Apple About To Drop Cheaper Airport Extreme 3Tb Time Capsule Update Fcc Confirms

The AirPort Extreme will come in a single configuration and the Time Capsules will keep the 2TB configuration and add a 3TB model for the first time. According to the part number information, all three wireless router configurations will feature price drops. The Time Capsules are rumored to include a new software update caching feature that will store Mac OS and iOS updates on the device’s hard drive for installation on any networked Mac/iOS device.

Here are the new part numbers courtesy of Mr. X:

MD031LL/A – AIRPORT EXTREME 802.11N (5TH GEN)- USA

MD032LL/A – TIME CAPSULE 2TB (4TH GENERATION) – USA

MD033LL/A – TIME CAPSULE 3TB (4TH GENERATION) – USA

Also in the pipeline are new Mac minis, Mac Pros (likely launching in early August), and MacBook Airs (possibly later this month or early July).

[Update 1: July 21, 2011]: An updated AirPort Extreme wireless base station with marketing model number A1408 has surfaced in the FCC database, confirming our findings. Engadget explains that the filing drops hints of the three-stream standard for 450Mbps over both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.