Apple's new MacBook Air continues to be plagued by Wi-Fi connectivity problems and while Apple has not officially acknowledged the issue, the company is reportedly looking into the complaints and even offering replacements.
Apple launched the latest 11-inch and 13-inch refreshes of the MacBook Air laptops this month, which are powered by Intel's Haswell processor. However, the devices which boast the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology, which supposedly supports nearly three times faster data transfer rates compared to the 802.11n protocol, have been encountering Wi-Fi connectivity issues.
Users have thronged Apple's support forum to give vent to their frustration and complain of poor signals, dropped connections and the inability to stay connected to Wi-Fi for long periods. However, it seems Apple is looking into the problem and iFans could soon have a fix rolled out.
According to a 9to5Mac report, a source at Apple has let on that "the company is working to independently identify what exactly is causing the new WiFi-related problems." The site's source also let on that AppleCare and Apple Store Genius Bar employees have been given directions to "capture" MacBook Air units that are affected by the Wi-fi connectivity issue, which will then be sent to Apple "for further testing so a solution could hopefully be achieved."
What's more, some owners of the iDevice have reportedly got replacement laptops. One MacBook owner disclosed to the site that AppleCare gave a complementary USB-to-Ethernet adapter, which lets the laptop bypass the connectivity existing issue.
"We have heard from at least a couple of customers facing MacBook Air WiFi issues who have successfully swapped out their notebooks for new ones. One of these people has said that AppleCare provided them with a complementary USB-to-Ethernet adapter so the new MacBook Air could connect to the internet without WiFi," notes 9to5Mac.
While Apple has not given any official confirmation acknowledging that the MacBook Air is flawed, the act of replacing the laptops indicates that the company is aware of the problem and is looking to rectify the same in its own quiet way without drawing attention.
At this juncture it is unclear whether the Wi-Fi connectivity issues dogging the new MacBook Air models are because of hardware or some software bug. Hopefully, Apple will sort out the problems quickly and push out some sort of permanent solution.
