Chosen Solution
I want to remove the WIFI/Bluetooth Card from the MacBook Air 11" (2013).
- Can this be done safely?
- And which tools are necessary?
- And can the MacBook Air function without the Card? (If curious, this is an attempt to create an ‘impenetrable’ Laptop for anywhere –a serious tool for work.)
Yes, with the correct tools one can remove the WiFi (AirPort) & Bluetooth board from the logic board. Follow this IFIXIT guide on the process and the needed tools MacBook Air 11" Mid 2013 AirPort/Bluetooth Board Replacement. In your case you’re just removing it. You’ll need to cover the cable ends with some electrical tape so they don’t short out things when you put the systems back together. With that said I think you’re throwing out the baby with the bathwater here! You can achieve the same effect by turning off the WiFi & Bluetooth services via the OS. To make it so someone can’t turn it on (even your self) it quite easy. All you need to do is setup a second user account which you use which has the the services not accessible by the admin user. So you use this locked account all of the time and only use the admin account when you need to use these services. In addition using good user account practices: passwords, and if needed file or drive encryption on sensitive data. Also remember the WiFi AP at your office will have needed setup & password settings so it just doesn’t happen and the same also holds true for your Bluetooth services. Lastly, one could still plug something into the USB port bypassing all of your efforts.
Apple keeps the Bluetooth channel 3 open and calling 24/7. You can’t turn it off. It’s supposedly for wireless mouses and keyboards to be able to grab on just in case yours fails and the house is on fire so super keyboard knows where to land and save the day.. anyway there aint a update or a firewall in the world gonna save you… a line of code is stored on a virtual volume and you can rub the color off of your drives in Recovery Mode, soon as you hit reboot, install or recover “Heres’s Johnny” you our can take your modem, unplug it and throw it in the street. Disable every network configuration in SP (don’t forget that mother fu$@@ing Thunderbolt Bridge BS either) if some one next door stands too close to the wall and their cell phone (that’s probably logged in a thousand different cache locations) it will flip either your Bluetooth trigger or maybe the Infared Signal and activate a handshake that will tell your preferences to turn your oven off lol, no cut your WiFi back on and hide the process so it looks to you like everything is off but meanwhile it’s slowly configuring itself to never be caught in a situation where you throw the modem in the street and leave it lifeless again. Nobody plays the the chess app, it’s a Trojan Horse (the wooden knight piece is the logo) it’s there to specifically watch your moves and prepare itself to counter. In as few moves as possible. Or use a program in the CONTENTS > RESOURCES folder called .suicide (I swear to god) and it’s there to drive the computer into the dirt when losing or help you do it… cause soon as you format the disk in Recovery mode it’s “Here’s Johnny” I mean “Welcome to macOS Language Chooser.. blah blah blah”
Back doors are often your own creation by not setting up strong enough passwords and/or using the Admin user account instead of setting up user accounts that are limited for day to day use. Then only using the admin account to maintain the system. Also setup required password on boot up. Root kits are OS break-ins. As to the risk while it’s not zero its as close as you can get running OS-X Lion or newer without another OS running on your system. Other OS’s are much more risky. Anything running in RAM gets lost as soon as you power down your system (but not in sleep mode). As to Firmware sure its possible for someone to alter it but they would need direct access to your system to do that (no means to do it remotely). As to your system being exposed just being connected to your Ethernet network, Yes, your system is broadcasting its name across your local network so it can be seen and someone could also probe your IP network finding your system from the internet. So yes you are exposed! Now crossing the street or driving a car could be dangerous too! but we don’t panic on that risk. Basically, I think your over doing it here. You just can’t live with zero risk, but you can be smart! Don’t download apps from pirate sites, don’t open email that you don’t know the sender. Install and maintain a good anti-virus app and use it to scan your HD often. Maintain your OS & Apps, Have a good backup setup so you can recover things. Setup a good router and maybe even a double Nat’ed setup (2 routers). Enable Find my Mac and consider setup a hardware password. Use user accounts effectively. Don’t leave sensitive data on your laptop and use encryption on it so its not easily readable and lock it so it doesn’t walk away on its own (Kensington laptop lock). Lastly, enjoy life! Don’t cower in fear, life is too short.
yeah. turning it off in your OS does next to nothing. When you boot under recovery or a bootable USB drive you still send out probe requests. And if you’ve never heard of OTA updates… well they arn’t just for phones. Any laptop made after 2010 is capable of upgrading ANY hardware based firmware which resides in the OS such as UEFI or WiFi drivers by associating directly with a cell tower before you even log in or are fully booted. This is to stop piracy now act + illegal emergency actions Unattended upgraded does nothing to your physical ports. Whoever thinks removing unused hardware has anything to do with physical security is silly. That’s like saying there is no point in self defense because some people are aggressive. Or, that taekwondo is anything other than a sport. If I don’t know something I just offer up something which sounds similar but really isn’t and claim I’m right anyway. Its not like you can just look this stuff up… idiots
