MacPros do not come with Airport and for what ever reason, its a CTO option, that is customized order. If you had actually decided to add this on your order it would have delayed your mac by almost three weeks.
So they are available NOW as an add-on at AppleStores?
if adding them to an order causes that order to be delayed 3 to 5 weeks, I kind of doubt that the apple stores will have them in stock as an after puchase add in. Doesn't seem to make sense to me, but give them a call who knows stranger things have happeded
I just spoke with a tech at CompUSA and they confirmed that it is a combo card (Airport and Bluetooth) that utilizes one of the PCI slots. CompUSA does NOT have these in stock.
Was at the Apple Store in Glendale yesterday and they did NOT know any information on this subject other than the fact that Airport Express will not work. Said we would have to take it to an Authorized Apple Service Center.
So, as far as I can tell (after searching the web, reading forums, reading the Apple site and making phone calls) there is not an option for those needing wireless connectivity. For now, we are just running a reaaaaaaal long Cat 5 cable.
The Apple Airport/Bluetooth kit is installed on the motherboard not in a PCI Express slot. They also must be installed by an Apple certified technician at an Apple certlified repair facility.
AirPort and bluetooth are, once again, two separate additions. The BT 2.0 +EDR is USB based through a dedicated connector and AE is via a mini-PCI connection on the MP MLB.
I actually agree with Apple's decision to make Airport a CTO option. I, for one, cannot imagine needing one in a decisively non-portable machine like the Mac Pro. It's got two 1Gbps ethernet interfaces, for heaven's sake. If you want a wireless AP just get one and plug it into the network, with better choices for placement, better arials, etc.
Bluetooth, on the other hand, is an inexcusable omission IMHO. No desktop these days should come without Bluetooth by default. There are just too many mobile gadgets out there that one might want to use with the computer...
I too think that Airport does not need to be a standard option. I doubt that many would opt for using Airport over 2 x Gigabit Ethernet ports unless there was no other option.
I did however order the Airport option… more out of a "just in case" more than anything. Given I was waiting, and still am 😟, for the ATi X1900XT and I need Bluetooth it wasn't that difficult a decision to tack it on as an after-thought. If it weren't for the ATi wait I probably wouldn't have.