“Apple on Thursday confirmed reports that it plans to charge customers a fee to download software that will enable the 802.11n capability in the Wi-Fi chips found in some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems. But it won’t cost $5, as many reports indicated. It will cost $1.99, and will be available on Apple’s Web site, said Lynn Fox, an Apple spokeswoman,” Tom Krazit reports for CNET News.
“Every Mac with Intel’s Core 2 Duo or Xeon processor has the 802.11n chip, except for the 17-inch iMac with the 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo chip, Apple announced last week at Macworld. Customers who purchase the new $179 Airport Extreme Base Station also unveiled at Macworld will get the software for free,” Krazit reports.
Krazit reports, “‘The nominal distribution fee for the 802.11n software is required in order for Apple to comply with generally accepted accounting principles for revenue recognition, which generally require that we charge for significant feature enhancements, such as 802.11n, when added to previously purchased products,’ Fox said in a statement.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Apple to impose 802.11n ‘unlocking fee’ on Intel Mac owners – January 16, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme ‘AirPort Disk’ feature: cheap, simple network storage for home networks – January 15, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme supports 802.11n, enables wireless streaming of HD media – January 10, 2007
Apple introduces new AirPort Extreme with 802.11n – January 09, 2007
p.s.
shut up and pay the stupid $2, and enjoy twice the range and twice the speed
Some of you are idiots. They have to comply with this law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act
$2 is pretty nominal. Outstanding return on the investment. And it has the benefit of adding to the hits on Apple’s web site. God, those guys are clever.
Now if they could also charge $2 to enable Front Row on my iBook, and monitor spanning (I use the hack, but it makes me nervous)
You’ll never convince the anonymous experts here that they don’t know SOX in and out. Heck, a keyboard allows anyone who can type to pretend to be anything they want. It’s best to ignore the chest-thumping rabble and go on to the next topic. Let them bray their opinions. It’s obvious that they’re ignorant.
what is unlocking? And why does a person do it?
Alrighty then….
Where can the driver update be downloaded from outside of Apple?
ok, I’ll just wait til I get my new Bastard Station..er, Base Station…
I’ve never seen so many panties get in a bunch over $2.
I don’t understand. So Apple is charging us for hardware functionality that we paid for and THEY hid? We bought the hardware regardless of whether the “n” feature was advertised or not. It’s factored into the production cost. So we’re being forced to pay money for an inherent feature that was crippled? It’s not the amount, it’s the principle…
That’s like buying a Treo 700p from Verizon with all the bells and whistles and then they charge you money so you can actually download files using Bluetooth (which was how the phone was built in the first place before Verizon cripples it).
So you bought a Mac with g wireless capabilities, little did you know it actually has n capabilities…. if you are upset about the 1.99 fee then DON’T BUY IT! you will still have EXACTLY what you paid for at the time of your purchase, a Mac with g capabilities!
get a clue people!
> I don’t understand. So Apple is charging us for hardware functionality that we paid for and THEY hid?
No, you paid for “g” functionality. There was no fully established “n” standard at that time, so Apple could not guarantee their hardware would ultimately work with the future “n” standard. I don’t think the “n” standard has still been finalized, but Apple can guarantee that the hardware will work with the new Apple products (Airport Basestation and Apple TV). Therefore, it is being enabled as new functionality. I don’t know the specifics of this law, but Apple is being reasonable. $1.99 per Mac probably does not even cover the cost of charging for this upgrade. I’m sure Apple would prefer to just release it as a free firmware update.
>I’ve never seen so many panties get in a bunch over $2.
Shut up! My panties are NOT in a bunch. I wear them on my head… thank you.. but that’s besides the point and it’s not yet Friday night.
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$2 is a lot of money… I’d rather it be in my pocket rather than Apple’s. Shame on me right?
I only paid for “g” when I left two thousand seven hundred ninty-nine dollars ($2799) at the Apple store and walked out with a 17″ MBP Core 2 Duo “g” and not the fabled $2801 “n” version.
Shame on me!
Does charging $2 for the driver update sound ridiciulous to you yet?!
This is a US federal law. Does that mean that Apple won’t need to charge customers living outside of the US ?
Could they include the driver in Leopard, since we’ll be paying $150 or whatever for that? That would make the whole issue sort of moot…
And am I going to have to buy a new Base Station when I get my MacBook Pro later this year? And will the new Base Station work with my 20″ CoreDuo that I bought when the Core 2 Duos were merely a gleam in Steve Jobs’ eye? (about 3 months before they were announced)?
I would fall to the ground and die if Microsoft add such a big feature for only $1.99. In fact, I really don’t think the people that are complaining about the charge actually own Macs…they’re probably more like Microsoft FUD throwers.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were in fact on the Microsoft payroll.
Toby,
Get a grip! You can’t blame Microsoft for everything wrong in your life my friend. That’s just stupid.
The thread is about Apple “having” to charge $1.99 for “n” over “g”.
So… say a 17″ MBP owner (me) – having paid $2799 – has to pay $2 to get to “n” even though it’s a simple update.
I remember when I update my US Robotics 28k modem to get to 56k… it was a free update.
Hey Wanker.. here is the link AGAIN just for you…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act
…now sit down and SHUT THE FUCK UP!
MDN MW “two”; as in if you had “two” brains you still wouldn’t get it! you tool!
“I remember when I update my US Robotics 28k modem to get to 56k… it was a free update.”
This is true. But there was no Sarbanes-Oxley when you purchased your 28k modem my friend.
Well, if Apple actually is charging solely for the sake of dotting “I”s and crossing “T”s, they won’t aggressively pursue anyone who posts this update elsewhere, right?
…and why not $0.99 and make it available via iTunes as well? A lot of people are already set up to pay Apple small amounts of money through iTunes. Though I guess it’d be an accounting headache in itself…
all bitching.. shutup
NONE of you paid for a wireless n card.
You should THANK apple for letting you have it for a mere $2
If you want support, and if you want to justify the cost of paying techs to write the update PAY IT.. fools.
hey I have an idea, dont pay the 2 dollars and try to code your own update.. see how far you get.
>Chris wrote: But there was no Sarbanes-Oxley when you purchased your 28k modem my friend.
Agreed my friend… sad but true. G’Day to you!
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>Random Coolzip: they won’t aggressively pursue anyone who posts this update elsewhere, right?
I hope not! For those US citizens who don’t happen to live in the contiguous USA, buying something from Apple is a pain. Can you imagine how frustrating it is being told by a Apple Sales Rep that you’re not a “real” American?
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>Re: MPC Guy: Hey Wanker… now sit down and SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Nobody likes a potty-mouth. Here are some options, being that you obviously need some guidance:
Option 1: Curse and rant like an adult behaving like a child… as you did in your last post. 🙁
Option 2: Add something useful to the dialogue. Maybe cite what the applicable parts of the SOX act you linked in order to make a reasonble argument.
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>tt wrote: NONE of you paid for a wireless n card.
So if I send Apple $1.99 they send me a wireless “n” card to replace the “g” card I paid for as part of the $2,799 MBP price?
Heck! I’ll take 10 of those puppies!
Hmm. To all of you who claim that Apple are correctly interpreting SOX. WHY DID THEY NOT CHARGE FOR Boot Camp ? That software increased the functionality of your Mac by allowing you to run Windows applications. (Leaving aside the (de)merits of Windoze…) Your previously purchased MacBook can now run applications it couldn’t otherwise… The same twisted interpretation of SOX would require them to charge you for it. Oh but wait – we can call it a ‘beta feature’ and not charge. Sigh.
To read the Apple defenders is funny. I love Macs, hell I own 4, including two MacBooks (one Pro and one black). The ability to go 802.11n WAS ALREADY THERE, it just took a firmware upgade to do it. You don’t think that was planned far in advanced? What’s so different from that and software update to “patch” something to do something else? This folks, is hiding behind regulatory BS by bean counters, pure and simple. If it were up to the bean counters, customers would PAY for every software update, every power cord, ever piece of plastic, because it costs Apple some amount of money to manufacture.
I’m not saying they don’t have a right to charge for everything, they do. This after all, is capitalism. But to charge for something that is normally free just to appease the SOX gods is cheesy at best.
“I’m not saying they don’t have a right to charge for everything, they do. This after all, is capitalism. But to charge for something that is normally free just to appease the SOX gods is cheesy at best.”
Pleasing the SOX gods IS what it is about. Unlike any other imagined god that god can cause earthly pain if they feel as if you have violated their rules. SO I would say that making a nominal offering to the SOX gods to keep them at bay is a very good idea.
“To all of you who claim that Apple are correctly interpreting SOX. WHY DID THEY NOT CHARGE FOR Boot Camp ?”
But you knew that you had an intel chip. You knew that Apple said that they would not prevent the computer from being used as a PC. YOU KNEW that the computer (if some smart person would try) could be booted into Windows. You had NO IDEA (because it did not come from APPLE’S corporate mouth) that there was an “N” chip in your computer. You had NO IDEA that the computer had that functionality until “snoopers” (and thank god for snoopers) told us that. Apple THEN went ahead and announced that the computer you purchased had the capability of “doing ‘N'”. The situations are different my friend.
Apple – the first company in the history of computing to charge for its device drivers.