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Snow Leopard Evidence of Built-In 3G in Future Macs?

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Apr 12, 2001
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143700-3g.png

Mockup of OS X Snow Leopard System Profiler (AppleInsider)

AppleInsider reports that the latest Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard developer builds have broken out "WWAN" (Wireless Wide Area Network) into its own category within the System Profiler.

This suggests that WWAN services (which include 3G wireless networking) may become an Apple-standard technology in future machines. Rumors have previously suggested that Apple is planning on incorporating 3G wireless networking into future Mac notebooks. Further evidence this week includes a 3G-related job listing that was subsequently pulled by Apple.

What might be interesting is that if Apple does incorporate 3G wireless networking into future Apple notebooks, it's likely that we'll see substantial upfront subsidies against the cost of the machines. This could result in significantly discounted hardware when subscribing for 1-2 years of 3G service. While purely speculative, it's possible that this may be related to recent rumors that Apple may introduce cheaper Macs as early as this spring.

Article Link: Snow Leopard Evidence of Built-In 3G in Future Macs?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/05/07/snow-leopard-evidence-of-built-in-3g-in-future-macs/
3G speeds

What sort of download speeds would be get I wonder?
If it is anything like my 3G wireless datacard - I would not be overly excited. I have found that there are so many hotspots around and the speed of 3G is so poor that to me this is a real last-ditch must use method for internet connection
 
This doesn't necessarily mean anything. OS X already has support (with bundled drivers) for USB WWAN dongles.

But I wouldn't be surprised if Apple did build in WWAN hardware.
 
Sorry, but that image is photoshopped. The font is nowhere near the same as the rest of the category names.
 
I think its pretty obvious they're either adding 3G stuff to the Air, or branching it off into an actual netbook release.

The question is when.

I'm not in the market for one, and I doubt I ever really will be (unless I swap the MBP for an iMac, in which case, yeah, I probably would be) but I'm sure it would be a hit despite its (probably) £200 or so hike up over other netbooks.
 
WM. said:
This doesn't necessarily mean anything. OS X already has support (with bundled drivers) for USB WWAN dongles.

But I wouldn't be surprised if Apple did build in WWAN hardware.
Click to expand...

The USB WWAN dongles historically have appeared under the USB listings.

arn
 
well how much would 3G cost through a wireless carrier? we talking less than $30 a month? As is right now, 3G coverage is too unreliable for me to make that investment.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

I'd love to have a MBA with 3G for $500 with a contract. That would be awesome.
 
PutzMan said:
Sorry, but that image is photoshopped. The font is nowhere near the same as the rest of the category names.
Click to expand...

FSMBP said:
Cosign. The fonts are not the same and aren't even the same quality.
Click to expand...

It's a mockup done by AppleInsider in order to try to skirt around Apple Legal's dissatisfaction with people posting screenshots of beta software covered by NDAs.
 
I wonder how successful Apple would be with this. Even with subsidies, an monthly fee is still an monthly fee and would be prohibitive. I wouldn only really see people who currently have USB data cards to do this. The font on that does look dubious though...
 
Not sure if that image is suppose to be a mock up, but it's definitely NOT a screenshot.

PutzMan said:
Sorry, but that image is photoshopped. The font is nowhere near the same as the rest of the category names.
Click to expand...

Yup. An obvious poor photoshop job.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Could that have anything to to with iPhone tethering?
 
It is a artist's conception but still..I don't see it coming too soon. iPhone tethering maybe..

I don't want to pay for a 3g module I don't use and I don't want to pay for a contract which is too pricey.

If there is a netbook in the works, then it might be for that.
 
WildCowboy said:
It's a mockup done by AppleInsider in order to try to skirt around Apple Legal's dissatisfaction with people posting screenshots of beta software covered by NDAs.
Click to expand...

Ah! My bad. I was too quick to read the "Mockup."
 
Yes it's "fake", a fact that the article @ AppleInsider clearly points out in the first paragraph after the lead -- "shown in the artist's conception below"

See post #14 in this thread.
 

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deleted some posts which pointed out it was a photoshop. It is a photoshop because it's a mockup. See above posts for clarification.

and we added clarification in the article

arn
 
Now I have the ultimate idea: they could sell you a second SIM card on the same contract as your iPhone for a few bucks per month more. Then you could use your big screen for mobile surfing and don't have to pay for another full data plan. Or they just charge you full.
 
Considering Sony, Dell and many other manufacturers have included this in their laptops for a while now i think it is about time that apple included it. Especially as they are the company that seem to love integration more than most.
 
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