Code in OS X 10.8.4 beta suggests upcoming Macs will feature Gigabit 802.11ac WiFi
9to5Mac on Tuesday reported that data strings found within the recently released developer seed of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 suggest that upcoming Macs may feature ultra-fast 802.11ac WiFi.
Indeed, news of Apple's interest in 802.11ac WiFi isn't new.
You might remember that Apple, back in early January, purportedly struck a deal with Broadcom wherein the chip maker agreed to provide Apple with the 802.11ac networking chipset, thus enabling future Macs to take advantage of insanely fast wireless speeds.
And just how fast are we talking here?
Well, 802.11ac, which is often referred to as 5G WiFi, can deliver speeds as fast as 1.3 gigabits per second.
To put that into context, Apple's current lineup of Macs utilize the 802.11n networking standard which can reach data speeds of 450Mbps with three antennas, something the 802.11ac chipset can achieve with just one.
Back in January, we reported:
To provide lightning-fast wireless networking, 802.11ac uses up to four times the frequency bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), more antennas (up to eight; existing Macs use up to three), and hyper-efficient data transfers through more sophisticated modulation schemes.
Notably, the 802.11ac chipset offers much more than just speed. In addition to being more reliable, Broadcom boasts that it's up to six times as power efficient as previous generation chipsets and is also capable of providing wider coverage.
