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Apr 12, 2001
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At today's Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller announced a new AirPort Base Station and new AirPort Time Capsules, featuring sleek new designs and improved internals.

capsule.jpg
All of the devices feature 802.11ac WiFi, which allows for 40 percent faster data transmissions at the same distance as the previous models. They also feature beamforming, which is electronically steering antenna directions. All of the new products are available for purchase from the Apple Online Store today.

The AirPort Extreme Base Station is priced at $199.

The Time Capsules come in 2TB and 3TB variations and are priced at $299 and $399, respectively.

Apple has released new firmware updates for both the Base Station and the Time Capsule.
This update is for AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac. It resolves a rare issue that may cause the hard drive in AirPort Time Capsule or a hard drive connected via USB to become unresponsive.
Apple has also released an update for the AirPort Utility App for Mac and iOS.
Use AirPort Utility to set up and manage your 802.11n and 802.11ac AirPort base stations, including AirPort Express, Extreme, and Time Capsule. AirPort Utility 6.3 allows you to configure and manage the new AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and includes enhanced remote management capabilities.
AirPort Utility for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

AirPort Utility for Mac can be downloaded from Apple's software update website.

Article Link: Apple Announces New Airport Base Station and Time Capsule with Faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi
 

portishead

macrumors 65816
Apr 4, 2007
1,114
2
los angeles
To me, those seem really ugly, especially when compared to the old ones. And is anyone else's stream really flaky?

Who cares how it looks. If it performs well, it will be a great device. I got the Almond AC router from kickstarter, so I'll have to see which one I want to keep.
 

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
Before anyone freaks out about how big it is, it has to be that big to get spacing between the antenna elements.

I'm glad they didn't let aesthetics trump functionality in this case (pun intended!)...
 

GenesisST

macrumors 68000
Jan 23, 2006
1,802
1,055
Where I live
I personally prefer a bigger footprint than the new vertical design. I guess have to see it in person... I don't need to upgrade though, so kind of a non-issue for now.
 

JayCee842

macrumors 6502a
Jan 21, 2013
589
0
Not sure how all this wifi stuff works. I currently have the previous airport extreme.

Would upgrading to this one be worth it?
 

unplugme71

macrumors 68030
May 20, 2011
2,827
754
Earth
it's 4" square by 6.6" tall... weird shape, better performance.

Question is, can you add your own hard drive into the AEBS? I thought it was said in the video, but mine started lagging so I couldn't catch it.

The Time Capsule has the same size/spec, so I'd image you could do so but that would take away the point from buying Time Capsule to begin with.
 
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