Apple could be about to slip 3G into its Macbook range. A job posting for Apple’s Mac Hardware Group reveals that Jobs and Co. is on the lookout for an experience communications engineer to join its team. Their task would be checking for bugs in various communcications technologies, including “3G wireless WAN”.
The job listing has since been taken down – either a suitable candidate was very quick off the mark or Apple’s usual secrecy demanded a rethink. Before it was yanked though, it suggested that the Mac Hardware was on the lookout for a person with experience in “testing and reporting hardware, software, and device driver bugs for Communications technologies including AirPort (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth v2.0, gigabit Ethernet, and/or 3G Wireless WAN in a detailed, timely manner.”
Needless to say, following this discovery the internet has been rife awash with speculation about 3G equipped Macbooks. The listing adds fuel to the rumour that Apple is thinking of making a deal with mobile network providers to provide subsidised Apple hardware in exchange for a contract and data deal. These would work in much the same way as the Apple iPhone, only you’d get a full blown 3G-enabled laptop for your dough.
3G was once tipped as the next big step for portable computers, but for some reason it has yet to pan out. That hasn’t stopped the likes of Dell and Acer from sporting their own 3G enabled notebooks and netbooks though, so maybe Apple is keen to follow suit if it can find the right carrier. AT&T seems like the obvious choice right now.
(via AppleInsider)
