Rumors: Apple's 802.11n enabler for $5?

I remember in the past when the 802.11G cards first came on the market, and Apple did not provide a replacement card for older macs. I believe this was a result of a change in the pin layout of the connector and bandwidth issues. I have no idea what Apple plans to do with current mac users, but it does not seem very apple like to provide a replacement card.

Apple has never done this before and I honestly doubt that they will do it now. They didn't even like those micro payments back when you bought os9 on dvd and they you had to pay for the cd's for 20.00 I think it was. That sort of thing is
seriously a pain in the ass. It's like a non chain fast food joint where you get your burger fries drink and shake and then you forgot to get ranch and that sign SAYS 25¢ and they just hand it to you. You just spent 12 bucks on dinner they don't care. I have a feeling it will go that way. A good idea would be to only distribute through hardware purchases and Apple Store visits to get people to come in. It's most likely a firmware upgrade as opposed to software. And since more people screw up firmware rather than drivers it's a good idea newbies go into the store. I know I'm always looking for an excuse.

Oh yeah, another point. Let's say Sarbanes-Oxley is a valid reason. So how can Apple give away the enabler as part of the Airport Extreme? Oh, you say it's built into the $179 price. So the Airport Extreme is $174 and the enable is $5, is that it? So now each of those revenues goes into different accounts, right (periperals vs. computers)? And what if I upgrade 2 (or more) Macs? Some of THOSE computers got it for free!

And then there's overcharging customers for illegal bundling. If I go out and buy a MacBook Pro tomorrow (I assume 802.11n comes enabled) and an Airport Extreme, Apple has bundled products illegally forcing me to buy something (the enabler) I don't need. What's the lawyer answer to that one?

Yeah, I know it's only five bucks. Would YOU trade customer satisfaction for a one time $5 transaction?

All the arguments about how they CAN't give it away are hogwash. Otherwise, every OS update that added a feature would have a price. And doesn't everyone remember the recent iPod update? I have a 4G iPod that got some of the 5G iPod features (bezel letters on long scrolls and volume limit) via software update...

The only possible reason (other than silly bean counter greed) is that since 802.11n is not an final standard yet, they are hoping to discourage people from getting it and trying to use it with a non-Apple 802.11n router-- there could be compatibilty issues. (But then again, if I pay $5 for it I'm going to be mad if it doesn't work on other routers).

1) Apple never advertised any MacBooks as coming with N support. As far as you're concerned, you never paid for N support.

2) Normally, if you wanted to upgrade a computer to have N support you would have to buy A NEW WIRELESS CARD, or even A NEW COMPUTER. $5 is a bargain.

3) These are rough numbers, but it was rumored that Apple was shipping 300,000 MacBooks per month around November. Let's say they sold a million C2D MBs and MBPs. Let's say a fifth of those customers actually buy this $5 upgrade, that's only $1 million... which is almost NOTHING to Apple (their revenue in 2006 was almost $20 BILLION). This isn't about the money.

4) According to Apple this has to do with the Sarbanes-Oxley act. It's an accounting technicality. Apple can't give away features after the fact.

Likewise I think we won't be seeing any "new features" in the free software updates 0.0.x releases.

That said, I don't see why Apple couldn't advertise all Macs and copies of Mac OS X as coming with free minor feature updates for 2 years or something to that effect, to allow them to slip little features like this in.

Of course they can't do this for previously sold products, but the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was just passed a couple years ago, and companies are now figuring out it's implications

Anyone who questions the validity of the effect of SOX on a situation like this is completely uninformed and ignorant. The prospect of Apple having to restate earnings in this situation is very real, indeed. Anyone who has worked for any organization worth its salt knows that Sarbanes-Oxley, whether good for corporate jurisprudence or not, is not to be taken lightly.

as a revenge i will download leopard from demonoid instead of buying me. maybe aperture and final cut studio too. Apple you make a huge lost for tha $5 you charge, cheap junk

somebody please answer this!!! nobody has ever answered this question that was raised

2. Does anyone know if and when Apple will be selling new 802.11 n wireless cards for those of us who have earlier, Intel Core Duo MacBooks?

We paid almost 3grand for this and it would be BS if we can't get it

Posted at 1:46PM on Jan 16th 2007 by Andrew Hamilton

I agree with previous comments that have said that Apple is being cheap. They really are, and it is becoming more and more frequent of an occurance, which is especially evident with the iPods. One example is that they stopped selling the iPods with an AC adapter. Also, I think it is ridiculous that software updates for the iPods do not work on previous generation models, even when it is just a simple update of the menu system.

It becomes hard to like a company that continues to screw over their loyal customers.

Just my $0.02

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