Apple lowers the price on its 802.11g equipment: Bowing to market necessity, Apple has made only the second price cut in its history of selling Wi-Fi equipment. The original AirPort Base Station (802.11b) cost $300 and AirPort Card $100. Both remained at those prices until Jan. 2003--while other makers raced to the bottom--when Apple introduced one of the first 802.11g gateways, the AirPort Extreme Base Station ($200 or $250 depending on features) and its accompanying $100 card.

The Extreme Base station came in two models, later expanded to three: a basic unit ($200); one with a built-in modem and antenna jack ($250); and most recently, a plenum-rated fire-safety version that supports Power over Ethernet ($250).

Today, Apple dropped its card priced to $80, still well above comparable PC Cards from other companies using the same chips; formally eliminated the basic $200 base station model; and dropped its modem/jack base station price to $200. The plenum/PoE unit remains at a $250 retail price, although schools typically pay $25 to $50 less for that model in single units and quantity.

Apple's AirPort Extreme equipment does have a few unique features. It's almost impossible to get a modem in a gateway these days; the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi interaction in Apple's gear is managed at a firmware level to reduce interference; and the AirPort Extreme Card works in all Apple models, avoiding taking up a PC Card or PCI Card slot in machines that have them.

The AirPort Express Base Station at $130 is due to ship in mid-July, and its price might have caused Apple to trim their incredibly healthy margins.