Apple's mysterious 'network adapter' discovered in FCC filings may be for internal use only

An unearthed document shows that Apple sent a "network adapter" to the FCC for approval earlier this year, although there is no word on whether it could be an AirPort successor or another unannounced networking product for consumer use. The statement may not be universal.

Apple's discontinued AirPort line of consumer networking products

Every time a company designs a device for use in the United States that uses radio frequencies like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, it Must obtain FCC regulatory approval. According to documents shared by the FCC, Apple sent the agency a "network adapter" model number A2657 on January 22, described below.

A2657 is a network adapter. It has an integrated battery, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, USB-C connector, and antennas. The device supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n radio, Bluetooth radio and NFC. The network adapter comes with 32 GB memory and 1.5 GB RAM.

This device is designed to connect to a host computer and receive power via the USB-A port during normal use.

The documents show that the device is running "19F47" firmware, which matches an earlier build of iOS 15.5, indicating that it is powered by an Apple chip. The FCC tested the device by connecting it to an iMac, but other than that, no other details were provided and Apple has requested a nondisclosure agreement that is valid until November 2022.

The filing also doesn’t include any images of the device, but there are some hints in the description that it’s unlikely to be related to an upcoming consumer product.

On one hand, the device appears to lack support for the 802.11ac wireless networking standard. 802.11ac, also known as Wi-Fi 5, was announced in 2014 and has been superseded by Wi-Fi 6, which is already supported in newer iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.

Secondly, this device only uses the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band, while most modern business routers and consumer Apple devices support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, with the 5GHz spectrum generally providing the best performance. For example, the discontinued sixth-generation AirPort Extreme base station operated on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands.

Finally, the device is "designed to receive power via the USB-A port during normal use." Apple has replaced USB-A with USB-C connections on all of its MacBooks and iMacs, and the idea of ​​launching a consumer device with a traditional port as the primary connector is unrealistic.

Apple officially ended development of its AirPort line in 2018, and the company has since begun selling third-party routers. Apple has many FCC-certified devices for internal use only, and it's likely that this filing is related to another device that falls into that category.

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