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AirPort Extreme just died... Any chance of a new one coming out at WWDC?

mrat93

mrat93

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 30, 2006
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After three years, my previous generation AirPort Extreme suddenly stopped working and started making a high pitched sound. Based on what I've read online, it's pretty dead.

I have a current gen AirPort Express holding me over for now, but I was wondering if there's any chance of a refresh at WWDC. I can wait two weeks if need be. Is there anything feasible that Apple could add to the Extreme, or is it still pretty modern tech-wise, despite being three years old?
 
Do you think Ming-Chi Kuo hangs out here? ;-)

I have my doubts. It hasn't been that long since the last refresh (in Apple years). There isn't a new Wi-Fi protocol, I don't think there's a point to adding BlueTooth or Thunderbolt 2, and the cost of 1-3 TBs of Flash is still to high.
 
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AppleCare replacement

It might be worth talking to AppleCare and have them replace it for you. If you have a Mac under warranty or AppleCare, maybe they can provide a better price to get it fixed than simply buying a new one.
 
Do you think there'll be an AirPort Extreme refresh soon?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to buy a new wireless router to replace my 5 year old AirPort Extreme. My devices now support AC and the current router is becoming a little unreliable so I've been looking at the latest AirPort Extreme. I know, however, that his model has been around for a couple of years now so do you think we might see a refresh in the coming weeks/months?

I know that WWDC is only 15 days away now and that you have a 14 day return window (after delivery) so I guess I could buy the latest model now, test it out to see if it's worth the upgrade over my current one, and still be able to return it if one a new one is announced at WWDC.

Thanks!
 
I'd check shipping times for purchasing from Apple's Web site. If they are showing something like two weeks out, then that would be a good indicator that something new is coming.

I think it unlikely because the current Airports are already on the las test WiFi standard. But to be on the safe side, I think I would wait until you are comfortably inside Apple's 14 day return policy.
 
Breaking Good said:
I'd check shipping times for purchasing from Apple's Web site. If they are showing something like two weeks out, then that would be a good indicator that something new is coming.

I think it unlikely because the current Airports are already on the las test WiFi standard. But to be on the safe side, I think I would wait until you are comfortably inside Apple's 14 day return policy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty solid advice. I've already checked the online store and the current-generation AirPort Extreme is available to ship immediately. I think I'll wait a couple of days and then get one. That way, I'll likely have up to a week left of my return period after the WWDC keynote.
 
For Time Capsule, may be there will be a 4T version. However, for Airport Extreme, I think it's quite safe to buy the current one.
 
Regardless of what you do, this is an excellent candidate for purchasing refurbished. For the regular price of an Extreme ($200) you can get a 2TB Time Capsule. I bought two of these when the current generation Time Capsule came out. They were the previous generation, so not AC, but I didn't have any AC devices at the time. Now the refurbished ones they are selling are current generation.

If all this interests you, consider that even if they do come out with a new version, it won't be on the refurbished store for quite some time.
 
While there is no new Wi-Fi standard, that does not mean there are no new technologies coming out of 802.11ac. We have not yet reached all the potential from ac. The biggest is MU-MIMO and this one is going to take a while to catch up to because it is incredibly complex and requires both the router and the devices to support MU-MIMO. You'll see this coming soon as part of the 802.11AC wave 2 routers, some were already announced last week with 4x4 antennas setups (AC can go up to 8x8 IIRC, this won't happen for a few years because it is difficult to even do 4x4 at the moment). Dlink is supposed to have a USB-3 adapter with 3x3 out by now but no news yet.

With MU-MIMO, (multiple user, multiple input and multiple output), the router can dedicate antennas to specific devices, which ensures the device gets the best performance consistently instead of the router switching between devices when sending data out. Without MU-MIMO, the router uses all the outgoing antennas (TX, transmitters) for one device at a time. Which means if you have 3-5 devices all getting data, they all must wait their turn. With MU-MIMO in 802.11ac routers with 4x4 setup, 4 devices will get dedicated TX antennas _pointed_ to them (beamforming) with no waiting. This means you'd see a reduction in latency as well as they don't have to wait for their turn.

Airport Extreme is currently at 3x3. I'd expect Apple to bump it to at least 4x4, heck they can go 8x8 if they figure it out. I don't think they're MU-MIMO capable at the moment, not likely given the age as MU-MIMO is starting to take off now.

There are some tricks where MU-MIMO routers can group non-MU-MIMO devices together to increase the performance, so you still get a benefit from MU-MIMO router even without having the devices that support it.

Hopefully, Apple will announce a 4x4 MU-MIMO compatible Airport Extreme soon but I think it might happen next year, not this year.
 
Last edited:
MikhailT said:
While there is no new Wi-Fi standard, that does not mean there are no new technologies coming out of 802.11ac. We have not yet reached all the potential from ac. The biggest is MU-MIMO and this one is going to take a while to catch up to because it is incredibly complex and requires both the router and the devices to support MU-MIMO. You'll see this coming soon as part of the 802.11AC wave 2 routers, some were already announced last week with 4x4 antennas setups (AC can go up to 8x8 IIRC, this won't happen for a few years because it is difficult to even do 4x4 at the moment). Dlink is supposed to have a USB-3 adapter with 3x3 out by now but no news yet.

With MU-MIMO, (multiple user, multiple input and multiple output), the router can dedicate antennas to specific devices, which ensures the device gets the best performance consistently instead of the router switching between devices when sending data out. Without MU-MIMO, the router uses all the outgoing antennas (TX, transmitters) for one device at a time. Which means if you have 3-5 devices all getting data, they all must wait their turn. With MU-MIMO in 802.11ac routers with 4x4 setup, 4 devices will get dedicated TX antennas _pointed_ to them (beamforming) with no waiting. This means you'd see a reduction in latency as well as they don't have to wait for their turn.

Airport Extreme is currently at 3x3. I'd expect Apple to bump it to at least 4x4, heck they can go 8x8 if they figure it out. I don't think they're MU-MIMO capable at the moment, not likely given the age as MU-MIMO is starting to take off now.

There are some tricks where MU-MIMO routers can group non-MU-MIMO devices together to increase the performance, so you still get a benefit from MU-MIMO router even without having the devices that support it.

Hopefully, Apple will announce a 4x4 MU-MIMO compatible Airport Extreme soon but I think it might happen next year, not this year.
Click to expand...

This was the answer I was looking for. I wasn't sure if any new tech even existed to be put into a new Airport Extreme. Guess we'll see in a day or so. Thanks!
 
Subscribing to this thread because I too would like a new Airport Extreme (as opposed to another vendor's AP since the Airport would easily integrate into my current network) but want one that's more recent than what Apple is currently selling, which AFAIK was introduced two years ago during the 2013 WWDC.
 
If you look at the release history, it looks like Apple will release something soon. Hopefully in the next few weeks something will come out. In the past they never made a big announcement, it just showed up in the store.

The 4th and 5th generation where both N, the 5th generation was just antenna improvements.

6th generation June 10, 2013
5th generation June 21, 2011
4th generation October 20, 2009
3rd generation March 3, 2009
2nd generation March 19, 2008
1st generation January 9, 2007
 
I waited untill WWDC then ordered a refurbished Airport Extreme. Maybe they'll introduce a new AE this fall together with the new Apple TV or the new ATV will include some Aiport express capabilities, who knows...
I'm very happy with the AE it really improved signal strength and speed at my place so I'd recommend it
 
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