MacBook Pros also shipping with secret draft-N cards
So it looks like Apple's engineers decided to throw another little treat into the latest generation of MacBook Pros along with those zippy new Core 2 Duo processors -- just like the recently spec-bumped iMacs, these Merom-powered MBPs also feature a dormant 802.11n wireless card. With iMacs now rocking draft-N from Broadcom and D-Link Rangebooster chipsets finding their way into the laptop line, speculation is running rampant that the upcoming iTV media extender will also feature the next-gen WiFi standard. Since the current version of OS X doesn't support the yet-to-be-ratified protocol, there's not much that Mac owners can do at present with this newfound knowledge, though it is nice to know that your expensive new toy is probably future-proofed for that MIMO goodness. To find out if Apple was sneaking features into any other hardware, we decided to crack open a 5.5G iPod to see if anything draft-N-related was hidden inside that product too, but all we learned was that prying the case off with a knife can lead to bloody fingers and a broken DAP.[Via TUAW]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Jeremy @ Oct 26th 2006 4:05PM
Perhaps now they'll "refresh" the Airport Extreme base station. And after that, perhaps the rest of their computer line and Airport expansion cards for those owners of older machines.
Raider @ Oct 26th 2006 4:39PM
Of course the iTV is going to have 802.11n. Since it is that much faster than a/b/g, it would be better suited to stream movies and TV shows from another Mac/PC. That will reduce the buffer size and also reduce any compression that might be needed.
Dan @ Oct 26th 2006 4:40PM
What is 802.11n's range?
Will I be able to network with other MacBook Pros and iMacs at long range?
Nick Pulido @ Oct 26th 2006 5:09PM
http://macnewsonline.com/wp/2006/10/23/apples-wireless-future/
Michael Fisher @ Oct 26th 2006 8:06PM
I just hope that Apple's iTV is compatible with third party 802.11n cards, particularly ones that fit in the (now outdated) Macbook Pro's ExpressCard slot. I worry because Apple doesn't have a great history supporting third party devices in their own apps. For example, iDVD and only working with the Apple Superdrive.
dave-o @ Oct 26th 2006 8:28PM
D-link isnt a chipset manufacturer.
Brendan @ Oct 26th 2006 10:50PM
Apple probably won't have upgrade cards for PPC products.
Me *sad*
keith waddington @ Oct 26th 2006 11:39PM
Can someone explain that knife and ipod thing? there was actually nothing negative in this news so the writer has to create something that makes him look like a total hack to any one with reading skills beyond grade 2.
waddo
http://www.waddo.net/