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Details of the Broadcom card, apparently hidden in OS X, were revealed when the Mac was booted into Windows Vista. Screenshots (here and here) clearly show the properties of a Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter.

Although 802.11n, the successor the 802.11g

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standard that Apple uses in its AirPort products, has yet to be ratified, companies such as Broadcom and Netgear have begun releasing products on the assumption that they will be able to incorporate any final changes to the specification through a firmware update.

Having done much to encourage the adoption of wireless technology, both 802.11g and its slower predecessor 802.11b, Apple appears to be determined to be one of the first, if not the first, to market with 802.11n-enabled computers. The technology is also thought to be included in its wireless set-top box, 'iTV', scheduled to be released next year.

The new n version of 802.11, aka Wi-Fi, uses MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology to deploy multiple transmitter and receiver antennas that allow for increased data throughput. This makes it capable of data transfer speeds of up to 540Mbps, 10 times the limit of the g incarnation. It also has a longer range - about 50m compared to 30m - and improved security.