this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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Wait, if Apple is able to pull off their own cellular modem chip, they might put it into a Mac as well? That would be sick.
I mean they haven't added cellular to Macs thus far, I don't see why they would start after making their own chips.
They'd rather sell you an iPhone so you can tether that to your Mac.
That'll be another $200 upgrade for a cellular model knowing Apple.
That would come in a MacBook Pro ultra gps pro 😅
The problem with the cellular modem is that Apple has to hit a moving target. Qualcomm has had significant performance increases in their last few modem releases. Apple needs to be at least almost as good as Qualcomm’s modem in any given year and Qualcomm keeps hitting big performance jumps.
meh, you can already create an hotspot from your phone.
it would, but I don't know if they would do that.
It would be a fair bit of overhead for a function many would not use, and cellular tech makes more sense in a phone, because people are more likely to have that with them than a laptop.
They could have it as an option, but then it would further fragment their laptop line.
Personally, I wouldn't do it if I was them. Almost everyone has a phone, and the network connection can be shared, it's really not a hassle.
As someone who works in IT an always online MacBook is nice. As it is it causes a few problems when you can’t connect a not signed in MacBook to a new wifi network. Makes find my obsolete for laptops unless the person who finds/steals it goes to wipe it and signs into wifi on the recovery screen. For support this has other implications because it means we have to physically have the machine or tell a user our admin account password if they get locked out in a place they've never been. There are plenty of other implications this has but for business users on the move it would make my job easier.
This is why (the pro laptops especially) should have some internal slotted expansion slots. There should at minimum be 1 M.2 slot, and to be honest if they included 2, then having a chip you populate one of the sockets with for Cellular would be awesome. Just include the antenna layout in all designs so it just needs to be plugged in. Then it can be configured or added later if someone desires.
eww.
Lmao, not happening with Apple. They limited a fucking hdmi port to the pro models.
I believe you miss the turning of the technological clock… the future is 5G to the home. It’s here now and offers as fast or faster speeds than many traditional broadband plans.
Have an iMac which is designed for someone who “wants it to work out of the box” - a cellular connection makes this useful in places that broadband is tough but cellular is not impossible. Adding their own cellular silicon would cost little and greatly expand use cases for existing models and alter the value prop of the consumer laptop market. Work across devices anywhere.
Add an access point to the device and now your Mom only needs an iMac and an AppleTV - no cable, no broadband, virtual switch/router in the cloud. Just a new cellular bill that is just a bit less than a broadband package and you have a winner. Have an Apple Watch? Buy a bundle - phone, watch, and computer.
They're kinda struggling there from the sounds of it.
I think anyone with access to fiber to the curb internet access would be crazy to opt for 5g instead. Unless you really don't care about consistent and reliable internet access. Which so people don't and that's fine. If I only streamed movies, and browsed, I certainly wouldn't.
But the upstream speeds on cellular are garbage. It takes more electricity to run, generates more heat, and it's still half duplex right?
Wired > wireless. Always, no matter how technologically advanced we are. By the time mmwave is available to everyone we'll have 20gbps fiber at home.
If you can put a cellular modem on an iPad. You can definitely put one a MacBook.