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renosausage

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 22, 2012
158
0
I currently have a 15" rMBP

I know it has a 802.11n Wireless Card installed

Would I be able to replace that card with a 802.11ac if they are revealed at WWDC next month?

What would be the benefit of having a 802.11ac over 802.11n?
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,484
43,408
No, all the components are soldered onto the logic board.

Edit: Given the released photos, looks like I'm wrong, though apple will not be selling these to existing owners, so my answer is still no
 

Lyshen

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2008
407
23
California
Is the WiFi card replaceable? Sure

Is it user serviceable? No

Also to note, the current WiFi card in rMBP has 3 antennas, so if the AC one has 4.... you will be missing 1 antenna.

(One screw holds the card in place)
 

KevinC867

macrumors 6502a
Jun 8, 2007
620
2
Saratoga, CA
I don't see a need for 802.11ac while I'm out and about. At home I'll use it for fast transfer of big video files between my computers. I plan to add it to my rMBP with an adapter attached to my USB3.0 hub. That will allow me to ditch the wired Ethernet connection and the nasty Thunderbolt-1GbitEthernet adapter. So, just one cable from my rMBP to the hub and I'm done.

Yeah, it would be cool to swap the internal WiFi card, but that will probably be more expensive, and it may not even be possible. We'll have to wait and see.
 
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