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2.0GHz, 2.3GHz, or 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache.

Questions about replacing AirPort card with a Qualcom Atheros AR9382

I have a macbook pro 15" retina display late 2013, which originally had an Apple AirPort card that was just a re-branded Broadcom BCM94360CS. Here's a photo of the card:

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I also run Linux on my macbook. My problem is that after upgrading my kernel, the broadcom-wl driver for this card (which was proprietary and quite outdated) no longer was working, and so I decided to get a wifi card that had FOSS Linux drivers for it. I have considered getting a separate USB wifi dongle, but I figured they would be quite cumbersome for me.

So, I found this Qualcom Atheros AR9382 wifi card (yes, it does require proprietary binary blobs, but only for Bluetooth - which I can just use a separate USB dongle for (and I don't use Bluetooth that much)). However, I've noticed that if you look carefully at the PCIe pins on both of the WiFi cards, you will notice that the AirPort card has 6 pins on the left side and the Qualcom card has 8 pins. Also, the size of the cards is different and the AirPort card has 3 antennas, while the Qualcom card has 2.

Also, my macbook only has 1 m.2 slot, which is already being used for the hard drive and yes, I have managed to remove the wifi card.

So, my questions are:

  1. Does the Broadcom BCM94360CS card use mini PCIe like the Qualcom Atheros AR9382?
  2. (Assuming that I can stretch out the antennas without breaking them) Is it possible to replace my old AirPort card with the Qualcom one?
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8 pins to 6 pins means something will get crossed over and a likely short circuit. Don't try it.

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@linuxusero98869 no, it is not. The Broadcom BCM94360 series has what looks to be a proprietary adapter. Here is the pinout of that adapter and what pin on a PCI-E adapter it would correspond to.

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compare to PCI-E

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