Upgrading AirPort Extreme card to "N"?

saksak
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Can/will current Mac's with Airport Extreme cards (b & g) be able to upgrade their wireless cards to "N" in order to take full advantage of the upcoming iTV? Or will Apple make me buy a new computer?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    For best performance 802.11n requires three antennas, which old Macs don't have. Also, Apple rarely offers upgrades.



    If you want to use your Mac as a server for iTV, just plug it in.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    dutch peardutch pear Posts: 588member
    My guess is that apple will sell a USB2 802.11n external card thingy.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    jimbo123jimbo123 Posts: 153member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dutch pear


    My guess is that apple will sell a USB2 802.11n external card thingy.



    Possibly some kind of USB Dongle?
  • Reply 4 of 7
    mrtotesmrtotes Posts: 760member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dutch pear


    My guess is that apple will sell a USB2 802.11n external card thingy.



    Can you seriously see Steve Jobs allowing that? It strikes me as very un-Apple but then there's the USB 56k modem.... hmm
  • Reply 5 of 7
    jcgjcg Posts: 777member
    As I understand it, with the previouse upgrade to AirPort cards it was not possible to ship cards for older model computers that supported the new standard due to the limits to the connector data bus limitations. This apparently is not so with the new ones since the currently shipping models have cards that support the new standard. As long as Apple is selling AirPort cards, and they use the same connector, and your computer has an AirPort card then you should be able to purchase one and upgrade it.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes


    Can you seriously see Steve Jobs allowing that? It strikes me as very un-Apple but then there's the USB 56k modem.... hmm



    I don't think it will matter, someone will make a Mac-compatible USB N adapter. It doesn't really have to be Apple branded.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    weeeeeepeeeeeeweeeeeepeeeeee Posts: 2member
    i think that the new 802.11 n card will be integrated into machines with three antennas sticking out somewhere.
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