I have a late 2007 iMac running OSX 10.11.6 El Capitan. I cannot pair my new Air Pods to my computer. Is this possible?
iMac, OS X 10.11
Your new AirPods are not compatible with your vintage iMac.
Bluetooth 5 is the spec.
Here is the spec sheet for the AirPods:
Yes. My iMac 2007 is 15 years old, but there is nothing wrong with it. Contrary to what the "experts"say, I found a You Tube article that detailed how to pair a new pair of Air Pods to my ancient computer. Simply put AirPods in their case and open the lid. Press and hold the button on the back of the case until you see the status light between the two Air Pods pulsing white; then let go. Your Air Pods should show up on the "add a device" window. Click to pair and connect Air Pods to old iMac.
Please look at the system requirements for your AirPods and if they meet or later exceed them then post error your are getting.
By the way have you considered a new Mac, yours is almost 15 years old!
No, it doesn't work that way. Computer technology rapidly evolves and changes. One cannot expect a 15-year-old computer (ancient by technology standards) to continue to interface/connect to modern devices with protocols (like Bluetooth) which have different power/data requirements that your 15-year-old hardware simply doesn't support.
Bluetooth on your iMac is much different compatibility-wise compared to modern Bluetooth. That's the blunt reality. That you found some random YouTube video saying the contrary is irrelevant and questionable at best. It's unsupported but not to say that you can't try.
Long story short:
1st-gen AirPods require at the minimum MacOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later.
2nd-gen Airport require at the minimum MacOS 10.14 (Mohave) or later.
AirPods Pro require MacOS 10.15 (Catalina)
The latest MacOS you can have on your 2007 iMac is 10.11 El Capitan. That's it. Nothing more to add.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208718
That doesn't mean your iMac is suddenly inoperable or unusable. You have to have realistic expectations about what you can do with your 15-year-old computer. It's great that it's still working for you. If this is the first time you had a problem with connecting a new device to it, then luck is on your side. If there's a hack to get them to work on your old machine, you're on your own.
No. AirPods are compatible with iMacs from 2012 and forward. Your 2007 iMac is 14 years old, and the Bluetooth spec is far too old to work with AirPods.
Pairing Air Pods to older iMac
