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Mac Os X Intel Wifi Driver: Support for Intel Wi-Fi 6E and Gig+ Devices



1 Each package contains different versions of the driver for different adapters.A driver-only package is provided for Windows 10. Refer to the following link for latest available drivers for the Intel Wireless 7265 Family (Rev.C), Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 and Intel Wireless 7260 Family adapters here.2 Support only 64-Bit of the OS.


People who follow me should know I have another Intel Wi-Fi Kext Repository AppleIntelWifiAdapter (opens new window) which is based on Linux's iwlwifi code; so far the Kext can upload firmware for Intel Wi-Fi cards of 3, 7, 8, 9, ax series and do simple RX & TX I/O. Because the integrated 80211 ported from OpenBSD in that project has so many things that require testing, I came up with the idea of porting the entire iwm driver from OpenBSD. This repo is the result. Since I ported Linux drivers before, the porting progress is extremely smooth this time. It only took half a day to port the entire code and then I spent roughly one month to tweak it.




Mac Os X Intel Wifi Driver



Firmware drivers are drivers used by OpenCore in the UEFI environment. They're mainly required to boot a machine, either by extending OpenCore's patching ability or showing you different types of drives in the OpenCore picker(ie. HFS drives).


That said, there seems to have been an open source effort to compile Linux Intel drivers for Mac OS X as seen here. But note that the versions of Mac OS X referred to are Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5; nothing more modern.


Now, if you try binary drivers that would be like -- pardon my 'car' comparisons -- getting some materials for a car seat (according to specs for brand A) and trying to build (compile) the car seat for brand B. If the two car brands are compatible in area of car seats, than you would probably make it and it might actually work. But if you try to build race car seat from materials for 20 year old car, you're gonna have a rough ride, if not crash and injure yourself.


Installation meaning getting a driver for a piece of hardware loaded in to the kernel. OS X works by using so called kernel extensions (.kext files, or officially, 'packages' because that is what they are) to add functionality to the kernel. A driver is such an addition, and the functionality being the ability to drive a piece of hardware.


If you were to try to mix and match binary files (because that is what kernel extensions, modules and drivers are) it would not work because they are not compatible with the kernel and in some cases the processor that needs to execute the code. This compatibility with the kernel is where we arrive at the ABI and API part: those interfaces are like gas, water and electrical connections. Let's say Windows is gas, Linux is electricity and OS X is water. If you were to try and plug in a Linux electrical plug in to OS X's water faucet, you will not get anything to work. Water doesn't flow trough an electrical plug, and an electrical plug doesn't get any electricity from water.


If you were to try to load a linux driver (which is called a kernel module) in to the OS X kernel, by using kextload from a command line on OS X, it would simply tell you that it doesn't know what to do with the file you supplied. There is no forcing there, it simply cannot do anything with that file, just like you cannot force a light bulb to work from your water tap at home.


As a side note, if you have some USB devices that only supply Linux driver but no OS X driver, you may consider using the device by running Linux in a virtual machine (VirtualBox?) then forward the USB connection from your Mac to the Linux VM.


Hello . I know that intel is not supp by osx and wifi kext is to compile. But i would like to spend 1,2h of daily free time on creating a kext that can let us able to use our internal intel wifi cards!


BCM94360CD Is the card that people are using on 09,10 and 11 iMacs. Osxwifi sells a kit for your model that's $170 USD. Personally I think that's crazy. You can find all the parts you need to upgrade much cheaper on eBay or amazon


So much for that... Nice to know, - the minimum Mac OS X version will be different. Because of the needed 802.11ac drivers the lowest supported OS will be 10.8 Mountain Lion, recommended is Mac OS Mavericks 10.9 and later.


Some last words to the (2015) BCM943602CS combo card. Main difference to the BCM94360CSAX combo card is support for Bluetooth 4.1. The BCM943602CS card will NOT work under OS X Mavericks 10.9, - it needs OS X Yosemite 10.10 or later. There exist also no official Windows 7 support from Apple for that combo card. The available Windows 10 drivers seems to have currently some stability issues (as of December 2016).


[I have a 2007 imac 20"] - If you have pictures of your install of the combo card / adapter and any tips, I would be very appreciative. Updated my main CPU to a 9300 and installed the combo card ( BCM94360CS) and adapter but although my wifi works, my bluetooth function is not registering in ElCapitan anymore. I even tried changing the antenna leads (J1 & J2) but this did not work. Any suggestions since you had the same setup? Thanks for any help.


Making the switch to wireless ac is worthwhile and the best way to go about it is just as you are doing by updating one device at a time as the opportunity presents itself. Since wireless ac is compatible with all previous forms of wifi, interconnectivity will not be a problem. There is one issue with using the Intel 7260 card in your specific computer, though. I have read somewhere that the 7260 will only work on Intel Haswell-based computers. I believe it even mentions that on the Intel web site.


Interesting topic, - but even if the card will fit physically, the main problem with the Intel 7260ac card is the missing driver support in Mac OS X. So far I know there is currently absolutely no Intel Wi-Fi driver available.


Well I can confirm that the Intel 7260ac card (with Bluetooth 4.0) does NOT require an Intel only or Intel Haswell-based system. I installed it at an Acer Aspire One 721, AMD Athlon II Neo CPU based Netbook. It works with latest Intel drivers absolutely perfect!!


Hi Dan, My English is not perfect, but the question was "Can I swap out the original wifi card for an Intel 7260 card that gets 802.11ac?" For me that sounds like Paul would try to replace his existing original 802.11n Wifi card by an Intel 7260 802.11ac card. Is this misunderstood?


I think you mixing things here. Depending on the iMac series you will have a PC Card or mSATA or now the M.2. In this model its a PC Card. But just because you have a standards based interface does not mean the OS can access the board. This is where the addressing is defined by the systems firmware (EFI). Different board manufactures use different addresses. While the same vendor may reuse the same address so as an example Broadcom different series boards will have the same memory address but it will be different than Intels' board. So swapping over between different Broadcom boards is more likely (Apple may even ask them to give them a special bd as well which they have in a few cases). Lastly, as you noted the OS drivers are an issue. Does Intel offer a OS-X driver (or did some one hack one together)? Not that I know of. So the bottom line here: I don't see this as a workable solution. And as you pointed out the antenna limitations also limit the benefit. Don't waste your time and money.


Hi Guys, I know this is an older post so I apologize for hijacking it. I bought an Early 2009 iMac, 24", 2.66Ghz. I removed the WD 1TB hdd and replaced it with a 2TB SSHD. As above I would also like to possibly update my wifi card. I have a 240mb Fiber Optic connection. With unlimited downloads. At the moment this iMac is getting between 17mb and 24mb speed. My phone gets 50mb over the wifi, and my laptop which is an Acer Aspire 5750 gets 90mb speed. So if I put a gigabit wireless card in this iMac will i get better than 24mb. Thanks for the help.


I have just upgraded to wifi AC and Bluetooth 4 using the kit from osxwifi.com and the ifixit and osxwifi guides. Awkward but straightforward and everything is working perfectly, including continuity, etc. Also, mouse, keyboard etc are working much better.


thank you for your support, clemens and olivier. i just ordered all the parts and am looking forward to installing the new wifi card. probably in one month from now... when everything will have arrived hopefully. i will repost on my success/failure =)


Hello, I just launched in the upgrade of my iMac 20 '' mid 2007. I ordered the wifi card BCM94360CSAX, as well as antenna adapters and wifi card adapter. The Bluetooth works correctly but the wifi does not work, it looks but can not find a network. I'm in wifi 2.4 GHz at home, do you have a solution?


Hi Seb & Clemens. In the midst of 2007 imac 20" upgrade also. Installed new 9300 cpu. installed wifi card BCM94360CSAX, as well as antenna adapters and wifi card adapter. El CApitan starts well. Problem is opposite of Seb - using J0 = WHITE, J1 = Black, J2 = Blue (like Clemens said), my wifi works fine but my bluetooth is non functioning (not available). Removed original bluetooth module from logic board also. I imagine this was needed. Is there any solution you could think of to get Bluetooth working again? DO I try Seb's antenna pattern above (J1 = Blue, etc.)? If I do switch them, how hard is it to unclip the snap connection on J1 and J2 on the connectors? If I don't use bluetooth, other than hooking up peripherys, are there other newer functions that use bluetooth that I would be missing out on? Because if it is too hard, I will just use a USB dongle type keyboard. ANy ideas/help appreciated. Thanks all.


has anybody ever had bluetooth problems after the upgrade of the wifi/bt card and sierra? i use a logitech bluetooth keyboard and mouse and get some stuttering/lag of the cursor from time to time. same setup as before the upgrade, where it never occured. 2ff7e9595c


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