In the USA, as soon as a manufacturer wishes to use a device with specific frequencies (such as those of WiFi/Bluetooth), it must have the product approved by the FCC, the American regulator.
Recently, this state body has published a document describing a mysterious network adapter
which runs iOS. Code name A2657, this product was registered at the beginning of the year, on January 22 precisely. There are no images, only some technical descriptions.
The product indeed embeds 2 Gigabit ports, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC antennas, as well as a USB C port. More interestingly, it even has 32GB of internal storage, 1.5GB of RAM and a second version has a Lightning port instead of USB C but only 1GB of RAM. The document mentions a version of firmware 19F47, which corresponds to a build of iOS 15.5, which means that it runs with an AX chip, like the Studio Display.
As she has the right, Apple has requested an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that runs until next November. This allows him to present the product before it is fully disclosed by the FCC. On the other hand, Apple has already provided the FCC with internal products or others that have never been released, no hype so it could be some form of prototype or small series, or even tools for technicians. The presence of NDA, however, suggests a device to be officially announced.
Some would still love see Apple’s AirPort (WiFi) terminals and the famous TimeCapsule return. Even if we still easy to find (on occasion in particular), the latest versions are not WiFi 6 and even less WiFi 6E, which becomes a bit tight. As a reminder, Apple had officially stopped WiFi hotspots in April 2018.