BCM94360CS2 Hackintosh Guide: Native WiFi with Wireless 3 Cards

The BCM94360CS2: A Baseline for Native WiFi

The BCM94360CS2, a 2×2 802.11ac card pulled from a 2013 MacBook Air, is still the easiest wireless upgrade for a Hackintosh targeting macOS 10.9 through 10.15. It works natively—no kexts needed for WiFi, though Bluetooth still requires BrcmPatchRAM and BrcmFirmwareData. This card, along with its larger siblings (BCM94360CD – 3×3, BCM94360CS – 2×2, BCM943602CS – 3×3 with Bluetooth 4.0), are what the community loosely calls “Wireless 3” – the third generation of Hackintosh-compatible wireless solutions. They offer full native compatibility with Apple’s AirPort driver and support for AirDrop, Handoff, and iMessage continuity features.

Why “Wireless 3” Matters for Legacy Hackintosh Builds

Early Hackintosh builds used third-party chipsets (Atheros, Ralink, Intel) and required patched airport kexts or unix drivers. The first generation (Wireless 1) relied on USB dongles with limited macOS support. The second generation (Wireless 2) brought PCIe-based Broadcom cards like the BCM94331 (802.11n) but needed extra kexts for Bluetooth. Wireless 3, using the Broadcom BCM94360 family, works natively out of the box on macOS 10.8 and later. For a legacy build running High Sierra, Mojave, or even Catalina, this saves you from patching IO80211Family.kext – the most common WiFi headache.

The trade-off: these cards are often sold as pulled Mac parts, so you need to inspect the connector type (M.2, mini-PCIe, or soldered antenna cables) and buy the correct adapter.

Card Selection: Connectors, Antennas, and Bluetooth

Wireless 3 cards work because they use the Apple BCM94360 chipset. Below is a table of common models, their physical form factor, and typical usage:

Most desktop users buy a “BCM94360CD” or “BCM943602CS” already mounted on a PCIe adapter card from third-party sellers. These adapters often include four antenna connectors (two for WiFi, two for Bluetooth) and a USB header for Bluetooth. Make sure the adapter has a USB cable for the Bluetooth interface – without it, Bluetooth won't appear in macOS. The BCM94360CS2, often used in laptop upgrades, can also work in a desktop via a mini-PCIe to PCIe x1 adapter, but you must connect the Bluetooth USB lines.

Installation and Configuration for Legacy macOS

Required Kexts

WiFi works out of the box, but Bluetooth needs two kexts:

• BrcmPatchRAM3 (for macOS 10.14+) or BrcmPatchRAM2 (for 10.11–10.13) – uploads firmware to the Broadcom Bluetooth chip.
• BrcmFirmwareData – provides the firmware blob.

For macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and later, you may also need BrcmBluetoothInjector or BrcmNonPatchRAM2 depending on the exact chip revision. Start with a minimal EFI: place the kexts in EFI/OC/Kexts (OpenCore) or /System/Library/Extensions (Clover) and rebuild cache. After booting, check System Information > Bluetooth to confirm it appears.

Configuring for Continuity (AirDrop, Handoff)

Wireless 3 cards natively use the Broadcom BCM4360 PCIe vendor ID (0x14E4, 0x43A0). In most cases, AirDrop works immediately without any additional patches. If not, check these:

1. Ensure both WiFi and Bluetooth are enabled in System Preferences.
2. Verify the card’s firmware is correctly uploaded (check IORegistry for IO80211Controller and BCM4360).
3. If your SMBIOS didn't come with this card (e.g., MacPro6,1), you may need to inject airport properties in ACPI or config.plist. For OpenCore, add DeviceProperties with Add for the PCIe device path, setting compatible to pci14e4,43a0.

If you are using Clover, the same injection can be done in config.plist under Devices > Properties.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

WiFi Not Detected

If the card doesn't show up in System Information, check the physical connection. The PCIe adapter must be fully seated. For mini-PCIe adapters, verify the card is oriented correctly – the key notch must align. On some motherboards, a BIOS setting may disable the PCIe slot if it's a legacy PCIe 2.0 slot; try a different slot. Also make sure the card isn't a “fake” BCM94360CS2 – some sellers rebrand BCM94352 chips. Check the device ID in IORegistryExplorer; a genuine BCM94360 will show 0x43A0.

Bluetooth Shows No Hardware

Almost always a missing USB connection. The Bluetooth controller on the card is a separate USB device. If your adapter doesn't have a USB cable plugged into a motherboard USB 2.0 header, Bluetooth won't work. Alternatively, you may need to enable the USB port in your config.plist by adding the port address (usually HS01 or HS02). For OpenCore, use UEFI > Quirks > ReleaseUsbOwnership and XhciPortLimit set to true (if on macOS 10.15 or earlier).

Slow WiFi Speeds

Check that your antennas have the right connectors (IPEX MHF4 for M.2 cards, U.FL for mini-PCIe). Poor antenna placement can cause low signal. Also, the card may be limited to 2.4 GHz only if the 5 GHz antenna is not connected. Use a WiFi analyzer to confirm the card is connecting to a 5 GHz network. For BCM94360CD 3×3 cards, you need three antennas to achieve full 1.3 Gbps; with only two, the rate drops to 867 Mbps.

Preserving Your Configuration for Future Rebuilds

Once you have a working setup, save these:

• The exact kext versions and their checksums (SHA256).
• The EFI folder with the device properties injection (if any).
• A screenshot of System Information > Network > WiFi showing the firmware version and card model.
• IORegistry dump of the IO80211Controller.

This helps if you rebuild the same Hackintosh with a different macOS version. For example, moving from High Sierra to Mojave may require a newer BrcmPatchRAM version. Having the archived configuration lets you compare differences and isolate the change.

Put the kexts in a folder called Wireless3_Archive on a backup drive. Label the adapter card with its model and the firmware version. Same idea as our Storage Compatibility Guide – that guide focuses on storage, but the methodology applies to any component.

Final Note: Testing Before Full Deployment

Test any new card on a spare macOS install first. Boot from a USB installer with a minimal EFI containing only the necessary kexts. If the card works there, it'll work in your full build. That way you won't waste hours debugging a dead card in your main machine.