Linux Mint on a MacBook Pro 2015: Getting Wi-Fi Working Offline
I wanted to run OpenClaw on native Linux hardware. The cheapest path? Repurpose my old MacBook Pro 2015 sitting in a drawer. I installed Linux Mint, rebooted, and immediately hit a wall, no Wi-Fi, no Ethernet port, no internet at all.
This is the first post in a short series. Here I cover getting Linux Mint fully online on a MacBook Pro 2015. The next post will cover installing and running OpenClaw on it.
Why a MacBook Pro 2015?
It’s the machine I had available. Mine is an i7 with 16 GB of RAM , still decent specs for casual use, but Apple stopped supporting it with macOS updates years ago. Linux Mint gives it a second life , lightweight, familiar, and well-supported. The catch is that Apple uses Broadcom Wi-Fi chips, and the proprietary drivers aren’t bundled with Linux Mint.
No Ethernet port on the MacBook means you can’t just plug in a cable and download the driver. You need a second machine or a workaround.
Identifying the Wi-Fi Chipset
After installing Linux Mint and booting in, I opened a terminal:
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lspci -nn | grep -i network
Output:
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Broadcom BCM4360 802.11ac Dual Band Wireless Network Adapter
The BCM4360 needs the bcmwl-kernel-source package: a proprietary Broadcom driver that Linux Mint doesn’t ship by default. Fair enough. But I had no internet to install it.
Downloading the Driver on Another Machine
I grabbed my other Linux Mint laptop and downloaded the driver package without installing it:
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sudo apt update
sudo apt install --download-only bcmwl-kernel-source
This saves the .deb files , including dependencies like dkms , to /var/cache/apt/archives/. That’s the key detail. You don’t need to hunt for individual packages; apt resolves everything for you.
I plugged in a USB drive and copied the relevant .deb files:
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cd /var/cache/apt/archives/
cp bcmwl-kernel-source*.deb dkms*.deb /media/juan/USB/
One thing I learned: ignore any .tar.gz files in that directory. They’re source archives, not installable packages.
Installing the Driver Offline
On the MacBook, I mounted the USB, opened a terminal in that folder, and ran:
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sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo apt -f install
Then loaded the driver:
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sudo modprobe wl
Reboot:
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sudo reboot
That was it. After reboot, Wi-Fi networks appeared in the system tray.
When It Doesn’t Work
If Wi-Fi doesn’t show up after reboot, check two things:
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lsmod | grep wl
This confirms the wl module is loaded. If it’s not listed, run sudo modprobe wl again.
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rfkill list
If any wireless device shows as “Soft blocked” or “Hard blocked”:
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sudo rfkill unblock all
On my MacBook, everything came up clean after the first reboot. No rfkill issues.
Things to Watch Out For
Kernel updates break the driver. After a kernel update, the wl module needs to be rebuilt. Usually dkms handles this automatically, but if Wi-Fi disappears after an update:
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sudo apt install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo modprobe wl
Keep the .deb files. I copied them to ~/drivers/ on the MacBook. If I ever need to reinstall Linux Mint, I don’t want to repeat the two-machine dance.
What I Learned
The hardest part of this whole process was realizing I needed a second machine. Once I had that, the actual fix took about ten minutes. The Broadcom driver situation on Linux is well-documented, but most guides assume you have internet access. The offline install path with apt --download-only is the trick that makes it practical.
The MacBook Pro 2015 runs Linux Mint smoothly. It boots fast, the display looks great, and with Wi-Fi working, it’s a fully functional Linux box.
Next up: installing OpenClaw and seeing how this old MacBook handles it.