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mac pro wireless cards?

Apple's Mac Pro Card

If it's one of the newest Mac Pros, and possibly any Mac Pro, you can't put the old style Airport Extreme card in. It's not the same plug and play deal anymore unfortunately.

I just went through this this weekend actually, wanting Airport in my Mac Pro. Maybe someone else can post an alternative, but if you decide to, you can go the Apple route and purchase an Airport upgrade kit. It's a small card that has to be put in by an authorized Apple service provider, but honestly, if you're brave and willing to risk possible warranty disruption, it's a breeze to put in yourself. If you do, you would need to order the kits from Apple. My local Apple store had no idea they even sold them! The part number for the kit is MB363Z/A for the early 2008 Mac Pro models, and MA688Z/B for the earlier Mac Pro models, and it cost $43. Not too bad for the 'official' Apple Airport. Although, really, it should come standard these days.
 
"It's a small card that has to be put in by an authorized Apple service provider"

So in other words when I order the new Mac Pro I should make sure I add the airport card option...which rules out ordering from someplace like Amazon where one can't configure options. Why on earth would they take a step backwards and not make the card user friendly? I can easily install the original card in my ancient 366MHz clamshell iBook for cripes sake!
 
Essentially there's a little card that sits on the motherboard. It's not too hard to find, it sits right behind the main fans with the bluetooth module. It shouldn't be hard to put it in, but it's not quite the easiest thing to do.
 
You can order the Mac Pro from Amazon because it's cheaper, but then you would have to buy the Airport kit from Apple and have them put it in, or you could do it yourself. It really is easy, two screws, you pop on two antenna cables, done. The Apple store nearby said it would be $30 to put it in, so I suppose you have to weigh how much you save at Amazon with the $43+install it costs to put Airport in later.
 
I wouldn't call it an easy upgrade. In theory, yes, it should be easy. In practice, it can be challenging. The antennae connectors can be a huge PITA. You can often find the cards on ebay... make sure you're getting the right one though. I've had good luck.

One tip: make sure you connect the antennae prior to installing the card, otherwise you could do some damage. Be patient with it too.
 
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