Apple partnering with Broadcom to bring 5G Wi-Fi to 2013 Macs

By Kwame Opam January 2, 2013

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple may be on the verge of pushing the next major wireless standard this year. According to The Next Web, Cupertino is partnering with Broadcom to bring high-speed 802.11ac wireless connectivity to its upcoming Mac lineup.

IEEE 802.11ac, otherwise known as 5G Wi-Fi, is the next generation of networking standards currently being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. It rests on the 5GHz wireless frequency, and promises speeds, according to Broadcom, three times faster and six times more power-efficient than legacy 802.11a/b/g/n networks that presently reside on the crowded 2.4GHz channel.

Suffice it to say, that means extremely speedy Internet for Mac users, moving along at speeds at up to 1Gb per second.

Broadcom is one of only a handful of companies, including Qualcomm and Mediatek, supporting the new standard, which is undergoing late-stage revisions and is slated for final approval this November. While Asus began producing its first notebooks with 5G chipsets last year, the industry at large has been slow to move forward on the technology. However, an early 2011 study showed the Wi-Fi Alliance projecting 802.11ac connectivity surging to one billion devices by 2015.

Apple designing Macs with these chipset could be a boon for users, regardless of their ecosystem of choice. How Macs interact with one another will make streaming content via AirPlay almost instantaneous and easy. What’s more, building 5G wireless into such products as the iPad and iPhone can’t be too far behind. This move could be the push the industry needs to adopt this new super-fast standard and push it into homes everywhere.

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