Latest Imacs May have Hidden Next Gen Wi-Fi

September 26th, 2006 by: Technabob

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According to a forums posting on MacRumors, one of their members came across an interesting surprise on his new iMac:

The user claims he took this photo on his iMac Core 2 Duo, when he installed and ran Windows Vista RC1 on the machine. It clearly shows that Windows thinks the built-in wireless adapter is a “next generation” Broadcom 802.11n chipset. Current versions of Mac OS X do not recognize this fact, but it is possible that the chipset is in there for future functionality after the protocol is officially approved.

802.11n is a draft specification which shouls allow up to 10 times faster speeds (up to 540 Mbit/sec) over today’s 802.11g wireless networks, and up to 50 times faster speeds than 802.11b. The standard isn’t expected to be approved until 2008, but “certified” products are expected as early as Spring 2007.

[via MacRumors via The Register]