Cut metal
cover here
Apple thoughtfully provides the perfect spot
to stash your hacked
USB Bluetooth antenna.
INSTALLING BLUETOOTH
INSIDE AN IBOOK
Tuck a USB wireless adapter inside the case.
By Timothy B. Hewitt
Illustration by Damien Scogin
Apple is kind enough to supply Bluetooth as an
option when you purchase an iBook. But if you
want it later, you are S.O.L. — they won’t sell you
all the parts you need to make the conversion.
Luckily, it’s not difficult to do your own internal
Bluetooth installation by wiring one of the USB
port’s contact points to a USB Bluetooth adapter
hidden inside the laptop’s case.
After getting a new Bluetooth-enabled phone, I
wanted to use it with my iBook. So I bought a few
Orange Micro Blue2 USB units from eBay (they
were cheap enough to buy some for me, some
for gifts). But after the novelty wore off, I started
thinking that the antenna unit looks stupid stick-
ing off the side of the iBook, and you always have
to carry it along and plug it in, just like you would
with a cable. This begs the question: What’s the
point of having it be wireless?
I’d had enough. I really wanted internal Bluetooth,
and I wondered if I could fit the adapter inside the
iBook somewhere. The answer turned out to be yes.
Some Disassembly Required
I started by taking the iBook apart to see what
space, if any, was available inside. If you haven’t
taken an iBook apart before, visit PowerBook
Tech (
powerbooktech.com). They have detailed
instructions on ripping Apple Books apart. Note
