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Auto Unlock an Older Mac With the Apple Watch Using This Hack

Auto Unlock an Older Mac With the Apple Watch Using This Hack

October 11, 2016

The Apple Watch auto unlock feature only works on mid-2013 or new Macs. But Redditor jjborcean has figured out a hack for automatically unlocking his late 2012 Retina MacBook Pro with his Apple Watch.

He explains:

Auto Unlock in watchOS 3 / macOS Sierra is only supported on mid-2013 or newer Mac models. Have an older Mac? You can get auto unlock working with a quick hardware upgrade!

The part you need is a newer AirPort card that supports AC wireless, for my late-2012 RMBP I used the following card:

Amazon.com – Broadcom BCM4360

Shut down your mac and disconnect the power, then proceed to open up your Mac. If you have a Retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Air you will need a P5 screwdriver to open the bottom case. Once inside simply replace the existing AirPort card with your new AC card.

Check out the album for photos!

auto unlock

Please note, I have not tried this myself, and I don’t have an older Mac on which to test this procedure. Proceed at your own risk. You can read the entire Reddit post and the comments here.