Any rumors that Apple will replace the Time Capsule?

[xraydoc]

WTF! Seems like Apple wants to screw stuff that just works. Of course, we all back up to an external but, if there no TM, how are we to do it? Or is this flogging of third-party software--subscription, of course!

Time Machine is not being discontinued. Support for old Time Capsule hardware is.

 

[Arran]

Time Machine is not being discontinued. Support for old Time Capsule hardware is.

Apple really messed-up the naming of those two products out of the gate.

Time Machine should've been called "Time Travel" (a verb) and then the actual hardware could be called TM or TC (both a noun).

You then do something (verb) with the noun. No confusion,.

Too late now.

 

[Undecided]

When I was an Apple Consultant the vast majority of my customers were using an attached drive for Time Machine backups. I think that reflected how many people were buying Time Capsules.

Apple has only announced the upcoming issue regarding the Time Capsule. Perhaps they'll announce some sort of replacement device…or…expanded functionality of iCloud syncing to include file versioning to make it work like Time Machine. The latter is what I'd put my money on. Apple's making so much money selling macOS subscription services that it would make sense.

So, if I were the OP, I'd do a wait-and-see…and when macOS 27 comes out see what the options are before updating to it. OP asked if there were any rumors regarding a TC replacement but no one here yet has heard anything.

Yep, I'm just waiting but I was fishing for rumors. This is for someone I have to support so I'm hoping there's a set-and-forget solution. For myself, I rolled my own script wrapped in a Shortcut, set up now with macOS 26 as an automation, to do incremental backups of key folders (locally, which then gets mirrored to iCloud), especially things not captured by iCloud (like Stickies! I use Stickies!).

Apple really messed-up the naming of those two products out of the gate.

Time Machine should've been called "Time Travel" (a verb) and then the actual hardware could be called TM or TC (both a noun).

You then do something (verb) with the noun. No confusion,.

Too late now.

Yes but Time Machine is trademarked by Apple. It's possible that Time Travel (or other sensible options) could not be trademarked, or were already trademarked and could not be used by Apple.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Apple really messed-up the naming of those two products out of the gate.

Time Machine should've been called "Time Travel" (a verb) and then the actual hardware could be called TM or TC (both a noun).

You then do something (verb) with the noun. No confusion,.

Too late now.

A the time, sure, but the Time Capsule has been gone for a long time, and most don't even know it existed.

 

[MacMorrison]

Using iCloud to backup data would be the boomer-compatible solution. It's not free, but it works.

 

[AlixSPQR]

If it hasn’t been mentioned before: iCloud is a syncing service, not a backup service. Any deleted photos/videos/documents/files will disappear on all synced units.

 

[Happy_John]

If it hasn’t been mentioned before: iCloud is a syncing service, not a backup service. Any deleted photos/videos/documents/files will disappear on all synced units.

It has been mentioned many times. But when people don't want to listen, they don't listen.

It's that either they never delete anything from their desktop and documents folders or from their photo library, or are sure they'll never need these files ever again. Which doesn't seem like a very effective way to manage either their internal storage, their subscription charges, or their data.

But people will be people.

 

[xraydoc]

It has been mentioned many times. But when people don't want to listen, they don't listen.

It's that either they never delete anything from their desktop and documents folders or from their photo library, or are sure they'll never need these files ever again. Which doesn't seem like a very effective way to manage either their internal storage, their subscription charges, or their data.

But people will be people.

Yep. And these same people will blame Apple when one of their files gets corrupted despite having iCloud Drive has a "backup"...

Time Machine (not Time Capsule) is about the most idiot-proof backup system there is, and the idiots still refuse to do anything. I pretty much decline to help people who can't be bothered to at least take basic steps. Then at the same time having people think I'm crazy for having my system backed up onto two different drives simultaneously, in addition to iCloud (though clearly not everything is synced to iCloud, and, like we've said, iCloud isn't a backup).

For me, my data is worth more than the computer it's on, so I make sure I take steps to protect it.

 

[Happy_John]

… my data is worth more than the computer it's on

And that’s the most important point that can be made.

I used to say drives were cheap. Now, because of AI priortising, they’re not. :-(

But they’re worth far less than data, whether professional or personal.

I am not prepared to lose thirty years of email, documents, and photos. Even before I mentioned my professional life, I’m not going to risk that data which is a record of my personal life.

You wouldn’t dump your parents’ photo album in the bin.

I’m in my 50s, so not that old, but also not really that young. I’m well aware that, when I die, I’ll be leavimg family, assets (which obviously go to family) and a NAS. It sounds wierd, but that NAS is a record of my adult life. What my kids do with it is up to them, but I’ll maintain it until I can’t.

Because it’s the the most accurate record of my (and their) lives. It’s the 21st century equivalent of a diary.

I don’t think I’m important, but my kids, or their kids, or their kids’ kids, might want to know where they came from. At least I can give them that.

Data is more valuable than the hardware it sits on. So probably not a good idea to trust it solely to iCloud syncing.

 

[Howard2k]

And that’s the most important point that can be made.

I used to say drives were cheap. Now, because of AI priortising, they’re not. :-(

But they’re worth far less than data, whether professional or personal.

I am not prepared to lose thirty years of email, documents, and photos. Even before I mentioned my professional life, I’m not going to risk that data which is a record of my personal life.

You wouldn’t dump your parents’ photo album in the bin.

I’m in my 50s, so not that old, but also not really that young. I’m well aware that, when I die, I’ll be leavimg family, assets (which obviously go to family) and a NAS. It sounds wierd, but that NAS is a record of my adult life. What my kids do with it is up to them, but I’ll maintain it until I can’t.

Because it’s the the most accurate record of my (and their) lives. It’s the 21st century equivalent of a diary.

I don’t Think I’m important, but my kids, or their kids, or their kids, might want to know where they came from. At least I can give them tha

Data is more valuable than the hardware it sits on. So probably not a good idea to trust it solely to iCloud syncing.

100%

Always worth spending a few dollars to hold at least a couple of copies over your data. Amortized over a period of years (and HDDs can last a long time) it's a no-brainer if your data/photos has value.

 

[Happy_John]

100%

Always worth spending a few dollars to hold at least a couple of copies over your data. Amortized over a period of years (and HDDs can last a long time) it's a no-brainer if your data/photos has value.

All data has value, it mightn’t be monetary value, but sentimental value is still value.

 

[JamesMay82]

iCloud isn't an incremental backup, it's just a current duplicate of what you've got. In other words, if you delete a file, then discover 3 weeks from now that you actually needed it, without Time Machine, it's gone forever. Time Machine would have saved you, however, since it keeps everything.

Another example — you make a whole bunch of edits to a file, but then realize you want to go back to a version that's a month old. Without Time Machine, you're lost.. your only choice to is reproduce your work, if you can. iCloud doesn't keep old versions, but Time Machine does.

iCloud just mirrors your machine (for some things). That's not really a backup.

It’s worrying how many people think their data is safe because of iCloud. If you got logged out of iCloud account for any reason all your data is at risk.

I would have said any portable hard drive is easy for a boomer… just keep it at the side of you where you most use the MacBook so it reminds you to back up. Set a reminder as well to pop up

 

[DankeBrutus]

This is for someone I have to support so I'm hoping there's a set-and-forget solution.

Well it probably isn't going to be as set-and-forget as a Time Capsule, but you could always set up an SMB share on their LAN with something low-powered like a Raspberry Pi.

My current set up at home is a 12TB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi 4. I just installed Samba, set up the share, put ``fruit:timemachine = true`` in the smb.conf file, created SMB users, and made sure my firewall had port 445 open. Three Macs back up to the drive every hour. Obviously the process is slightly more involved than what I just described but I could give more details when I get home if you're interested.

 

[Happy_John]

This is for someone I have to support so I'm hoping there's a set-and-forget solution. For myself, I rolled my own script wrapped in a Shortcut, set up now with macOS 26 as an automation, to do incremental backups of key folders (locally, which then gets mirrored to iCloud), especially things not captured by iCloud (like Stickies! I use Stickies!).

The easiest "set and forget" solution would be to simply use another Mac as a TM destination. It doesn't need to be a powerful or new Mac, and one in which you could upgrade the internal storage would be neater - i.e. a Mac mini 2011 - 2014. You should be able to pick one up for under 100$, and more like 50$. Use a small SSD ( 120 GB ) for the OS and a bigger HDD ( a 7mm 2.5"" HDD will fit nicely, but they only go up to 2TB, but you can cram in a much larger 15mm 2.5" drive - up to 5TB). You can by a pack of tools and extra cables, everything you need to open up a Mac mini and replace / install two drives etc for under 20$ on Amazon / ALiExpress for under 20$. IF you need more storage space, all 2012 and 2014 Mac mins have 4 USB 3.0 ports.

As a solution, this should come in at well under 200$, or less if you have drives or even an old Mac mini lying around. An old MacBook (with, say, a damaged keyboard or screen) with an external drive will be even cheaper, and be effectively the same thing, but it won't look pretty ( not an issue if it's hidden away in a cupboard).

Set it up as a destination, turn off everything that will not be used ( it'll be headless, so you don't need any UI features), then lock down all traffic to and from the mini apart from TM file sharing and screen sharing (for any tinkering / maintain you might need to do in the future) - put it directly into the router the user is using via ethernet, and you shouldn't need to worry about it again.

Back up to a shared folder with Time Machine on Mac

On a Mac, share a folder that other Mac computers on your network can use for Time Machine backups.

support.apple.com

Installing Mac Mini Late 2012 Dual Hard Drive Kit

Use this guide to install iFixit's Dual Hard Drive Kit in your Late 2012 Mac Mini.

www.ifixit.com

New HDD Hard Drive SSD Connector Flex Cable Ribbon with Tools Repair Part Replacement for Mac mini A1347 821-1500-A 821-1501-A (Mid 2011 - Late 2012)

New HDD Hard Drive SSD Connector Flex Cable Ribbon with Tools Repair Part Replacement for Mac mini A1347 821-1500-A 821-1501-A (Mid 2011 - Late 2012)

www.amazon.com

 

[Arran]

Any comments on how easy the Ugreen is to setup and maintain? What’s the OS like?

I’m kind-of leaning towards the Ugreen as I like being able to swap out drives easily. I also like that it supports JBOD. For Time Machine, I like to give each Mac its own HDD to keep them isolated. If anything corrupts, I can just pull or reformat the drive and only one Mac is hit. Ugreen’s downside is I’ll need to learn another OS.

OTOH, the Ubiquiti UNAS2 looks clean and simple (and I’m already in the Ubiquiti/UniFi ecosystem with my WiFi) but it only does raid mirroring (no JBOD). Maybe they’ll update it over time since it’s a fairly new product? Not sure I want to make that bet. The display on the front is nice and clear. “All storage operational” - Easy-peasy to keep an eye on.

The 2-bay Synology DS-223 uses the same OS as my 4-bay synology- so nothing new to learn. Drives aren’t so easy to swap as the Ugreen however.

Quick update for anyone still on the fence…

I bought a Ugreen 4-bay a couple of weeks ago. $350 on sale at Microcenter. 2 extra bays for expansion and a 2.5gig Ethernet port was the decider.

I had to enable a few settings in the Ugreen OS for the shared TM folders to appear in Time Machine on the MacBooks - but it was simple. I remember having to do something similar in Synology when it was new. Ugreen’s OS is similar to Synology, so the learning curve was almost nothing. Google helped too.

For hard drives, I just used old 8TB and 3TB server-grade drives pulled from previous Time Capsules that had both passed extended SMART testing. I also turned on encryption for all TM backups just in case.

So far, so good. Both macs are now backing up to my old Synology NAS and the new Ugreen every 2 hours. It’s pretty much like my old Time capsule setup: Full redundant wireless backups on autopilot.

Can recommend.

 

[Happy_John]

Quick update for anyone still on the fence…

I bought a Ugreen 4-bay a couple of weeks ago. $350 on sale at Microcenter. 2 extra bays for expansion and a 2.5gig Ethernet port was the decider.

I had to enable a few settings in the Ugreen OS for the shared TM folders to appear in Time Machine on the MacBooks - but it was simple. I remember having to do something similar in Synology when it was new. Ugreen’s OS is similar to Synology, so the learning curve was almost nothing. Google helped too.

For hard drives, I just used old 8TB and 3TB server-grade drives pulled from previous Time Capsules that had both passed extended SMART testing. I also turned on encryption for all TM backups just in case.

So far, so good. Both macs are now backing up to my old Synology NAS and the new Ugreen every 2 hours. It’s pretty much like my old Time capsule setup: Full redundant wireless backups on autopilot.

Can recommend.

The DH4300? That's a great machine, and a great price if you get it, as you did, on a discount price ( it's often on discount). The little brother, the 2bay DH2300 is also great and a very reliable box - you can often pick it up for under $200 - it's the drives themselves, if you need to buy them you, that stings the wallet :-(

 

[Arran]

The DH4300? That's a great machine, and a great price if you get it, as you did, on a discount price ( it's often on discount). The little brother, the 2bay DH2300 is also great and a very reliable box - you can often pick it up for under $200 - it's the drives themselves, if you need to buy them you, that stings the wallet :-(

Yep, DH4300. I was after the 2-bay DH2300, but just missed the sale. So mad. Nevertheless, I checked prices daily to see if it would go on sale again and then the 4300 dropped to $350. Deal!

I'm very happy with it. Half the price of my Synology and I've discovered it supports some very interesting apps that make it a lot more than just a backup device. Based on what I've read, the cpu has plenty of horsepower for apps - so I'm expecting to get some extra "bang" out of this purchase.

 

[Starfia]

The easiest "set and forget" solution would be to simply use another Mac as a TM destination.

Holy crow; that's a great hidden little feature.

 

[Le Big Mac]

The Unifi UNAS 2 or UNAS 4 would work well as a Time Capsule replacement. They have native support for Time Machine Backups. I use the UNAS Pro (just a larger rack mount version) to back up several Macs as a Time Capsule replacement and attached storage drive.

Does it work over Wifi? I.e., a laptop connected to network by Wifi will perform automatic TM backups?

(Put aside the very slow initial backup . . . )

 

[Le Big Mac]

I’m in my 50s, so not that old, but also not really that young. I’m well aware that, when I die, I’ll be leavimg family, assets (which obviously go to family) and a NAS. It sounds wierd, but that NAS is a record of my adult life. What my kids do with it is up to them, but I’ll maintain it until I can’t.

Because it’s the the most accurate record of my (and their) lives. It’s the 21st century equivalent of a diary.

I don’t think I’m important, but my kids, or their kids, or their kids’ kids, might want to know where they came from. At least I can give them that.

A bit of a digression, but do your kids/family a favor and curate it as best you can. I'm going through my mom's stuff after she passed away, and it's not well organized and I go back and forth between "toss it all" and "sort through it" because there's definitely stuff worth saving but a whole lot that's not.

 

[hawwkk55]

Does it work over Wifi? I.e., a laptop connected to network by Wifi will perform automatic TM backups?

(Put aside the very slow initial backup . . . )

Yes, it does work over Wifi.

 

[hawwkk55]

Yes, it does work over Wifi.

It also have 2.5 Gbps POE+++ port that powers it so if you plug in directly you'll get 2.5Gbps back up

 

[Le Big Mac]

Yes, it does work over Wifi.

Thx. Mainly want to make sure it will work automagically with Mac laptops so I don't have to chase my family around to do manuals.

(And, no, "I told you to back it up" isn't an acceptable answer when they spill a drink or break their laptop)

 

[madrich]

Time Capsule resurrection

https://github.com/jamesyc/TimeCapsuleSMB

 

[MitzEclipse]

Interesting option, however not keen on using some hack workaround approach especially when dealing with my data. Plus my Time Capsule hardware is coming up to 15+ years old...it's done its service, time for an upgrade. Now the question is - to what?