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Apple Ceases Development of 'AirPort' Wireless Routers as Engineers Reassigned to Other Products
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Keep in mind that TC's are remarkably trouble free. Mine is several years old and has never had any issues, with maybe two software updates in all that time.
If you buy a new TC today you will be good for many years.
Back then they were scared, struggling and wimpy; today they are the richest and the most courageous.
But seriously, back then they had to do everything to keep them alive. Today, they are so far ahead, they think they can shed the weight and enjoy. Classic hare and tortoise story. Someone will soon overtake them. These guys are seriously acting like a small business enterprise now.
Deliberately, no. I'd say it just doesn't care about Mac customers with Mac revenue now lower than it's app/music/video store sales. If you look at Mac products now and supporting Apple peripherals, or lack thereof, I think it's safe to say Apple is merely paying lip service to the product line now.
But I say -- in a chorus of a lot of others -- spin Mac off, don't just let it rot on the vine. It seems we in the midst of Apple weening what left of Mac customers off of the whole "old school" Mac/Apple ecosystem toward iOS (gone Cinema Display, gone true all-in-one pro level laptops, gone Airport, gone Mac automation division). I see Schiller's comments about touch screen Macs as this: if you want a touch screen buy an iPad Pro w/ a keyboard. Even as MS is still comparing the Surface to Mac, not iPad, and developing its own computers now, Apple is running away from Mac as fast as it can.
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Here, here! While I happily embrace the iOS ecosphere, I am not happy that has eclipsed (if not completely extinguished) the significance of Apple's power user products. This year's MacBook Pro "update" was gut-wrenchingly disappointing, both in terms of limited performance gains and sleight-of-hand price increase. And "but we added the Touch Bar" doesn't really salvage anything, as I'm not yet convinced that this innovation is really going to improve my computing experience in any way. The Pro badge is unwarranted, virtually undeserved, at this point.
For all intents and purposes, pro users seem to have now become what business users once were... an interesting niche to poke at every once in a while, but only just enough to get some people interested and then pull the rug out from under them later when Apple decides it wasn't really worth it. Maybe the renewed relationship with IBM, previously ignored after the dissolution of the AIM (Apple IBM Motorola) alliance at the end of the PowerPC era, will at least give some hope to business users... but what hope is there to save the pro user? What motivation, if we look at this from an overall profit percentage in Apple's humongous business model, can the company draw from to keep the Pro lines alive? Who's going to say "here's a dopey idea" that defines what could be done versus what everyone says should be done? (and for the last time, no matter how vigorously Apple chooses to defend the comparison of the Touch Bar to the invention of the wheel, or the light bulb, etc. - it doesn't fit the bill here). Have we lost the spark? ...is the love affair over?
If not, give us something a little spicier than meatloaf and mashed potatoes... please!
We are witnessing the intentional death of the Apple ecosystem. First monitors, now routers, then Mac's. Tim is only looking at profit margins and is putting ALL his eggs in the cloud & phone business. Sad.
The only focus I see is Tim's obsession with margins, low interest debt ($76 Billion as of today) and placating to shareholders. He is a CEO still functioning as a COO. Apple is experiencing "Death by a Thousand Cuts."
He will be gone by 2018.
No it's not, but he does know what people want and doesn't try and push for the future by making compromises.
hmm. this confuses me. I was just about to set up the system :
mac with itunes <------> airrport express <-----> my stereo's DAC.
obviously, i could run out and get an airport, but what's the future solution?
I know an apply TV could do this - at least a generation 3 that still has the TOSlink output.
But, note that this is for AUDIO only- it wouldn't be connected to a monitor.
and advice and input appreciated!
FYI : computer's upstairs, audio room downstairs, that's why I don't just run the mac inot the DAC directly. i use some remote app running on an ipod to que up music via airplay.
mac with itunes <------> airrport express <-----> my stereo's DAC.
obviously, i could run out and get an airport, but what's the future solution?
I know an apply TV could do this - at least a generation 3 that still has the TOSlink output.
But, note that this is for AUDIO only- it wouldn't be connected to a monitor.
and advice and input appreciated!
FYI : computer's upstairs, audio room downstairs, that's why I don't just run the mac inot the DAC directly. i use some remote app running on an ipod to que up music via airplay.
Apple need to cull and simplify their lines by shooting things like old, non retina MacBooks in the head. Ceasing production of everything that probably doesn’t sell in the 10m+ annually range is depressing and is the wrong kind of focus imo.
Never been a doomsayer or "Steve would never do this" type, but the apparent lack of vision beyond selling very mild, reduced function iterations of what has gone before is hardly a sign of a company in rude health* in the ideas department.
*They are, of course, in wonderful health financially and will continue to be so for 10 years + most likely. Apple are not doomed in any sense of the word. Apple in Ballmer-Microsoft-maintenance mode isn’t something I want to see though, yet it’s hard not to shake the impression they’re heading that way.
Never been a doomsayer or "Steve would never do this" type, but the apparent lack of vision beyond selling very mild, reduced function iterations of what has gone before is hardly a sign of a company in rude health* in the ideas department.
*They are, of course, in wonderful health financially and will continue to be so for 10 years + most likely. Apple are not doomed in any sense of the word. Apple in Ballmer-Microsoft-maintenance mode isn’t something I want to see though, yet it’s hard not to shake the impression they’re heading that way.
Coming from Synology, this sure looks like the best one out there for superb integration with their NAS as well. Also, they have the best software in my opinion. DSM rocks on NAS. This SRM is like DSM for routers. Excellent! Thanks for sharing.
What you say is very true.
The danger in having one product produce 90% of your profit is that product can be obsolete overnight. We saw that when Steve announced the iPhone 1.
Honestly, AirPort Utility 6 is pretty bad--it doesn't let you customize much--and when my current (5th gen that still works with version 5.x) AirPort Extreme Base Station died, I wasn't going to replace it with another Apple one unless they restored the missing functionality to AirPort Utility. It was nice that OS X Server could automatically configure the AEBS with certain settings like port mapping, but that isn't too hard to do yourself (especially if you know enough to configure Server in the first place), which is one integration piece that might be missed.
I still haven't figured out what I'd replace it with (ideally something that supports an open firmware of some sort), but hopefully I'll still get a few more years out of my current AEBS before I have to worry about it at all. I guess the only difference when I may eventually need to replace it is that now I won't have an Apple option to tempt me.
I still haven't figured out what I'd replace it with (ideally something that supports an open firmware of some sort), but hopefully I'll still get a few more years out of my current AEBS before I have to worry about it at all. I guess the only difference when I may eventually need to replace it is that now I won't have an Apple option to tempt me.
That's a nice tidbit to know. I keep finding out about all these neat stealth updates in Sierra (like Metal being used instead of OpenGL being used for rendering the UI).
With that said, AirPort utility is pretty meh. The only feature I think I'd miss at all from an Apple router is that, when used in conjunction with a machine running Apple Server (which I use on a Mini at home) it can automatically open ports as needed for services offered by Server.
I don't buy it. It is just a report after all... Engineers are reassigned all the time. Perhaps the next gen routers are all ready to go with the next mac refresh - so they have shifted them onto the ATV.
Because this implies they have abandoned Time Capsule / Time Mcahine too.
The alternative is that the ATVs will become WiFi Routers.. and they will have a standalone separate time capsule device that is not a router at all.
Because this implies they have abandoned Time Capsule / Time Mcahine too.
The alternative is that the ATVs will become WiFi Routers.. and they will have a standalone separate time capsule device that is not a router at all.
A few people have said that all you need to do is to start using iCloud instead of Time Capsule.....
I can't use iCloud as a practical backup site, even if I wanted to. Which I don't. My upload connection speed is around 512K baud. My service provider options are my current ISP or a satellite internet company. The satellite has the same 512k upload speed, roughly the same download speeds, and data caps. Uploading a few high res pictures to Dropbox can take 10-15 minutes. 15 or 20 minute iPhone Videos can take hours. Even ignoring ANYBODIE'S cloud service platform's security and privacy concerns, which I don't, it would take days to backup my current system onto a cloud server.
Looks like it's time to migrate back to Windows.
I can't use iCloud as a practical backup site, even if I wanted to. Which I don't. My upload connection speed is around 512K baud. My service provider options are my current ISP or a satellite internet company. The satellite has the same 512k upload speed, roughly the same download speeds, and data caps. Uploading a few high res pictures to Dropbox can take 10-15 minutes. 15 or 20 minute iPhone Videos can take hours. Even ignoring ANYBODIE'S cloud service platform's security and privacy concerns, which I don't, it would take days to backup my current system onto a cloud server.
Looks like it's time to migrate back to Windows.
This makes no sense. Apple built up unbelievable loyalty through its ecosystem, but now, it's dissolving that ecosystem.
Tim Cook needs to go. His vision is clear: make money while focusing on popular culture. I suggest all MacRumors readers send serious letters to Apple's Board of Directors expressing their concerns and potential for abandoning the brand under Cook's leadership.
Tim Cook needs to go. His vision is clear: make money while focusing on popular culture. I suggest all MacRumors readers send serious letters to Apple's Board of Directors expressing their concerns and potential for abandoning the brand under Cook's leadership.