With this kind of direction, 2020 will be Timmy and an iPhone sitting alone in a room like hemorrhoids in that giant sphincter on the face of the earth.
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Apple Ceases Development of 'AirPort' Wireless Routers as Engineers Reassigned to Other Products
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I think Wozniack is often misunderstood. He is the technical guy Jobs needed in the first few years to get started. But his vision of computing is actually nothing like the one Jobs has developed at Apple over the years.
Huh, what a coincidence. I've been recently thinking about a silent green-eyed hero of my apartment that has never given me a problem over the course of four years and three countries, my Time Capsule.
And now they decide to cull the whole product line. But this must mean they're going to endorse routers by other vendors and sell them in the Apple Store. I wonder which ones is it going to be.
And now they decide to cull the whole product line. But this must mean they're going to endorse routers by other vendors and sell them in the Apple Store. I wonder which ones is it going to be.
Wholeheartedly agree! Even diehard PC users in my office switched to Airport routers after I let them use one for an offsite meeting. To date, I've found nothing that matches the overall network speed and capacity of Airport routers.
Very disappointing news... I guess they're shifting wireless focus to the more profitable bluetooth arena (like the Beats headphones with the new W1 chip).
I know Steve told everyone not to do the WWSD thing, but I find myself thinking "that never would have happened if Steve were still in charge" more and more frequently.
Exactly !!! I recently upgraded my Airport base station and was pleased at how easy it was, compared to possible issues when trying to connect a brand X laptop with a brand Y router. So now they are taking that away? Are they so short on engineers? One less reason to avoid looking at Windows laptops when the time comes to replace my MB Pro.
I've seen this mentality with other companies. They get so large that a lot of things are passed over because the profits won't be large enough. But sometimes the big picture is missed.
That's a shame. My Apple router is the best router I've ever owned. But to be honest, I've never actually seen someone else with one, so I can't say I'm too surprised.
Nice list, but ...
1. iTunes is still supported on Windows, so the iPhone is compatible with Windows. If Apple drops support for iTunes on Windows and I decide to go to Windows (see below), I will also drop our iPhones. Selling them is not hard, at least at the moment.
2. Windows (10) seems to be fairly stable now, even if I don't particularly care for it. Still, it is getting better.
3. There are only two remaining MacOS programs remaining which have not been ported to Windows and there are alternatives for those. Migration would be fairly easy for me.
While I agree with you that
4. I still prefer the ease of use of Mac apps, but this reason is becoming dwarfed by other factors.
There are things I am watching:
1. Lack of an Apple ecosystem. I was waiting and watching Apple's next moves while I decided whether to purchase the next revision of the MBP alongside an Airport and Airport Extreme. In fact, I just talked to an Apple Business Sales Representative about this. That is no longer a consideration. Moreover, most non-Apple routers and other peripherals (keyboards, mice, printers) are easier to use with Windows. Those waiting for a router integrated into an AppleTV will likely be disappointed, just like those who waited for a new Apple Display.
2. Lack of quality control (hardware and software). Just read the forums.
3. Lack of support. Apple has issues but in some cases (iP6+) is passing the cost of its failures on to its customer base. No one should expect any further support beyond perhaps Sierra for the AP(E) or TC. Buying now is foolish. Also, now it will be easier for Apple to address hardware or software issues by claiming that it is not a problem with their product; you need to contact the peripheral manufacturer. This is how Windows support is often handled and this is becoming an increasingly likely trajectory for the Mac.
I agree with others who see the writing on the wall. The reasons I decided to enter the Apple ecosystem are being chipped away slowly. I will be watching Apple's decisions over the next year and plotting a course both with and away from Apple.
The way I see it, these pro / enthusiasts basically expect Apple to make only products that they like / use, while at the same time criticizing Apple for daring to do anything else which they are not interested in.
There are few things which amuse me more than entitled fans thinking that Apple should cater to them exclusively.
Yes this is one of the things I was thinking about (though I am not sure I like the idea).
Disappointing news.
I have an AirPort Extreme and three Airport Expresses providing superb wireless coverage throughout my house (and out into the Garden, on the rare events the British weather makes that usable).
I've had them for over four years, and I have not had one issue. They *just work*, and are aesthetically pleasing enough that I don't have to hide them away.
I have an AirPort Extreme and three Airport Expresses providing superb wireless coverage throughout my house (and out into the Garden, on the rare events the British weather makes that usable).
I've had them for over four years, and I have not had one issue. They *just work*, and are aesthetically pleasing enough that I don't have to hide them away.
Wow a reasonable answer that makes sense...not just complaining....who is this guy? He needs to leave!!
/s
When my 802.11n Airport Extreme died, I looked at an Airport router, but then I bought a Netgear. It was $100 cheaper, faster, and has better range.
Apple's setup experience is much friendlier, although I didn't enjoy having to restart the router everytime you made a little change. But the Netgear is all set up, and has many more features than the Airport.
It's not surprising Apple dumped it. There's just too much competition and Apple couldn't do much to differentiate it.
Just because you don't use a specific product doesn't mean Apple discontinuing that product will result in better core products. Apple easily has enough resources to keep working on this, with enough to spare for a new Mac mini and Mac Pro, without negatively impacting those in the least. But now their attitude seems to be that anything with reduced profitability isn't even worth making. In other words, Apple is a now a profit company instead of a product company.
I managed to score a 2011 AirPort Extreme and 2009 AirPort Time Capsule used, both very cheaply. I was considering upgrading to a new AirPort Extreme at the next refresh, now this decision limits my upgrade path.
Woz is an eccentric engineer with zero style. If you want a boxy vanilla colored computer he's your man.
Tim Cook is looking more and more like a less innovative John Sculley.
Because its a very new thing and Time Capsule is not discontinued yet.
https://developer.apple.com/library.../NetworkingInternetWeb/Time_Machine_SMB_Spec/
Its because TM protocol was a locked, proprietary mechanism until now. WD and other vendors have relied on reverse-engineered code to provide this functionality, so bugs were expected. However, by implementing TM over SMB and opening the protocol, Apple allows third-party to create fully compatible, supported implementations. They will probably start appearing around mid 2017 or so.
Its a bit weird that people complain that Apple locks down their stuff and doesn't play with others, but the moment when they do open up, they are also being criticised.
No questions about that.
Well, here you are wrong. You just don't have the resources and the knowledge to implement the same security and safety as big players. I am responsible for backing up my organisation's data, I would not even dream to do it in-house. Rather, we pay a specialized company that has a number of tape storage units, with proper security and all. And an zero-knowledge encrypted online backup (e.g. using Amazon services) is much more safer than anything you can do at your home.
That said, nobody is taking local backups away. Simply instead of doing it themselves, Apple invites third-party manufacturers to take this role over and gives them all the tools they need. I will probably replace my Time Capsule by a FreeNAS box once it gets support for TM over SMB.
It is not quite the same if you have to:
a) buy an external drive (make choices of type, size ...)
b) connect it to the router and leave it hanging there
c) set up a file share in the router for TM (deal with the technical choices, to ensure it is safe AND functional)
d) have issues updating router firmware when drive is attached (as it happens with ASUS)
Compare that to a visually pleasant looking, single device which has all the needed functionality built in. And is also dead simple to use.
Wifi routers are not about revenue, they are about a seamless customer experience. As as IT tech, I can make any wireless access point work, the point to paying for an Apple one is that it "just works". But I guess that is not the goal anymore. I'm so tired of the new Apple and its screw the customer mentality.
Wow, it's the beginning of Apple's downfall. How can you destroy a company that was going so well in such a short period of time. They are suicidal. Sure they will still sell phones and watches for a while and survive on that, but the competition is gonna bite the apple so fast. I'm jumping off the ship before it crashes.
Bye Apple
Bye Mac Pro
Bye iPhone
Bye iTunes
Bye Quicktime
Bye iMac
Bye Capsule
Bye Logic
Bye AppleTV
Bye ...
Bye Apple
Bye Mac Pro
Bye iPhone
Bye iTunes
Bye Quicktime
Bye iMac
Bye Capsule
Bye Logic
Bye AppleTV
Bye ...
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I am worried about Airplay not being something Apple is interested in, despite the fact that I would have switched to Android several years ago when Apple was still on their small phone kick and Airplay was the main reason I waited it out. Now Google is getting in the router market and their Casting products are gaining more ground right as Apple decides to bail out on another product.
Luckily, there are a lot of third party Airplay devices and the AppleTV, so we would only lose the wifi extension feature in the Airport Express, which for me has been irrelevant since getting a Google On Hub router and wireless printers. I just hope they continue to support the Airplay technology in their iOS devices. They seem to be pushing everyone to Bluetooth and, quite frankly, Airplay is lossless with 16/44.1 and Bluetooth isn't.
As someone mentioned, the upside to Apple is their ecosystem. If they stop updating Macs, kill off Airplay, etc.. There will be less reason to stay with iOS and Apple Music, for that matter. For me, it has always been about how all their stuff works together. When that ends, my roots might as well be dug up and planted elsewhere.