FCC Documents Confirm New AirPort Extreme

[MacRumors]

Engadget points to a newly published FCC filing that confirms that Apple is about to launch a new AirPort Extreme imminently.

The FCC just trumped Cupertino's plan to sneak out an updated AirPort Extreme wireless base station with the outing of an Apple 3x3 802.11n access point, model A1408.

Apple typically times release of FCC documentation with the release date, so we expect new AirPort Extremes (and Time Capsules) today (Tuesday).

There are reported to be 3 new devices: 1 AirPort Extreme and 2 Time Capsules (2TB and 3TB).

Article Link: FCC Documents Confirm New AirPort Extreme

 

[haruhiko]

Great... but I'm still thinking why will I have to update my 2009 AEBS (4th Gen)


and...so there will be no new AirPort Express

 

[ovrlrd]

As I said in the other story, I think they will redesign this to look similar to the current Mac Mini.

 

[arian19]

you'd think they would wait till lion was released

Especially because if it had iCloud features, it wouldn't be in line with lion yet... makes you wonder if there will be any iCoud + (TimeCapsule/Airport Extreme/Airport Express) features tied together.... it seems unlikely with a release today (before lion)

 

[puercaeli]

Ok so no significant design change i guess

 

[arian19]

BTW, it looks like Arnold Kim has the grave yard shift tonight... lol i wonder how they take turns for who publishes stories after hours... it seems like many of the don't sleep hahah

 

[ratzzo]

Unfortunately for Apple and fortunately for us, there is just no way they can keep their inventions secret for much time

 

[Truffy]

you'd think they would wait till lion was released

Especially because if it had iCloud features, it wouldn't be in line with lion yet... makes you wonder if there will be any iCoud + (TimeCapsule/Airport Extreme/Airport Express) features tied together.... it seems unlikely with a release today (before lion)

I was hoping for some truth to the rumour that iCloud would act as a sync for devices against local storage (with hope that the local storage could include no Apple NAS, with RAID failover).

Still looking for a simple solution to this, and I don't like single disk back-up/storage solutions.

 

[ovrlrd]

Ok so no significant design change i guess

How do you figure? All we see is the bottom of the casing. It could still be made out of aluminum and be like the current gen Mac Mini. Of course they aren't gonna go for something radical, they go with design they know works, and they still need it to be large enough to hold a hard drive.

 

[Icaras]

As I said in the other story, I think they will redesign this to look similar to the current Mac Mini.

Minus the aluminum. I replied to your other comment in the last story.

 

[Truffy]

who publishes stories after hours

Depends on where you are on this large sphere as to when "out of hours" occurs.

 

[igazza]

Ok so no significant design change i guess

Black airport extreme would be good.

 

[NutsNGum]

How do you figure? All we see is the bottom of the casing. It could still be made out of aluminum and be like the current gen Mac Mini. Of course they aren't gonna go for something radical, they go with design they know works, and they still need it to be large enough to hold a hard drive.

But if the casing's aluminium, is that not likely to cause potential reception issues?

 

[Icaras]

Ok so no significant design change i guess

"Design" doesn't necessarily have to mean aesthetics of course. I gather that the "redesign" was internally and, like the article states, for better heat dissipation.

 

[ovrlrd]

Minus the aluminum. I replied to your other comment in the last story.

You might be right, but I still hope they go with aluminum for the cooling benefits.

You are right that it can pose issues with antenna design, and I looked into the FCC posting, and they specify that it has two IFA internal antennas, so that implies there is no external (or pseudo external) antennas that could be used to get around the signal blocking properties of aluminum.

So I am probably wrong, but we will find out soon enough.

 

[arian19]

Depends on where you are on this large sphere as to when "out of hours" occurs.

Arn is from Virginia, so this would for sure be after hours lol

Guess if you love your job a lot, you'd be up at 5:30am doing it

 

[silusesMac]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Love how some sites such as Mac rumors are up late at night upswing with new news.

 

[pimentoLoaf]

I need more storage now, so the 3TB looks like a winning solution. And extending my AEBS range throughout the house with TC storage device is even better.

 

[PeckhamBog]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)

In the UK cable Internet Service Providers now supply nice hubs with the wireless, modem, and ports included which make the Airport redundant unless the new one has something special.

 

[tibi08]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)

In the UK cable Internet Service Providers now supply nice hubs with the wireless, modem, and ports included which make the Airport redundant unless the new one has something special.

Yes, but in the UK the free hubs are absolute crap and hence I plug my crappy hub directly into my Airport. Many others do the same. Plus, the Airport has a USB port into which I can plug in my printer. The Airport never needs rebooting just to get online.

 

[Icaras]

You might be right, but I still hope they go with aluminum for the cooling benefits.

You are right that it can pose issues with antenna design, and I looked into the FCC posting, and they specify that it has two IFA internal antennas, so that implies there is no external (or pseudo external) antennas that could be used to get around the signal blocking properties of aluminum.

So I am probably wrong, but we will find out soon enough.

You bring up a great point that Aluminum would handle heat better, so really though, who knows? It'd be Apple magic if they got it to work well with aluminum. Anyway, can't wait to see.

 

[jamojdm]

hmm, I bought an Airport Extreme back on 13th June. If the new one comes out in the next couple of days (still within 14 days of purchase) will they let me swap to the new one? (I'm in the UK)

 

[ovrlrd]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)

In the UK cable Internet Service Providers now supply nice hubs with the wireless, modem, and ports included which make the Airport redundant unless the new one has something special.

Yeah that has been the case with US ISPs for a couple years now as well, but that still doesn't make the AirPort redundant because some of them don't come with 802.11n, and even fewer come with dual-band 5Ghz capability. There is always features that will be lacking though, especially with the dummy proof Time Machine wireless backup you can do with a Time Capsule. Plus the setup interface is a lot easier to manage than the firmware on other routers.

hmm, I bought an Airport Extreme back on 13th June. If the new one comes out in the next couple of days (still within 14 days of purchase) will they let me swap to the new one? (I'm in the UK)

Yes, that is pretty standard if you bought it from Apple. If you bought it elsewhere you will have to deal with returning it to that specific retailer.

 

[CplBadboy]

Please Apple whatever you do Dont make them white!!!! So 1980's and even fridge freezers have moved on from that horrid colour.

 

[colmaclean]

Please Apple whatever you do Dont make them white!!!! So 1980's and even fridge freezers have moved on from that horrid colour.

Still like the white look myself.

The first Airport was grey/graphite and looks horribly dated now. Well, I guess it is.