AirPort built in...possible? Smart?
I was wondering if there might be a time - as cable/DSL become more popular and widespread and public hotspots keep cropping up - when all Macs (all portable Macs, at least) ship with built-in, hard-wired AirPort cards.
Although I guess it wouldn't be a card so much at that point, just a little board or chip?
Short of that, do you see a time when Apple will simply ship all Macs (again, at least all portables) with the AirPort cards built in?
Does this 802.11 technology change much? Is it better to have this in a card so newer, better versions could be swapped out (although there is a different in connector/card from the older AirPort and the newer AirPort Extreme.
Will AirPort Extreme (in its current specs and form) stay as it is for a while, or, like processors and graphics cards, is this a always-progressing technology?
Someday not too far, maybe you just buy and iBook or PowerBook and - straight out of the box - it's set to go for wireless? Still need a base station/access point, of course. But The need for buying and installing a separate $99 card...is that something that will always be the case?
What are the pros and cons of something like this (hard-wired, built-in wireless)?
Just curious, I guess. Anyone here have any special insight or take on this sort of stuff?
(I think this is the proper forum...this or General Discussion?)
Although I guess it wouldn't be a card so much at that point, just a little board or chip?
Short of that, do you see a time when Apple will simply ship all Macs (again, at least all portables) with the AirPort cards built in?
Does this 802.11 technology change much? Is it better to have this in a card so newer, better versions could be swapped out (although there is a different in connector/card from the older AirPort and the newer AirPort Extreme.
Will AirPort Extreme (in its current specs and form) stay as it is for a while, or, like processors and graphics cards, is this a always-progressing technology?
Someday not too far, maybe you just buy and iBook or PowerBook and - straight out of the box - it's set to go for wireless? Still need a base station/access point, of course. But The need for buying and installing a separate $99 card...is that something that will always be the case?
What are the pros and cons of something like this (hard-wired, built-in wireless)?
Just curious, I guess. Anyone here have any special insight or take on this sort of stuff?
(I think this is the proper forum...this or General Discussion?)
Comments
The huge big bus might be cost prohibited, though.
Originally posted by @homenow
the more important question is will the bus system chosen to connect the AirPort card or built in circutry be sufficient to handle the next generation of the standard.
Yes, the PCI bus will be able to handle all wireless standards for the next 10 years or so.
I predict that AirPort Extreme will stay the same until 802.11n (AirPort Insane) comes out.
Just because it has an Apple logo on it doesn't mean common sense has to fly out the window.
Originally posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R
Er, then don't buy it. There's plenty of cheap, reliable 802.11g brands out there that work just as well on Mac as PC (they all use web browser interfaces). Many have greater functionality like 100 base T ethernet ports etc.
Just because it has an Apple logo on it doesn't mean common sense has to fly out the window.
But no one wants to have an ugly PC card sticking out the side of there laptop. The nice thing about Apple's solution is it's internal and through antennas built into the computer, has better range.
(Think DoD, Boeing, etc.)
They don't issue directives like "You can't turn your airport card _on_". They issue directives like "None of the machines working on Project Roswell may have wireless capabilities."
Also, it is my understanding that the protocols are somewhat different country-to-country (requiring physically different cards), but that may have changed by now.
Shrug.
Originally posted by Kecksy
But no one wants to have an ugly PC card sticking out the side of there laptop. The nice thing about Apple's solution is it's internal and through antennas built into the computer, has better range.
Er, we're talking about the base station.
Originally posted by wmf
Er, we're talking about the base station.
Oh, in that case, Apple's looks better.
i may be wrong, as i have little knowledge in radio transmissions, but that was always my thought
Originally posted by ThunderPoit
isnt one of the reasons that you cannot swap an 802.11b card for an 802.11g card because of the frequency that they both use? b uses 2.4ghz while g uses 5ghz. to swap, you would need to swap the antennae too, right?
i may be wrong, as i have little knowledge in radio transmissions, but that was always my thought
Both 802.11g and 802.11b use the same radio frequencies.
802.11a which was released after 802.11b uses a higher frequency and is incompatible with both 802.11g and 802.11b.
I don't think Apple should build these cards in. All Macs should be compatible with Airport Extreme. Leave it up to marketing to decide when to bundle Airport Cards and when to charge for them.