Teardown of Apple's New AirPort Extreme Reveals Hard Drive Slot, but No Connectors

[wschutz]

The design makes sense as explained in the article. Taller and more antennas, perhaps those were issues that needed addressing based on the previous model consumer feedback and testing. It does have a smaller footprint and might look cool on your desk just like your Darth Vadar head coffee mug that holds all your pens and pencils.

This just confirms my thoughts as soon as I saw both new Airport and Time Capsule.
They redesigned the Time Capsule to make it smaller and re-using the ideas from the new Mac Pro, and then, in order to provide with an Airport, they just removed the hard-drive.

In the end, Apple is just saving a lot of money with the manufacturing process because it won't need two molds but rather one for the main case, and pretty much the same for everything else. Like any other company, they realized they have to optimize and converge into the same shapes for the devices.

It's unlikely though that an Airport will be usable for allocating the hard disk as said by iFixIt... it misses ports and probably controller chips but... I guess that the parts will be easier to sell and that's the reason for the high repairability given.

 

[canyonblue737]

If you get one of the new MacBooks with 802.11ac I suppose I could see getting this but I suspect I won't pick one up for 12-18 months by which time my iPads, iPhones will all be 802.11ac (I'll be in the upgrade market this fall and next year) and perhaps new Apple TVs will be 802.11ac... AND by that point perhaps they will finally have USB 3.0 in these things.

No sense in upgrading early when so few Apple products actually have 802.11ac

 

[justperry]

I'm hoping there will be 3rd party connectors for sale later on that will let us add our own hard drives.

Forget it, click on the iFixit link and see for yourself, no connectors on the Logic board.
I think the TC probably has a different Logic board than this one.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

...It does have a smaller footprint and might look cool on your desk just like your Darth Vadar head coffee mug that holds all your pens and pencils.

Picture?

;-)

 

[mattopotamus]

from a pure range perspective, what would be better, 2 express' or 1 extreme?

 

[lotzosushi]

They did. It's called an Airport Express.

That's not the same thing... I have two of those at home to extend my network right now. I was referring more to the huge empty space where the 3.5" drive would be in this new Extreme model. They could've made the tower a little skinnier/smaller without that space there. But I guess it's cheaper to keep the same design so they don't have to produce two different case designs.

 

[radioactive]

512 MB of RAM? That's 4x as much as on the original iPhone! Are component costs that low, or will we finally see an iOS based Time Capsule with caching OS updates

 

[scross28]

Lacks in software features

I really wanted to go Apple with my next router but this thing is seriously lacking in software features. QoS and VPN Server to be precise. I was really hoping to see a nice user friendly version of both of these in an Apple router. Instead, it's pretty basic as far as software features compared to what others in this arena are offering. I'll have to bite the bullet and get an Asus router.

 

[RoelJuun]

And still no one mentioned that the current generation is much more expensive…I took the plunge in buying the previous generation for €160, but this one is even €40 more expensive…

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

I think Apple must have seen the light. The AppleTV 1 and 1st generation Time Capsule both had thermal problems for me. These new designs seem somewhat inspired by Seymour Cray's design philosophy.

"Cray frequently cited two important aspects to his design philosophy: remove heat, and ensure that all signals that are supposed to arrive somewhere at the same time do indeed arrive at the same time."

802.11ac uses QAM, which means that 802.11ac uses the fact that two signals do not arrive at the same time.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

Probably because it's the same shell as the Time Capsule.

Welcome to the new world where Apple cuts costs as much as possible even thought it is swimming in cash.

The same rational is why they refused to bother updating the Mac Pro for about 4 years... and the new one isn't exactly coming out until the fall.

The big tease continues.... as does lack of USB 3 or Thunderbolt.

yawn... the continuing tales of shipping something with parts of it obsolete gets boring. But this is what happens when accountants hidden in the backroom are really the ones in control of Apple.

 

[notjustjay]

Probably the design is to match and be put next to the new Mac Pro?

That would have been nice, if they had made it a black tube to match.

 

[snebes]

Agreed.

I've got the current shape Extreme and it's classy, yet unobtrusive.

This design is perplexing.

I think it is great. My WiFi AP aren't near computers. They are placed strategically for best coverage. The new looks make them easier on the eyes, and can put them out in the open rather then hiding them.

 

[shurcooL]

Can the Time Capsule drive be used for shared network storage, or is it for backups and backups only?

 

[Nozuka]

No it isn't.

802.11ac is 1300Mbps

USB 2.0 is just 480Mbps (much less in reality)

You should have put the "much less in reality" next to the WiFi standard.. you'll barely get close to 300Mbps when moving files.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wi-fi-802.11ac-router,3386-10.html

 

[Weaselboy]

Can the Time Capsule drive be used for shared network storage, or is it for backups and backups only?

You can do both, but just understand that anything stored on there is not backed up if that is the only place you have the data.

 

[sp3k0psv3t]

I am not sure HOW I feel about the design yet.

I understand the WHY behind the shape and design they applied, and I suppose if in the end this brings MORE functionality from the new shape then simply a different aesthetic look, then I will be happy. Obviously real-world will ultimately be the tell all so we can look at the numbers soon.

That being said I do think Apple is heading in a good direction.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

The focus is on wireless.

No USB 3.0 because USB 2.0 is faster than the bandwidth of a wireless connection anyway.

802.11ac supports up to ≈ 3 GBit/s with 4 antennas (≈ 867 MBit/s per antenna). That is equivalent to eSATA II or USB 3.0 with UASP-support (Ivy Bridge and newer Macs support the UASP).

 

[ksz]

I went for this on Kickstarter (campaign has ended now):

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects...c-touchscreen-wifi-router-smart-home?ref=live

Price: $99
802.11ac
3x3 MIMO antennas
USB 3.0
Dual core ARM SoC
LCD touch screen for control and configuration
Wall mountable
Z-Wave and Zigbee for home automation

Click the Updates tab (or click below) to see the revised specs (half-way down the page):
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects...11ac-touchscreen-wifi-router-smart-home/posts

 

[Kaibelf]

Does MacRumors have a promotional deal with iFixit? I don't WANT to DIY my way into a time capsule. They said RIGHT ON STAGE that there's a slot for a hard drive in this new design to accommodate hard drives in the time capsule product line. I'm not interested in using iFixit to service my machines (I buy Applecare for a reason) and I see no point in posting their opinion on EVERY product that Apple puts out so that they can complain about how hard it is to sell their stupid repair service.

 

[ValSalva]

The design does seem weird but in person I'll bet it's smaller than it appears in photos. I hope it does anyway...

 

[locust76]

Jeez, people! Do you not READ? The tower design is to help with the antennas and the 802.11 AC performance. Stop whining and READ!

That tower design also spells catastrophe if you happen to have a hard drive in there and accidentally tip it over while it's running.

 

[shurcooL]

You can do both, but just understand that anything stored on there is not backed up if that is the only place you have the data.

I see, thanks! And can it be accessed by Macs only, or Windows/Linux also?

 

[AppleMark]

I like the new design and the reasons for it. But I just do not need a new Airport and I do not have any 'ac' equipment.

 

[ArmCortexA8]

I've heard these don't work with PC's anymore, in fact even the Manual is void of any PC reference. It appears these now only work with Macs - anyone else peeved - here's the Manual - http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/airport_extreme_80211ac_setup.pdf