Brian's Brain

In my past Apple-on-Intel coverage, I've mentioned the challenging dichotomy that results from the Cupertino, CA company's Power PC-to-x86 decision. On the one hand, Apple now has greater access to various PC building blocks, with their compelling high volume cost efficiencies. However, Apple now must transition its product line much faster than before, driven both by the obsolescence-and-upgrade desires of its suppliers such as Intel, and by its AMD- and Intel-based competitors such as Dell, HP and Lenovo. For consumers this is a mixed blessing; the Apple faithful who suffered through the glacially slow G3, G4 and G5 past may welcome the more rapid rollouts of the x86 era....but they'll also be tempted to more frequently pull out their wallets, too.

In my recent four-part MacBook coverage, I mentioned that the primary reason I was tempted (but ultimately didn't decide) to shell out substantially more cash for a second-generation system was for its (at the time undocumented) inclusion of draft 802.11n wireless support. Reflective of Macs' PC building block heritage, I've happily come across a solution (albeit a warranty-voiding one) for my system's Wi-Fi shortcoming. This multi-part writeup (thanks to Digg for the heads-up), complete with pictures, shows how you can swap out a first-gen MacBook or MacBook Pro's wireless module for the 802.11n-inclusive one in a Mac Pro desktop system. The Apple part number you'll need is either MA688Z/A or MA688Z/B; I ordered mine yesterday from Small Dog Electronics for $49.

Rumour has it that the Apple module is a branded clone of a generic Broadcom 4311 module, although I decided not to pursue this even more economical option. If any of you decide to tackle your own MacBook upgrade, I'd be interested in hearing your results via the comments area of this post, particularly if you go down the Broadcom module road.