Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station upgraded to Super-Fast Wi-Fi 802.11n Protocol

It wasn't announced during the Steve Jobs' Macworld keynote but Apple has upgraded the AirPort Extreme Base Station to the new draft super-fast Wi-Fi protocol termed 802.11n. According to Apple, the protocol is up to 5 times faster that the older 802.11g AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi and with twice the range. It is backward compatible with 802.11g and the original 802.11b protocols. The new AirPort Extreme Base Station drops the flying saucer design in favor of the Mac mini design like the Apple TV box.

The good news is that all Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Xeon Macs except the entry 17-inch iMac with 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor support the 802.11n technology but they have to be updated with 802.11n Enabler software, which ships with the AirPort Extreme Base Station.

The bad news is that the AirPort Express protocol remains at the slower 802.11g protocol, at least for now.

The cost of the new AirPort Extreme Base Station is $179 and it will be available in February. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]