is update for AirPort Extreme coming ?

vladgrig said:

Hi guys,
When do u think AirPort Extreme will be updated with USB 3.0 and /or Thunderbolt port ?

Thank you!

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My guess is next year when they also will include ac wireless protocol and they won't start that until Mac's have it, so second half or end of first half 2013.
And forget about Thunderbolt.

maybe USB3, not thunderbolt

USB2 is pretty much the same speed as a good 5GHz N signal, not sure what the extreme can get, but i get about 30-33 MB/s with my linksys if i'm in the same room.

the only way you'll see the difference between USB2 and USB3 is if you're using a wired connection.

I asked this exact question when I ordered my iPad..."No" was the answer, so next year would seem to be about right..New wifi standards will be the key here I think.

The impending update is one of the main reasons I didn’t but AirPort Extreme last weekend when I upgraded my network. I want a AirPort Extreme in the current form w/ wifi AC and both Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 I/O for $150.

Interface Speed versus I/O Speed

So here'e the deal... the interface speed doesn't really matter unless you have enough I/O to push it. Most users only have a single hard drive connected to their Airport Extreme. So regardless of the Interface (USB 2, USB 3, Firewire, or even Thunderbolt) you are limited to the drives performance and I/O. so it won't really go any faster.

Also, if your using the Airport Extreme in a wireless manner, then your WiFi network is a slow component as well.

All this discussion about theoritical thruput doesn't matter unless you have 6-8 SSD's in a RAID 0 stripe, then you might actually hit the ceiling of the interfaces. Ever actually copied 800MBs on your firewire connected drives? I dont think so. Ever copied 480MBs on your USB 2 drive? Didn't think so either. And you will certainly not claim to have copied 5GBs on your USB 3 drive. If so, you're just plain silly.

The only way to get those numbers is the RAID multiple drives together to hit those numbers. So unless you have (20) 6Gbs SSDs, moving an average of 500Mbs (500 x 20 = 10GB) then you probably wont hit the ceiling of a thunderbolt connection anytime soon either.

Summary:
Even if Apple added these new ports to the airport extreme, you would only see small improvements on the speed. That's a fact.

joesrepsol said:

Even if Apple added these new ports to the airport extreme, you would only see small improvements on the speed. That's a fact.

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What about streaming multiple HD video streams?

I wouldn't expect any new AE or TC until Apple adds wifi AC frequencies to their products. So probably whenever the newest iPad, Mac, or iPhone gets AC option, expect an AC AE to be right around the corner.