Apple’s Mysterious Network Adapter Has Been Revealed

If you’re hoping Apple will get back into the router business, you might want to temper those expectations. At the very least, what some speculated could have been a new AirPort device is clearly not.

Last month, FCC documents revealed that Apple was working on a mysterious new network adapter with some unusual capabilities. However, even then, the specs made us skeptical that this would be a full-fledged router or Wi-Fi access point — or even a device intended for sale to consumers.

This week, the folks at AppleInsider have found some images of the device in Taiwanese regulatory filings, along with some additional details. From this closer look, it’s pretty clear that this is something Apple has created for some internal use, not for public consumption.

For one thing, it doesn’t look like anything Apple would ever want to show its customers. It’s a compact dark grey box about four inches in length and about an inch square. There’s an Ethernet port on each end, with one accompanied by a USB-C port and the other by what could be a button.

The USB-C port is most likely intended to provide power, as we discovered last month. However, based on the design and layout of the Ethernet ports, this looks like a device designed to monitor network traffic more than anything else.

The rest of the information in Apple’s Taiwanese NCC filings mirrors what we’ve already seen in the FCC filings. This includes a 296 mAh internal battery, 32GB of storage, 1.5GB RAM, Bluetooth, NFC, and 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi 4. These aspects of the device naturally aren’t visible in the photos

The photos also confirm that the adapter is bundled with a USB-A to USB-C cable, as noted in both the FCC and NCC documents. While it wouldn’t be unprecedented for Apple to include an older-style USB connection — the Apple TV 4K still bundles a USB-A to Lightning cable for charging the Siri Remote — it’s still an unusual move.

However, it’s pretty evident from the photos that this isn’t a device that the public is ultimately supposed to see, so the USB-A connection is clearly for internal use by Apple’s engineers or partners, such as suppliers or Apple Authorized Service Providers.

The device is also clearly stamped “For Development Use Only” although could be just for the design prototype. It also includes two QR codes, both of which contain meaningless reference information.

Frankly, the odd collection of specs already made that pretty clear. A Wi-Fi router or adapter supporting only the relatively ancient Wi-Fi 4 standard would be absurd in this day and age.

Is an AirPort Router Still Coming?

To be clear, just because this particular device isn’t an AirPort Router, that doesn’t mean Apple might not still be working on one, but we’d recommend taking those recent rumors with a massive dose of salt.

After this mysterious internal network adapter kicked off a new round of speculation, a leaker with a mixed track record claimed sources had said that “Apple is expected to introduce new AirPorts in November.

The same report also said that macOS 13 would include a version of Time Machine completely redone and integrated with iCloud Drive. Now that Apple has announced and previewed macOS Ventura, it’s a pretty safe bet that’s not happening either.

It’s highly unlikely Apple would have a feature that big in the works and not want to talk about it — and we all know that Apple isn’t shy about announcing things at WWDC that don’t arrive until nearly a year later.

Last month, I would have put more money on the iCloud Time Capsule rumor; the idea of new AirPorts still seemed pretty far out, and our sources agreed. Leakers usually only get bits of information, small pieces of the puzzle that they have to fit together while filling in the blanks with their own assumptions and educated guesses. It’s not hard for those assumptions to go astray, especially when some wishful thinking is thrown into the mix.