Speculation has arisen this week concerning a possible refresh of Apple’s Airport wireless devices, due to a decrease in available supply at US Apple Stores. New speculation suggests that new AirPort devices may in fact run a version of Apple iOS.
In a report from Ars Technica (via MacRumors), the suggestion is made that the new Time Capsule might include an A4 or A5 chip, as well as a modified version of iOS, though the source did not mention any particular new functionality for the AirPort Extreme, which, due to its USB port, could function in the same way as the Time Capsule.
From MacStories:
The source didn’t mention any new functionality for Apple’s AirPort Extreme base station, but it is possible to connect an external USB drive to those devices, which then function similarly to a Time Capsule. It seems likely that Apple could enable updated AirPort Extremes to do similar caching when an external drive is connected.
Our own source tells Ars that the revised hardware is believed to be built around Apple’s own A4 or A5 processor, and will run iOS much like the most recent Apple TV model.
A Time Capsule or AirPort Extreme with the capability to cache content would be intriguing, as it would deepen the tie between devices and iCloud, which could improve streaming speeds and quality.
Your thoughts? As always, sound off in the comments!
