180) I do not know where i got it(STAPLES-clearance?) but it worked. I was able to connect my Beats ( bluetooth earbuds to my macbook pro early 2011 /HighSierra 10.13.6. - Walmart has one Naxa NAXNAB4003B Naxa Nab-4003 Bluetooth Audio Adapter For Usb Connectors- $20.40 ? from Bobbze
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Ian and Dan,
Thank you both for your answer. It is most helpful!
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Richard HP crwdne2934271:0
Hey everyone I tried an external usb bluetooth adapter by NAXA,( #MD:3678-07-20180) I do not know where i got it(STAPLES-clearance?) but it worked. I was able to connect my Beats ( bluetooth earbuds to my macbook pro early 2011 /HighSierra 10.13.6. - Walmart has one Naxa NAXNAB4003B Naxa Nab-4003 Bluetooth Audio Adapter For Usb Connectors- $20.40 ? from Bobbze
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Kojo Z crwdne2934271:0