Sometimes I like to spend the morning working at my local cafe. The atmosphere is nice, the owner always greets me with a sincere “Hello my friend, it’s nice to see you!” and it’s a lot warmer than my garage office at home.
The problem is that the internet connection is not great. The streaming background music in the store acts as an audible network connection monitor – occasionally you’ll hear it stutter and pause as a sign that the connection has gone wobbly. When this happens the wifi in the store stops working – most of the time it’s only for a while but it’s a flag up and it means I need to be aware of something which I shouldn’t have to pay attention to.
Free Wi-Fi isn’t too hard to find in places like San Francisco, but free reliable Wi-Fi is. Even paid/registration-based Wi-Fi (like in a hotel) is unstable. We can’t do anything about it other than complain to people who already know, but there’s an alternative we can turn to: the cell service we already subscribe to on our iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
But there’s also a problem with that: the Mac is missing from this list. It’s time for Apple to change that, and with the rumored redesign of the MacBook Air looking imminent, hopefully we’ll start to see Apple equip its laptops with the overdue ability to connect to cellular networks.
Tethering is not an optimal option
When Wi-Fi is unavailable or unreliable, you can turn to your iPhone and use Personal Hotspot, known as Personal Hotspot, to bring your Mac online. If you’re unfamiliar with tethering, you can set iPhone to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot that other devices connect to as if it were a hotspot. regular Wi-Fi network. Apple actually calls Personal Hotspot on the iPhone “Personal Hotspot” and you can turn it on (if your cellular plan allows Personal Hotspot) in Settings > Personal Hotspot.
Foundry
Tethering is a solution, but not optimal. The Mac is connected to your iPhone via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB, and is not directly connected to the cellular connection. So, tethering is relatively slow – even when you’re doing something as simple as checking email, loading a webpage, or accessing shared storage, there’s a lull before what either does not really happen.
And then there’s the knock on the iPhone battery. Performing demanding tasks on a hotspot can drain the battery – I wince at the thought of watching a video or downloading large files over a tethered connection. And of course, this also uses data from your iPhone if you’re not on an unlimited plan.
Is a solution on the way?
Why didn’t Apple offer cellular connectivity on MacBooks? This would obviously be the most optional solution, especially with 5G becoming more and more common. All of Apple’s newer iPhones and iPads have 5G options, even the $399 5G iPhone, but the Mac still has no way to connect to anything other than Wi-Fi. But even though Apple doesn’t ship a modem with its upcoming M2 MacBooks, there could be a glimmer of hope for the future.
In 2019, Apple acquired Intel’s modem business, aiming to make its own modem, just like it did with processors. A few months ago, a report said that Apple’s first modem (which is designed in-house) won’t go into production until 2023. And while it’s obvious that Apple will use its own modems in iPhones and iPads , we hope Apple will also decide to put it in the Mac.
There might be a heist on the Mac’s debut, though. Apple’s modem might ship alongside the A17 processor in the iPhone 15, but rumors say the first-generation modem likely won’t be part of the system-on-chip. Since Apple’s M-series chips are derivatives of the A-series, that likely means M3 processors in 2023 won’t have an integrated modem either. Due to space, heat, and battery issues, Apple likely won’t design its laptops for a standalone modem, so we could see it until 2024 at the earliest.
We will therefore have to wait for 5G on Mac. But if we’re lucky, Apple will decide, ‘Damn it, let’s do this 5G Mac thing now” as part of the MacBook Air redesign this year and use one of Qualcomm’s modems. Then I can go to my favorite cafe and when the music starts to stutter, I won’t have to think about it.
