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Never owned one, but I'm pretty much well connected and backed up.

If it was for the MR crew, Apple would still be making the Laserwriter.
Unlike laswerwriters, there's no one else making a wifi router/backup device that I can set up for my parents and not expect a phone call starting with: "My wifi isn't working!!??"
It made time capsule backups a breeze too, it's one of the ways I easily sold Apple hardware to my family members. Not all of us want to spend hours downgrading firmware on a router so we can install DD-WRT!!
 
Like a $300 coffee table book..
So what? Jeez. No-one is forcing you to buy it.

You do know it's a novelty item (well, no, you don't). Buy it now, keep it in pristine condition and sell it for a lot more in the future??

Updated to keep Rob_2811 happy.
 
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Once again it seems like the response on this site is inflated the majority of people who use high speed internet just use the router provided by their internet provider

And if my experiences are correct, they have to reboot it every day. When I visited family that has rental property using ISP provided tech for WiFi, they were setting up a mechanism to do just this, otherwise they were fielding calls for broken WiFi constantly.
 
to try to sharpen the company’s focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue."


So does this mean the mac pro is going to die?
 
if you took time to read most of the posts on this you will see that most of the people posting here understand that these devices are a tiny portion of revenue.
their point is that it is one more brick in the eco-system that is being removed, or not updated.
it has been a part of the apple system infrastructure up till now.
the "it just works" probably can't be used very much longer.
apple's mac os still has such little market share in the world (outside of the USA).
we still need a mac centered product line, or, google is becoming more and more what apple used to be.
They can't win. When they don't update a product in years, people complain and when they pull a product from market, people complain!!
 
I was thinking about this. I feel GOOD about skipping the last couple of phones. I feel GOOD that I am using a 6 year old Mac Pro. I'm dissatisfied enough with Apple that it is a better feeling not buying their products, rather than how it used to be. Buying a new Apple product used to be fun and a positive experience.

I do have a 1 year old MacBook that work bought me, but I rarely use it. It would be a Surface Pro if MS hadn't birthed the Skylake launch.


I agree that the decision to drop the 17 inch MacBook Pro was moronic.
And that you can hold on to an old one.

But, the new 15 inch MacBook Pro screams in speed.

the problem is we have a mgmt team that doesn't use the products.
They seem to use the MacBook Pro for Email and nothing else, and even the email app hasn't gotten a decent update.

Or, top management just use Phones.

You can't get product development going from People who DON'T USE THE PRODUCT.

THERE NEEDS TO BE NEW MANAGEMENT AT THE TOP.
MILLION DOLLAR BONUS'S DON'T GET YOU COMPETENCE IT SEEMS.
 
whatever. my time capsule crapped out on me about 2.2 years after i bought it. genius bar pretty much told me sorry. over $400 down the drain. (as reviewers said, this product dies quickly) ... so, i went with an extreme, again. but good to know that this will be my last extreme purchase.
 
Why is everyone so darn angry.

I actually believe - like a comment before - that Apple may integrate all into an Apple TV.
They will probably make a HUB or something that has TV, WIFI, etc...

I am not against that to be honest... Maybe they have a way to reduce clutter and to be honest maybe that would improve the router part of the Airport eco system.

Let's wait and see...

Either way, if Apple indeed kills Airport in any form, then yes... said times for Apple.
Kills beautiful and nicely working products.

I hate to sound like a grandpa, by my heart was broken when they killed Aperture. It was such a beautiful App.....
Tim is lacking perspective - it's obvious anyway - Steve indeed wouldn't have killed his own ecosystem which made Apple what it is.
I will not jump on the train of saying Apple sucks - because for now - it still doesn't. But Maaaan they really look like they are heading to a money oriented direction.

I have the feeling that Steve had a good grip on these guys' "cojones" (you know, these guys we always see and hear on Apple products explaining with selected words how erotic is Apple now - however I am not so horny anymore...)

Tim ... well.... he is dreaming about $$$ Good luck Tim being the richest guy in the cemetery.
Bill Gates had more vision than you that's a fact. And he made poop water....
You just make poop.....

Cheers!

Maybe, but you would still need the engineers - they would be very specialized. The whole "reassigned to other teams" thing could mean they were kept together to work on Apple TV or the like, but it doesn't sound like it.
 
Apple has dissolved its division which develops wireless routers and is now sending engineers who worked on the AirPort lineup into other product teams, including one currently working on Apple TV.

The remaining engineers were reassigned to AW bands.
 
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I also happened to walk past a Microsoft store the other day and was pretty blown away by the new Surface PC. Design is awesome. Being able to push the screen down and switch seamlessly between mouse, stylus and touch depending upon what one is doing is, well, something I would have expected from Apple.

Already moved to Surface Pro 4 for productivity purposes. Would LOVE to the the Studio in the flesh; first time a desktop computer has wowed me from a design and usage point of view in many years.

I've been buying Apple computers for over 30 years, but I'm pretty sure my next machine will come from Microsoft. I can't believe I just wrote that. I find Apple entire product lineup rather uninspired these days. AirPort may not have been a big money maker, but the routers have outperformed and outlasted every third party router I've tried. I definitely think the Mac's days are numbered at this point.

Air = ok internals, lacklustre display
MacBook = great body & display, lousy CPU & port
MacBook Pro = ok internals, lousy ports, serious price tag
First party macOS apps = lousy for serious productivity (Office type apps, can't speak for Logic, FCPX etc)
Airport/Time Capsule canning = an easy 'it just works' seamless backup solution abandoned.

You do realise that Apple has opened Time Machine support to third-party manufacturers? Don't really see how this fact fits into your assessment of the situation. I am disappointed that Apple is discontinuing Airport, this were some really nice routers, but I am sure that we will have a number of great alternatives very soon.

I tried using my WD MyCloud NAS for Time Machine backups - very slow (hourly backups wouldn't complete before the next backup was due) and no end of Time Machine having to wipe and restart the backup set. Problem might be on WDs end, might be on Apple's, might be a combination of the two. Either way, it was a sharp contrast to the 'It just works' of Time Capsule.
 
No, Apple isn't doomed. But its users are.

By having an Apple Mac Pro, I've been gently coerced into buy Apple-branded devices – mice, keyboards, iPods, Airport, iPads, iPhones, monitors. I've bought several of all these at considerable expense on my part. But increasingly, not only do I see no need, but I am actively being discouraged from buying Apple products. My next monitor won't be an Apple that's for sure. And at this rate my next desktop won't be. And then I doubt that I'll need an Apple phone or an Apple tablet...

Tim Cook is not seeing the big picture, just the big dollar signs.

Tim Cook was a good COO. However, as CEO he is a catastrophe.
 
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Just curious, but how long ago was that, and how expensive were the routers you previously used? Networking has come a long way in the past few years since 802.11ac became standard, many have 1 click firmware upgrades now too without having to download and upload them manually. I've noticed a lot of people used to buy $50 routers, complained they sucked, then spent 4x more on an AirPort and claimed they are much better (obviously, it was 4x the price).

I hate the direction Apple is going, they seem to be only wanting to invest in iPhone's, iPad's, and MacBook's. And only the most profitable models.

I was using high end products from the beginning through the N days.
 
Just 1 month ago I was excited to spend $5000 on a max pro laptop, $2000 on a cinema display with external gpu, and whatever else they were going to surprise me with. All they did was come out with a gimmicky surface book knockoff!! They're abandoning the mac!! I'm holding thousands of dollars worth of equipment from these *******s! Its not profitable enough?!!? *************F****************U*****************APPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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In a sense, this is good news. People are wondering when the next display was coming out. My brother kept asking me when they would refresh their routers and I had no clue. People ask for proper mac mini and macpro refresh. Getting news is good news.

The Apple ecosystem won't be as it used to be and they are freeing people from it!

Meanwhile, for people that want simplicity, Google`s router seems to be very nice!
 
Next week: Apple ceaces development of Pro Mac lineup.
Or is that old news?
It's implied in the statement that they put …
"…the company's focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue."

Most people might feel this notice isn't important, but it is, because it's the first real confirmation of our fears as Apple users. The fact is you bought an Apple router, then you went home, plugged it, and voila, all your Apple devices worked out of the box. Everything worked. And when there was any issue, it either autorepaired or was easily fixable with the airport app.

Then, someday you tried a third-party router because you thought Apple ones were too expensive. Configuration needed a laptop with an ethernet cable, then directing Explorer to the URL of the local network for accessing the router admin page. You set it up following the instructions, and of course, it failed. So you connected the laptop again, the ethernet cable again, and finally you were able to have it working after some hours searching the culprit setting.
As much as I share your disappointment about the discontinuation of the AirPort basestations, that's simply no longer true. Modern routers are about as easy to set up and configure as Apple's were back then: Both my last routers (one NetGear and one FritzBox, going back at least six years) took about five minutes to set up.
 
I used to think when I needed something, and Apple made it, I bought it. Now, Apple wants me to use LG monitors, maybe a Netgear Router. If they want me to go elsewhere for all the ancillary items, maybe I'll do that for the computers and phones too. They are dismantling the eco system that made them special. It's difficult to argue their philosophy when the cash keeps pouring in, but one day the revenue may begin to slide. One has to wonder how long they can survive as a iDevice maker.
 
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