Description
802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2 upgrade, utilizing the Broadcom BCM4360 chipset, for the following Unibody Mac notebooks (non Retina):
- 13″ MacBook Pro – Early 2011 through Mid 2012 – Model A1278
- 15″ MacBook Pro – Mid 2010 through Mid 2012 – Model A1286
- 17″ MacBook Pro – Mid 2010 through Late 2011 – Model A1297
- 13″ White MacBook – Late 2009 through Mid 2010 – Model A1342
This upgrade unlocks faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi speeds – up to 1300 Mbps⁺ with 3×3 MIMO capability, and Bluetooth 4.2. Documentation/Instructions page here.
Made in USA and installs easily.
Packaged in a hard, ESD-safe, foam-lined container.
Support for other computers and operating systems is neither documented nor guaranteed. Some users have reported success with Windows using Boot Camp.
⁺1300 Mbps was tested with laptop placed next to an AirPort Extreme model A1521.
mike-1312 (verified owner) –
Very easy to install on my mid-2012 non-retina MacBook Pro 15. 5 minutes? Loved that I didn’t have to deal with the original bracket—sent that whole assembly to recycling.
Rebooted, everything just worked over Catalina including Internet Recovery.
I know a few people who still use these old MBPs. Gonna tell ’em to get on the wait list.
032804230618 (verified owner) –
These are a fantastic upgrade for your 13″ or 15″ Unibody MacBook Pros. I have played with a few of these and installation is very simple.
It works great with Catalina (The last officially supported, macOS release for Mid 2012 models), but if you want to try and install macOS Big Sur I am happy to report that as of this review Big Sur immediately recognizes these cards without any post installation patches needed for the module itself. Whether it is the extended range or speed, you WILL notice a dramatic improvement in your WiFi on your MacBook Pro.
These cards will help extend the life of these reliable machines and if you search online you will soon find out that this works with Windows via a bootcamp installation. Be sure to download the files that are easily found via a google search and you will continue to enjoy the new card on Windows 10 and beyond in this machine long after Apple drops all support for Intel processors.
drtidmore (verified owner) –
I installed this card in my mid 2012 15″ 2.3Ghz MBP with the intent on moving my MBP to macOS 11, Big Sur. This machine has had numerous upgrades over the years so one more was no big deal.
As anticipated, the card fired right up in Catalina and I had full 802.11ac. I chose to use Bensova’s Patched-Sur to facilitate the move to macOS 11. The installation was smooth as silk. As was the case in Catalina, macOS 11.0.1 had no issues with the new WiFi card.
Bluetooth was a bit rocky in macOS11.0.1 for everyone and I basically avoided depending on BT. BT would always fire up and run until the OS was coming out of sleep mode and then all bets were off. Once I updated to macOS 11.1, BT stabilized and I was once again able to depend on things like Continuity, watch wakeup, etc.
I continue to be delighted with the Subtle Design’s WiFi card and have recommended it to several other mac users holding onto their mid 2012 MBPs (IMHO the best MBP Apple every designed).
Thanks so much for giving us a way to continue enjoying our now orphaned MBPs for at least another year and hopefully longer.
david
mike-1312 (verified owner) –
Update. I installed a second one on another 2012 MBP i7. This one had slow 802.11n Wifi and faulty BT. This upgrade went as well as the other. Thanks again!
With new batteries, RAM and these upgraded Wifi/BT cards, there’s a lot of life left in these old machines.
oram2697 (verified owner) –
I waited A LONG time for this amazing upgrade for my 2012 MBP i7. It’s WORTH IT! This wifi card is a MUST for upgrade economically alternative at affordable price and it easy to install!!
4 operating systems on this laptop have no problems detecting this wifi card and it working under following: MacOS – Catalina and BigSur. WIndows – 10 & 11 without clean install potentially
I’m happy with this product!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++++++++
lightrack (verified owner) –
Finally I have got this card and installed it in my MacBook Pro 15″ mid 2012 (i7, 16Gb, two SSD: 128Gb and 4Tb (instead of DVD, in OWC Data Doubler))! Now I have super fast WiFi 802.11ac and an opportunity to unlock my mac with Apple Watch 🙂 This is really awesome!!!
By the way, with Bensova’s Patched-Sur I updated from Catalina to Big Sur 11.5.2 without any problems, no kexts were required. Amazing! 🙂
Benny Istanto (verified owner) –
It takes 7 days to arrive using DHL to IDN.
Following the guideline, it’s very easy to install inside my old 2011 MBP 13″, disable the SIP, run the bash script, enable the SIP (this is not recommended as the guideline said, but I want the SIP is enabled). Check the handoff, still not working.
Then sign out and in for the iCloud in both Mac and iPhone, then Voila!
Everything is works.
I just realised the airdrop in my Mac now recognise my iPhone 12.
Richard Rominger (verified owner) –
Installed in MBP Mid 2012 (9,1) A1286. While not recommended/supported by Subtle I am running Monterey via Open Core Legacy Patcher. The new module was fairly easy to install and opening up this MBP and working inside is easy too. I wished the module would have fit in the original Wifi/Bluetooth bracket but you can’t have everything! I used Scotch Double-Coated Tape (665) to keep it on the “CD shelf”. Do note the bubble package has a QR code to scan to get to the instructions. I am a idiot and missed that.
Getting fast speeds via speedtest ookla!
Bluetooth connecting to AirPod Pro, Good
AirPlay from iPhone 12 Pro Max to MBP 2012 Good
AirPlay MBP 2012 from/to MBP 16 in 2019 Good
AirPlay MBP 2012 to LG LCD & LED 4K TVs Good
Hand off MBP 2012 to/from iPhone 12/MBP 2019 Good
Apple 7 Watch Unlock – unknown, waiting on UPS Late arrival and I already gave my Apple Watch 5 to a family member :'( I am really hoping this works…. I’ve read it should.
AirPlay to Apple TV 4k (two different ones in my home) Black Screen but have audio. I am not convinced at all it is the module fault, since Airplay works in all other scenarios.
MBP 2012 to iPad Pro extend screen, dodgy at best, if it connects at all without errors. Though that is about how it worked before I put in the new module. So no loss and no gain there. I expect this is because of something else lacking in the MBP 2012.
Lastly, thank you to Subtle, we had some email correspondence and they replies were really fast and friendly. They are also pretty much local to me (or that is where shipping happened). So I am happy to support local business!
Richard Rominger (verified owner) –
review update, wished I could give 6 stars!
Got my Apple Watch 7 Series in and it unlocks my MBP Mid 2012 (9,1) A1286 running Monterey via Open Core Legacy Patcher! I didn’t need to do a thing, just check the box on after I setup my Apple Watch! Not one thing extra to do from the listed instructions for unlocking from Apple Watch 🙂
Oh update on Wifi. The MBP Mid 2012 (9,1) A1286 BEATS my new(er) MBP 16 in 2019 in Speedtest by Ookla. I ran the test with the laptops about 5 feet apart, multiple times and insuring they where connecting to the same main hub of EERO. Not once did my new(er) MBP 2016 beat the updated MBP 2012. How crazy is that? For the record my Wifi is a EERO MESH with Spectrum Business Internet. Which my EERO internal speed tests run around 230~250 per night.
MBP Mid 2012 ~ 225 Mbps
MBP 2019 ~ 210 Mpbs
willrjernigan (verified owner) –
Early 2011 MacBook Pro 15″ YES!!!!!
To Whom It May Concern,
My Early 2011 MacBook Pro now has blazing fast WiFi, and Handoff/airdrop with new iPhones with no glitches as of the first 24 hours. I installed the card with El Capitan. followed the instructions on the info page. It took a few tries to get handoff working but this was caused by iCloud sign in delays. So when you get yours follow all the Handoff instructions and at the end just sign in and out of iCloud on all your devices and then wait about 30 mins and take a break. If handoff doesn’t work when you come back then just try again. So after I got that working- I upgraded to High Sierra. great. card still works perfectly no issues. OK now now a certain fruity company has removed all my apps from the purchased screen – I can’t get any word processing….. I can’t even get MS office. So I am thinking wow I have this great reinvigorated machine with a lousy version of Safari and I am going to write in Apple Notes lol. Naturally I patched OS 11 Big Sur- clean install on a new 1TB SSD. (hint you need to look up – how to disable dGPU and follow the instructions on that for it to work on these MacBooks 15″ & 17″ or you will get stuck in a login loop) All the features that make that little extra difference are finally working. I have hoped someone would make this card upgrade for years! I just haven’t shopped around lately, the laptop has sat on the shelf for years as I have used my windows machine.
If you have an old Mac or are thinking about buying a refurb – GET THIS CARD!!!! I buy a new ssd and this card for a couple hundred bucks and I basically have a new ******* computer straight from the apple store. Runs like a new machine and the patcher is getting really good results at the time of writing. you will not regret having the safari (and other apps)handoff and airdrop.
Wow what a lengthy review but man this is a great product. Been wanting this for years.
asherman_07 (verified owner) –
I had been watching this site for a good while waiting for this to stock. As time went on and my ADHD kicked in I forgot. Luckily I was go through my passwords and this site came flooding back to me. I toyed with the idea for a couple days and checked stock and said one left! So I put my order in.
I’ve been waiting all week for this to come, even went home on my lunch break to put it inside my house. I raced home after work grab my tools and got to work. The install was super easy. If you have this MacBook you’ve opened this thing more than a couple times it’s a walk in the park. Hardest part was peeling back the tape and routing the cable out because these parts at delicate. Also finding the double sided tape to mount it. I just recently upgrade to Monterey so I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do a clean install and I didn’t! Everything worked as soon as I enabled it. It hasn’t even been 2 hours and I’m blown away with everything! The design is great, I even though about drilling out the old bracket to mount the the module as it looks like one of the screws will hold it in place.
My only complain is I check the stock today and one still in stock.🤔😋😂
drtidmore (verified owner) –
This is follow-on to my earlier review. I rode macOS 11 thru 11.6.5 and decided to see IF macOS 12 could be installed. With multiple backups on hand (SuperDuper, CCC, Time Machine), I 1st did a clean install of Monterey using open core patcher to an external SSD just to see how the mid 2012 mac performed. All seemed well including networking, so I wiped my internal SSD and installed macOS 12.0.1 using open core patcher.
The reason I wanted to do this update is that subtle design’s 802.1ac+BT4.2 card is recognized immediately by macOS 12 without any patching necessary. Of course Apple’s Continuity features also work as expected. Doing this networking hardware upgrade on this machine certainty bought additional use longevity for this workhouse (15″ mid 2012 MBP)
david
drtidmore (verified owner) –
Just a further update on my success with this card. I am now running macOS13.1 on my MBP 9,1 (mid 2012 15″ non retina) using Open Core Patcher OCP). This card is now the ONLY option for WiFi support on legacy non support macs as Ventura broke the WiFi hardware patch that OCP had offered for releases prior to Ventura. With this card, no issues whatsoever.
I would like to add that with Ventura, unlock with Watch, which had been a hit or miss proposition with previous releases and this card, is now ROCK SOLID.
ed.thompson (verified owner) –
Absolute stellar support in the sales department. Perfect comms and they rapidly worked through a shipping address issue due to an FPO address. Card works great too, I am very happy with the purchase and Subtle Design overall. Highly recommended.