AppleInsider Staff
Code found in the just released Mountain Lion 10.8.4 beta build references the next-generation 802.11ac wireless protocol, hinting that Apple may soon introduce the technology in its Mac lineup.
The string was discovered in the OS X 10.8.4 beta build 12E30, which was seeded to developers earlier on Tuesday, and suggests Apple is planning on releasing a lineup of Macs compatible with the 802.11ac wireless draft.
While 802.11ac has yet to be ratified as a wireless standard by the IEEE, a number of OEMs have already started rolling out routers based on the draft. Although Apple has yet to adopt the protocol, other manufacturers began shipping products last year, meaning the Cupertino company shouldn't be far behind.
As the fifth-generation wireless standard, 802.11ac promises to deliver data speeds of 1 gigabits per second over two channels, each carrying single link speeds of 500 megabits per second. In theory, the draft can reach speed of up to 1.3Gbps, which improves upon the existing 802.11n spec that tops out at a theoretical maximum of 900Mbps (450Mbps per channel). In addition, 802.11ac can accommodate up to 8 MIMO streams and extends effective range over previous technologies.
In January, Apple posted job listings for Gigabit Wi-Fi engineers, and the company was rumored to have struck a deal with Broadcom to use the chipmaker's "5G Wi-Fi" silicon in as-yet-unannounced products.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
19 Comments
Wrong. It's in Draft right now and won't be signed off until 2014. This should be a sign that it's in final draft and soon to be and ISO standard. In fact, final approval is slated for November 2013. http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/Reports/802.11_Timelines.htm FWIW: Apple is Vice-Chair of this standard: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/Reports/tgac_update.htm
The 17" is dead, so just go ahead and accept it. The userbase for that machine is minuscule. With the retina display of the 15", the 17" has no place anymore.
Also, I don't see how the hell you state this should have been released with last year's MBP when I haven't even seen a single ac router on the market, nor a single ac device. But yeah, Apple is "lagging" because they don't have a time machine and couldn't implement technology from the future. The spec won't even be finalized till next year.
@Slurpy Actually... all you need to do is go to your local Staples (if you dare) and you will find some there. Though... they are not mac compatible.
Final ratification of 802.11n in 2009: "802.11n is an amendment which improves upon the previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-output antennas (MIMO). 802.11n operates on both the 2.4 GHz and the lesser used 5 GHz bands. It operates at a maximum net data rate from 54 Mbits/s to 600 Mbits/s. The IEEE has approved the amendment and it was published in October 2009.[14][15] Prior to the final ratification, enterprises were already migrating to 802.11n networks based on the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification of products conforming to a 2007 draft of the 802.11n proposal." and... "On January 9, 2007, Apple unveiled a new AirPort Extreme (802.11 Draft-N) Base Station..." (wikipedia) ... the ratification and the draft implementation from Apple were separated by well over two years, for n. Just saying, libertyforall has precedent in this regard. To be slightly more relevant, the 802.11-2007 amendments were published a month after Apple released the Airport Extreme: "Upon approval on March 8, 2007, 802.11REVma was renamed to the then-current base standard IEEE 802.11-2007.[13]" (wikipedia) ... and furthermore: "IEEE 802.11ad "WiGig" is a published standard that is already seeing a major push from hardware manufacturers. On 24 July 2012 Marvell and Wilocity announced a new partnership[17] to bring a new tri-band Wi-Fi solution to market. Using 60 GHz, the new standard can achieve a theoretical maximum throughput of up to 7 Gbit/s.[18] This standard is expected to reach the market sometime in early 2014." (wikipedia) ...so now you know the facts.