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

[koruki]

Apple went on to a few record breaking years after Steve's passing, thats all I meant by look after it. I don't think he can help it grow and even the best items have their use by date, which we are seeing now. I don't think Tim has the "Courage" and the foresight to launch anything as significant but we are comparing him to THE Steve Jobs. It's a tough act to follow. The only other CEO I've seen that has similar charisma is Musk, but there's no chance of him running Apple.

So really, who can they hire?

Can he? I'm not sure he can over the longer term to be honest.

He has kept things going, so far, with the iPhone and the sales have been great but the other markets, Mac and iPad in particular, haven't fared very well at all. His first major new product, the watch, hasn't set the world alight, Apple Music got off to a very difficult start and it doesn't seem to be happening for them in some of the other areas they have tried to get into (TV/Car). They just do not seem to be able to get the deals done without Jobs.

Who is making the decisions at Apple anyway? To me the Car seemed like a bit of a strange area to try to get into and has got Jony Ive written all over it.

 

[EdT]

Yes it is.

No, it really isn't.https://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/05/apple-watch-vs-wearables-idc-3q16/

 

[drmacnut]

Apple has put a sack over [its] head but continues to claim they can see clearly. Remove the sack or get out Tim.

No. Just give Tim the sack.

It's sad that Apple is taking away so many of the nice ancillary bits of the Mac experience (external displays, magsafe, airports of all types, external battery level indicators on portables, robust (reasonably thick) batteries, MBP charger bricks with cable management, and more and more) - all in the name of making a bit of extra profit I suppose.

I would ask then why does Apple need to worry about removing "halo" items that don't make as much profit as their main high-margin products when it has an unimaginable amount of money in its coffers? And please don't say "to help keep the shareholders happy". I am a longterm shareholder and I don't think this slow erosion of customer satisfaction with the ecosystem is good for the long term health of the company. /my2c.

 

[cmaier]

No, it really isn't.https://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/05/apple-watch-vs-wearables-idc-3q16/

Yes it is. It's a watch, not a cheap single purpose health wearable. If you invent a market it's easy to come up with one where it looks bad.

To prove my point: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN13V0BT

 

[le.bouch]

I grew my Apple system from a 3G iPhone.

I then gradually replaced all my non-Apple gear so that everything worked well together. I liked being inside the walled garden and didn't object to the Apple tax for the advantages it bought. It seems to me that Apple is now dismantling the walled garden themselves and leading me to the exit. If I wanted a system comprised of items from different, often conflicting manufacturers I would have stayed with Windows.

If the Airports go, I won't be able to stream iTunes music all over the house to my Expresses. If I'm not locked to iTunes then maybe the overpriced iMac isn't so attractive (iTunes, awful as it is, sucks even more on Windows).

My iPads are overpriced and look tired compared to MS's offerings.

My Apple TV is overpriced and woefully supported in the U.K. - only one of the five major broadcasters has released an app for it, the games are for kindergarten, etc.

There are phones technically as good as the overpriced iPhone now - only the 'experience' is better on an iPhone. But Apple are unravelling the experience anyway.

I feel like my Apple adventure is unpicking rapidly but I didn't expect Apple to be the ones pulling the loose thread.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Did you somehow come to the conclusion that coverage and performance don't contribute to satisfaction? Additionally, I think a lot of AirPort customers value stability after coming from routers of other brands that required frequent power cycles.


Ubiquiti has severe software QA issues. I switched from AirPort to Ubiquiti gear thinking the same thing you did here. Every firmware update since I purchased has resulted in a worse product. They fix a bug, break something unreleated, and regress on a bug they previously fixed two firmware versions ago. Repeat that once a month or so. There's currently two huge outstanding issues: one severely limiting wireless throughput at a specific AP, and another where a single device (typically an Apple device) can access local network resources wirelessly but is cut off from the wider Internet.

Their hardware is great but their software house is not in order.

These sorts of issues are hard to track when you're supporting every different wireless radio made. My Surface 4 won't work correctly with my Airport Extreme, and can take the entire network down with it - the radios are made by the same company, too. The issue you describe with certain Apple devices and Ubiquiti is also true on Linksys/Cisco and Netgear as well.

If you can show me a network hardware company that also makes great software, you're looking at the next major player in the entire software industry. Having to use a Mac or iOS device just to interface with your hardware is ******* crazy.
[doublepost=1481195271][/doublepost]

I have yet to see 802.11ad consumer devices, be it a laptop or whatnot. Apple always released new routers to match new wireless tech on their products. 802.11ac router was released alongside 802.11ac equipped Macs. So we will see new routers (or who Apple would partner with) when we have 802.11ad Macs.

FYI, it has arrived https://www.netgear.com/landings/ad7200/?cid=wmt_netgear_organic