AirPort Routers Ranked Highest in Customer Satisfaction as Apple Halts Further Development

[citysnaps]

The world usually finds out what Apple are doing regardless. What was the last piece of Apple hardware that was introduced to universal surprise? Almost everything Apple do leaks these days.

You're speaking about leaks with respect to products that are being manufactured where there are thousands of people involved, the majority not Apple employees.

I'm talking about product development, which occurs in Apple's R&D labs, with relatively few Apple employees having access.

In the meantime, for those wanting Apple's current Aiport WiFi router, they're still available for purchase.

 

[Rob_2811]

You're speaking about leaks with respect to products that are being manufactured where there are thousands of people involved, the majority not Apple employees.

I'm talking about product development, which occurs in Apple's R&D labs, with relatively few Apple employees having access.

Is the Car at the manufacturing stage? These dont sound like they are beyond the R&D stage either.

 

[citysnaps]

Is the Car at the manufacturing stage? These dont sound like they are beyond the R&D stage either.

I have no idea what's happening with the "car." What it is, how far along it is, partners involved, etc. I would be shocked if it's even remotely close to being manufactured. Whatever it is.

 

[konqueror4u]

Bad decision by Apple.

 

[Doctor Brian]

This may be another Tim Cook move entirely away from Mac to focus resources on IOS, the music industry, and his own social causes. MAC is too meat and potatoes for him.

 

[A-Sign]

This may be another Tim Cook move entirely away from Mac to focus resources on IOS, the music industry, and his own social causes. MAC is too meat and potatoes for him.

Probably because Mac sales aren't as high as iPhone / iOS sales... it is not a good sign if a company does focus only on revenue and profit. This means their products are getting mediocre.

 

[geta]

Why Apple Why, why are you doing this to us, First you made us addicted to amazing products and now you stopped refreshing them. (Mac Pro, Imac , and now this )

Dont forget the MacMini...

PS, and the iPod.

 

[A-Sign]

Dont forget the MacMini...

The New Mac Pro 2013 was already a dumbed down version of a great product from Professional to Consumer level. Together with removing the Xserve, Xraid, Xsan, Final Cut Server, Colors, Shake, Aperture this was already a clear sign that they aren't interested in Pro products.

 

[k2k koos]

Oh for F's sake Apple.

Get it together, there's no innovation, but only obsessive behaviour about making things thinner and thinner, for the sake of thinness, really? (they call THAT marketing I'm sure)

And now you stop developing what was a good product, and still could have been, but no, now I soon have to deal with the crap hardware that my provider provides and needs a restart everyother day (if lucky), goodbye reliable connection to iCloud (isn't that what you want your users to do?) .

Oh has it been surpassed by other tech? Well why did that happen, were you too focussed on a car and a watch that you were caught napping?? could it not have been developed further? The Express (for example) would have been a very nice item if it had developed providing a decent D/A converter build in, with RCA ports connecting to a decent stereo , so I could stream my music via Airplay(which could also be developped further) or bluetooth aptx to the express and play my music that way.
Or (my preference) connect my USB lightning cable to it and play music and charge it at the same time (saves a socket , no separate charger needing to plug in) , just a few approaches from a music point of view (which, I believe, is one of your big revenue streams isn't it, Music?? ) At the same time I could sit on my sofa working wirelessly on my Macbook using a reliable internet connection.


Go out and innovate, if you can't make the products you want with Intel sourced components, consider others! Stop forcing us into the cloud, as all that will do is force us away.
We want a choice! We are consumers, we don't want this stuff down your throat approach. Sure, give us cloud services as an option, it does come in handy sometimes, but I want to keep my external ports, my memory slots etc etc ... The new MBP's are nice, but underconnected. If I want a portable machine to surf the net and that's clean all around, I'll get an iPad.


Your iMac's are getting unusable too, models in which you can't upgrade memory, are you out of your mind????
Why does the thing need to be so thin, unlike the original, which had a handle so I could carry it around (why you'd now want that in this tablet and laptop age is beyond me...) , this one doesn't need to be carried (bit cumbersome with 24" screens and larger anyway) , so a little thicker so you can actually have a decent all in one with user upgradable functionality built in throughout the range isn't too much to ask...

Your Pro line is a joke beyond words (and how do you think developers want to make new software, how researchers, scientists, engineers, would like to do their jobs , etc etc, there's no decent servers anymore, there has been no update to the Mac Pro in ages, yes a fun looking capable little cylinder, with some inovative tech 'at the time' but unfortunately you end up with a desk full of external devices instead of a decent enclosure that fits everything cleanly and elegantly, or again, forced to use networked or cloud solutions if you want to keep your desk clean).

I want my iOS device with lighting adapter to be able to fit in a decent wired docking station like I could with the 30 pin dock, into a decent stereo (not some crappy monoaural pill or soundbar bull....) while charging, not forced to use (compressed) wifi airplay or bluetooth connections, there are hardly any elegant affordable and decent solutions for that anymore, it's either expensive, or loads of separate cables. (see Airport express rant above).

And for godsake, sort out iTunes so I can install it such that my library can be on a NAS, and not have to reconfigure it every bloody time it gets an update. I want to own my music, on my device, not on your cloud!

The only reason I still use Mac's and iOS is that it's relatively virus free, and easy to use, but you're rapidly falling out of favour.


But glad I can now choose from multicoloured emojis on my unresponsive iPhone6, finger print recognition was the best on the touch home button of 5S, it had a responsive screen, but what's come after it is a joke... (try swiping up to get to your torch etc... I'm stood there for 30 seconds like a loon trying to get that button to come up).
And no, I can't yet afford the 7 (and shouldn't have to ) as my contract isn't up yet, and not sure it's much of an improvement besides being yet bigger and thinner again (bend gate alert!) Oh it's got a great camera apparently, with a stupid sticky out lens (can you maybe make the phone a bit thicker?? ) but isn't this an iPHONE? in other words a communication device with which I can call, text, check out the weather and find my way around? Or is it due for a rename to iSelfie or iSocialise?


So all you gurus out there, get together in a room, look at the situation at Apply in 1997, what approach Steve had when coming back and get some focus going, there's a bunch of talented people in your company, but they have no clear direction (apart from making things thin and wireless...) . Right now, you're catering more and more for your shareholders, not your users, be it consumers, prosumers, and pro users...


So Innovate, Improve and start thinking Different again!

Phew...

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Sad. At one time, Apple was a company that wowed us all with brilliant new products offering solid performance and reliability in a simple to use, elegantly designed package. It's why we're all such fans that we've joined this forum. The AirPort line was a great example.

This is just more evidence that whichever company is the Apple of today, it isn't Apple Inc. It's becoming more and more apparent that Cook's business strategy is nothing more than boilerplate Silicon Valley brand-pumping and planned obsolescence.

Apple's stock will be fine as long as Cook can keep reducing costs and increasing revenues by finding cheaper labor and new markets overseas, but without a clear R&D strategy his plan isn't sustainable long term. As of right now, the young innovators out there are leaving this behemoth, being steered by 5 or 6 old men, in their dust.

 

[NtDs90]

Just got the AirPort Extreme two weeks ago. Had a netgear for the last 4yrs. The AirPort Extreme took less than five minutes to get all our stuff up and running. I remember having to deal with Netgears tech support multiple times.
Appletv 4 and 3, Xbox, Wii, Ipad, iPhones, kids iPods, Mac mini, and Windows laptop. No fuss. No drama. Apple stuff just works. At least for me.

 

[rvinny]

TC should be proud; he cost the company at least two sales from me. I had planned to purchase an Apple router and extender (Express) with my next Mac and cover them all with AppleCare. Now I won't buy either; we will see about the Mac now, too.

I moved to all Apple in 2007 and upgrade my tech in 2-3 year cycles. 2015/2016 may have been my last cycle. If my laptop gets replaced in 2017 its either going to be a refurb 2015 rMBP or I make the move to a Surface Book.

I think a lot of people are in this situation. Hard to quantify but I would guess a lot more people thinking this way than previous years. Apple should be concerned about this.

 

[EdT]

I moved to all Apple in 2007 and upgrade my tech in 2-3 year cycles. 2015/2016 may have been my last cycle. If my laptop gets replaced in 2017 its either going to be a refurb 2015 rMBP or I make the move to a Surface Book.

I think a lot of people are in this situation. Hard to quantify but I would guess a lot more people thinking this way than previous years. Apple should be concerned about this.

I am more or less the same situation and time frame. I had to maintain our offices computers and network and didn't want to have to screw with all the Windows and compatibility problems at home as well. I put up with the odd connections Apple had because all of Apples devices used them.

Apple may be planning wonderful devices based upon solid software but they aren't talking about what those things are, or giving realistic times about when they will be available. I have laptops and routers and streaming tv devices that I will need to replace in the next few years, starting next year. I'm not hearing news about products I need or features I want coming out from Apple and if I start migrating back to Windows I doubt I would stop unless Apples next few years see fantastic devices and software. I had no reason in the past to be loyal to a bean counter driven company and the more that description fits Apple the more I will be looking at alternatives.

 

[aristobrat]

Apple may be planning wonderful devices based upon solid software but they aren't talking about what those things are, or giving realistic times about when they will be available.

When did they ever do that???

 

[EdT]

When did they ever do that???

They didn't. But they did have recent history of innovation and 'surprise' announcements. They really haven't had a drop dead success for 3 or 4 years and all we are hearing now is how they are not going to offer some products in the near future while allowing other products to twist in the wind, without confirming that there will ever be an upgrade.

 

[aristobrat]

They really haven't had a drop dead success for 3 or 4 years

What do you consider drop-dead successes?

 

[applezulu]

This is sad, but not surprising. This thread has 500+ angst-filled posts reacting to information from one (1) anonymously sourced article about Apple re-assigning some engineers out of the router project group, with speculation that this means Apple is discontinuing the product line and halting support.

In reality, you can still buy AirPort routers and time capsules, and they've had a firmware update on the things just within the past few months.

The truth is, WiFi standards aren't changing for at least a couple of years, and there's not a whole lot of updating they could do to the current products, save for maybe a bigger hard-drive and USB-C ports. It doesn't require a big engineering team to manage that. (In fact, they did pull them from shelves earlier this year and then re-stocked them, I think to address a security issue or something like that. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a supported product to me...) For the near term, the devices as currently available will meet the need. Perhaps there's a whole new category that will supplant them in a year or two. Who knows?

If they were actually going to discontinue them, they'd quit selling them and announce a sunset date for software/firmware support. Apple is pretty good about letting customers know when a device is no longer going to be supported, particularly if it has data security implications, as a router does. On the other hand, Apple historically doesn't go out of its way to respond to every hysterical rumor out there.

Given all that, you can probably go on using your AirPort devices with confidence, and even buy new ones if you need 'em. They're currently in stock at your local Apple Store. Or you can set your hair on fire and demand Tim Cook resign because you read a rumor on the internet. Your choice.

 

[citysnaps]

This is sad, but not surprising. This thread has 500+ angst-filled posts reacting to information from one (1) anonymously sourced article about Apple re-assigning some engineers out of the router project group, with speculation that this means Apple is discontinuing the product line and halting support.

In reality, you can still buy AirPort routers and time capsules, and they've had a firmware update on the things just within the past few months.

The truth is, WiFi standards aren't changing for at least a couple of years, and there's not a whole lot of updating they could do to the current products, save for maybe a bigger hard-drive and USB-C ports. It doesn't require a big engineering team to manage that. (In fact, they did pull them from shelves earlier this year and then re-stocked them, I think to address a security issue or something like that. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a supported product to me...) For the near term, the devices as currently available will meet the need. Perhaps there's a whole new category that will supplant them in a year or two. Who knows?

If they were actually going to discontinue them, they'd quit selling them and announce a sunset date for software/firmware support. Apple is pretty good about letting customers know when a device is no longer going to be supported, particularly if it has data security implications, as a router does. On the other hand, Apple historically doesn't go out of its way to respond to every hysterical rumor out there.

Given all that, you can probably go on using your AirPort devices with confidence, and even buy new ones if you need 'em. They're currently in stock at your local Apple Store. Or you can set your hair on fire and demand Tim Cook resign because you read a rumor on the internet. Your choice.

Spot-on assessment, on all aspects. Amazing how people will set aside all critical reading, reasoning, and thinking so as to be able to moan about Apple and Apple products.

 

[Rob_2811]

This is sad, but not surprising. This thread has 500+ angst-filled posts reacting to information from one (1) anonymously sourced article about Apple re-assigning some engineers out of the router project group, with speculation that this means Apple is discontinuing the product line and halting support.

In reality, you can still buy AirPort routers and time capsules, and they've had a firmware update on the things just within the past few months.

The truth is, WiFi standards aren't changing for at least a couple of years, and there's not a whole lot of updating they could do to the current products, save for maybe a bigger hard-drive and USB-C ports. It doesn't require a big engineering team to manage that. (In fact, they did pull them from shelves earlier this year and then re-stocked them, I think to address a security issue or something like that. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a supported product to me...) For the near term, the devices as currently available will meet the need. Perhaps there's a whole new category that will supplant them in a year or two. Who knows?

If they were actually going to discontinue them, they'd quit selling them and announce a sunset date for software/firmware support. Apple is pretty good about letting customers know when a device is no longer going to be supported, particularly if it has data security implications, as a router does. On the other hand, Apple historically doesn't go out of its way to respond to every hysterical rumor out there.

Given all that, you can probably go on using your AirPort devices with confidence, and even buy new ones if you need 'em. They're currently in stock at your local Apple Store. Or you can set your hair on fire and demand Tim Cook resign because you read a rumor on the internet. Your choice.

From a reporter with near 100% accuracy who has had several scoops about major products way before anybody else. Little bit disingenuous to imply this is some kind of dodgy rumor that likely has no substance.

 

[EdT]

What do you consider drop-dead successes?

iPhones up to iPhone 5, although the Apple Maps introduced with the phone was a sign of things to come. Not that Apple having their own map program was a bad idea, but releasing what was an untested piece of software and denying (for a while) how bad it was is a pattern that has been repeated a number of times since then. The first few generations of iPads were very successful. The last few releases haven't sold as well. Even Microsoft seems to have released a viable iPad competitor. MacBook and iMac computers up through around 2013. I don't know enough about Mac Pro to comment, but the rest I either have had or still currently own.

And what do I consider either un-inspiring or failures? iTunes, Apple Music, Apple TV and Photos. All had potential, none of them have lived up to it. The interface of iTunes/Apple Music is not winning awards for simplicity and features, and iMatch, wherever it has been buried in the hierarchy of iTunes/Apple Music has had problems with losing music that users have uploaded to the system. Apple TV is no better than Roku or Amazon Fire and doesn't have the selection of movies and tv shows. Yes it has games, and a few other varied apps. Do you know anyone who has gotten rid of an Xbox or Playstation or Wii because of Apple TV? It may be bringing in money but I bet it's underperforming expectations. Photos seems to be hated by photographers who used to use Aperture. I personally don't find it easy or intuitive, and features such as the ability to handle RAW files was missing until recently.

The 2 positive things about the iPhone 7 that stood out are it's processor, which outperforms the best Android systems, and the security of the system. I would be willing to bet that just like most other cell phone brands Apple will start harvesting and selling 'anonymized' data. Other than that, the waterproofing is years behind other phones. And the removal of the headphone jack before having the wireless products IN PLACE that would alleviate the need for the jack was poor planning at best.

The Apple Watch isn't setting sales records. Once again, it is selling, but few are excited by what it can do. My opinion, and that is all it is, is that it's a piece of hardware that is searching for a killer app. I'm not sure health is that app. Have the watch capable of replacing your phone -without increasing the price- and you might have something. At least in a metropolitan area, not needing to carry a cell phone might make a watch more popular. But right now, nobodies' watch is really catching on, Apple, Samsung, or anyone else.

 

[charlieroberts]

Tim apparently cares more about money than his customers, that or he's completely lost and dazed, evidenced by a lot of questionable design directions lately. Either way, a sad way to slowly but surely run a once excellent company that used to care about 'the user experience' into the ground.

On topic, I'll buy another brand of router if I have to, before putting all my trust into iCloud.

I highly doubt the airport division was unprofitable, so how does this mean that he only cares about money.
Seems to me more sales of more products = more money?

 

[toke lahti]

Which would be 100% stupid.

Which doesn't bother Apple.

 

[cmaier]

The Apple Watch isn't setting sales records.

Yes it is.

 

[macs4nw]

I highly doubt the airport division was unprofitable, so how does this mean that he only cares about money.
Seems to me more sales of more products = more money?

That certainly would make sense and seem logical, but sound business sense and logic are also two things that appear to be lacking coming from the executive team lately. Assuming for a moment the rumor this whole thread is based upon, turns out to be true, there is really no logic in letting the router/time capsule line languish, especially in light of the fact there is currently so much emphasis on wireless downloads, streaming, and Cloud computing, hence my suggestion a lot of Tim's decisions lately seem strange, or at the very least counter-intuitive.

With the TV effort seemingly going nowhere fast, the Watch while still viable, having been a disappointment so far, and project Titan's future now uncertain, Tim seems to want to pour additional resources into the iPhone division from where the last half dozen or so years the bulk of Apple's revenue has come. While no doubt a play-it-safe maneuver, is that the move of a true visionary while considering the absence of any evidence of new product development? The current crop of iPhones can be considered a mature product line, and so stagnation creeping in is a real possibility. Incremental yearly updates just won't cut it indefinitely. Only exciting new product lines can keep Apple's momentum going.

There is good reason for increasing skepticism in the Mac community lately regarding Apple's long term future, and Tim's role in it. Many observers are baffled by some of the product decisions coming out of Cupertino recently, and this is reflected by an increasingly large chorus of general disapproval of Apple's changing business model.

The little company that "Thinks different" has become shockingly successful by that mantra, but is now slowly morphing into a shareholder-driven greed machine, with a CEO who lacks vision and whose sole ambition (and job security) is satisfying said shareholders, to the exclusion of bold new industry-leading initiatives, which fact in the long run is a surefire recipe for its ultimate demise or fading to irrelevance.

 

[applezulu]

From a reporter with near 100% accuracy who has had several scoops about major products way before anybody else. Little bit disingenuous to imply this is some kind of dodgy rumor that likely has no substance.

That doesn't change the fact that no one would go on record for this report, and that there seems to be no other independent reporting on this story, even after a decent amount of time. Also, the only "fact" attributed to the anonymous sources was that engineering staff was being reassigned out of the router project group. The rest of it is all speculation.

There are lots of possible reasons for the staffing changes. There are also lots of possible reasons anonymous sources might leak a story to a single reporter.

For the rest of the world to then accrete layer upon layer of wild speculation on top of this one morsel of tenuously sourced information is just foolish. It is also a sad example of the dangerous way people process information in the internet age, preferring compounded confirmation bias over cool assessment of available facts.