Hidden in AirPort Utility 5.5.3, which was released late on Tuesday, are references to unreleased Apple wireless hardware. Mac Rumors readers found mention of 4th Generation Time Capsules and 5th Generation AirPort Extremes in the update, hardware that Apple has neither announced nor released.
Apple’s Current Generation of Time Capsule
Time Capsule is Apple’s combination WiFi base station and backup solution that ties into the company’s Time Machine backup scheme for Mac OS X (soon to be simply OS X), while AirPort Extreme is the name of Apple’s dedicated WiFi base stations.
There have been scattered reports that Apple would soon refresh both product lines, a notion that is greatly strengthened by references to new generations of the devices in Apple’s own software.
The software update also included preferences for storing Apple software updates on Time Capsules, a feature not currently offered by Apple. One line includes a switch for storing the updates, while another offers the description for that switch that said, “”bsUP.productName” = “Store Apple software updates on this %@”;
Apple software updates that are copied to this %@ are available to anyone using this network.”
Such a scheme would save multi-Mac homes and business, Apple itself, and even service providers untold amounts of bandwidth should the company implement the scheme.