A recently discovered filing suggests Apple sought the FCC’s approval for a Network Adapter. The rumor mill suggests it could be a successor of the AirPort or a new networking product for consumers or a tool intended only for internal use at the company.

Whenever a company develops a device capable of using wireless communication protocols such as Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth, it requires the FCC’s approval. According to the regulator’s publicly available documents, Apple applied for approval of a “Network Adapter” on January 22.

The iPhone maker’s application states the product bears model number A2657 and runs on iOS. The filing specifies that it runs firmware version “19F47,” which matches an early iOS 15.5 build. So, it can be assumed the Adapter is powered by an Apple Silicon chip, much like the Apple Studio Display that also runs iOS. The FCC also received a sample unit with the accompanying description:

“A2657 is a network adapter. It has an integral battery, two gigabit ethernet ports, a USB-C connector, and antenna. The device supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n radio, Bluetooth radio, and NFC. The network adapter comes with 32 GB memory storage and 1.5 GB RAM.”

“The device is intended to be connected to a host computer and receive its power through a USB-A port during normal use.”

The regulator connected the Network Adapter to an iMac and MacBook Pro for testing. However, no more details were specified, and the FCC is bound by a non-disclosure agreement that expires in November 2022.

An FCC filing and certification is mandatory for most Apple networking products, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs. However, internal tools are also FCC certified. So, there is no way to tell if the Network Adapter is for internal use or consumers.

MacRumors dug deeper into the specifications and discovered that the product does not support the 802.11ac wireless networking standard, better known as Wi-Fi 5. Additionally, the Network Adapter supports just the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band and relies on USB-A for power, unlike most other consumer-ready Apple products, which support the 5GHz band and use USB-C or Lightning. These fundamental differences suggest the Network Adapter will be accessible only to Apple employees.