Mid 2011 Mac Mini and Handoff

Mac Mini 2011 used to be supported, and was announced as supported. But it looks like it's not anymore. See this link: Connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac using Continuity

I think you need iOS 8.1 which will be released shortly.

Under system requirements, you don't see the Mac mini 2011 mentioned at all because it no longer supports hand off. We all thought the requirement was simply Bluetooth 4.0 with the LMP version being 0x6. The Mac mini 2011 clearly has this. Yet Apple has made the 2012 models the earliest that can be used. This is a real shame since the hardware seems to be there. I am also trying to find out why Apple has put this limitation on the 2011 model.

Handoff uses Bluetooth. The other continuity stuff (phone calls and text messages) uses wifi, not Bluetooth, and is why you see it working fine.

edit. For some reason, my original link has been updated. When i click the link, half the time it has the computer requirements and half the time it does not. This is what I see on the support page:

System Requirements

Handoff and Instant Hotspot

Handoff and Instant Hotspot are supported by the following Mac models, and require OS X Yosemite:

• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 and later)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 and later)
• iMac (Late 2012 and later)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 and later)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013)

Handoff is supported by the following iOS devices and requires iOS 8. Instant Hotspot requires one of these iPhone or iPad devices with cellular connectivity and iOS 8.1. Instant Hotspot also requires Personal Hotspot service through your carrier.

• Phone 5 or later
• iPhone 4s (sharing iPhone calls only)
• iPad (4th generation), iPad Air, iPad Air 2
• iPad mini, iPad mini with Retina display, iPad mini 3
• iPod touch (5th generation)

Connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac using Continuity

There is a way to address this. I too have the problem on a Mac Mini Mid 2011 which should by all reason be able to work with continuity (handoff)

I found this on http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=20015070&postcount=609 which is a work around, however you must read all the instructions and be very careful. This is the work around fix. I should have loaded Yosemite Betas on the Mac Mini to test instead I was testing on my MBP and just kept the mini with Mavericks on.

I am unsure why Apple excluded the Mid 2011 Mac Mini and Air 2011, it may be because Beta testers generally use the latest machines or that the Mac Mini was too slow and perhaps unstable for purpose - I have no definitive answer and difficult to find one. I do suggest you show much caution, print the instructions, bookmark the link above and follow the instructions to the letter - no errors.

That is a pretty finely detailed fix for Mid 2011. Sure want a full backup before you try those steps!

Does any one have a fix for my mid 2010 Mac Mini they want to offer up? Or do I just forget Handoff?

Bob

The thing about the Mac mini 2011 is that it has the required hardware to run handoff, Bluetooth 4.0.

When you go to "about this Mac" and then your system profile, you'll be able to find out if your computer has the necessary hardware.

In post#1 you'll see that the LMP version is 0x6, and that it is low power Bluetooth. This means that it has what it needs for handoff. I do not believe the 2010 mini has the hardware necessary for it.

Depending on if it's an iMac or macbook etc, some 2011 models meet the specs and some 2012 models do. Instead of just supporting it, they decided to only support 2012 models and newer. I do not understand why they have chosen to go this route. I mean, I would like to believe it isn't just a ploy to upgrade when the hardware is already there.

Thanks for the link. Looks a bit scary but might give it a shot because I've never felt more annoyed by apple and i am as big of a fan boy as they come. I cannot comprehend why they would leave out the mac mini and MacBook Air 2011 versions other than a money grab to upgrade. For all the necessary hardware to be there, yet to instead just go with 2012+ for a non-existsnt reason is truly maddening.

If I am successful, do you know if this can be patched by apple. That is, if I upgrade Yosemite to 10.10.1 or whatever upgrades might come, is it a risk that it'll no longer work? I guess there's probably no way to know for sure but thought I would ask. Thanks Again.

Yes if you do update to a higher version the patch will be gone, I suggest you make a backup of the file as indicated on the link. I suggest you read the content of the whole link and comments. I see it is easy to mess up and get wrong. The person that wrote the tutorial also messed up and rewrote the tutorial. Read the whole thing, you will be aware of common mistakes - try and avoid them.

Let me know if you are working.🙂

You can buy 4.0 adaptors, see the comments on the above link, it is pretty in depth and does refer to adapters.

Thanks finelineagencies. Are you saying a 4.0 Adapter might allow my old 2010 Mini to work with handoff? I missed that in the preceding string, don't see it now either, sorry.

If you look towards the bottom of the screen of the above link, you will see comments, go through them, somewhere in the comments you will see the question regarding adapters.

Thanks for posting this. I have a mac mini 2011 with the proper bluetooth hardware and I don't understand why we can't enable handoff. I haven't done the extensive workaround posted above, but I would like some other's opinions of it Thanks