Apple Ceases Development of 'AirPort' Wireless Routers as Engineers Reassigned to Other Products

[macTW]

What's going on? Is Apple deliberately trying to piss off customers? The convenient MagSafe is gone, SD card slot gone, headphone jack gone, optical SPDIF on 4th Apple TV gone.

Next things to kill: OTA Time Capsule backups and AirPlay... oh c'mon Apple. My sympathy is shrinking!

The reason why many loyal customers like(d) Apple was the huge convenience factor and reliability within a smart ecosystem.

Supplementary products such as AirPort Time Capsule, the 3rd gen Apple TV, and the Apple Thunderbolt Display surely didn't generate a lot of revenue, but completed the unique Apple experience at home and in the office. If you didn't want to fiddle around with 3rd party support and drivers (like in the PC world), you just bought everything from Apple, and you knew that everything would work smoothly – because it was Apple.

But now things are changing, the convenience factor has been significantly disturbed with the latest #donglelife backlash and ugly LG monitors on top of that. Not to mention the never-the-same Space Gray (gone Jet Black) color-rama-drama.

I beginn to miss a central theme – a leitmotif – across the latest Apple products. The harmony is falling apart. While e.g. Microsoft is currently hard working on just that: unification. Be careful Apple... Nokia was once big too! Don't let the bean counters kill the company we used to love.

All I read is rambling from someone who blindly thinks they know more than business experts...

-any proof those will be next to be gone?
-any evidence that Apple removed those purely to piss us off, or could there be speed/legal/convenience reasons (hint: there are)
-space grey was **** upon, now you whine about it leaving?
-all people asked for was black, and we got two versions, and you complain about it?
-you realize wireless and USB-c, the way of the future, will soon remove the dongle issue (and on top of that, there are excellent third-party all-in-one dongles with charging pass through)?
-so now you judge the quality of a top monitor purely by aesthetics and not by ability?
-literally everyone and their grandma complained about the Thunderbolt Display being too overpriced for not enough use, and now you choose to backtrack and complain again?
-when have you ever known Apple's, or any industry-leader's, central theme or goal? It'd be beyond stupid to let the public know, because that means competitors would. If you somehow knew in the past what it was, you were wrong and lying to yourself that you knew it.
-Nokia was nothing like Apple. If you knew anything about Nokia, they went under for lack[B/] of embracing the future (refusing to go to touch screens, focusing on physical keyboards), essentially the opposite of what Apple is doing...
-Microsoft still doesn't have the same unification, no company does, that Apple has. Despite that, every company is unifying use across products more and more now, that's just the way the market is going, with third party cloud services and whatnot. Apple was just the first to attempt it.
-Apple, as with EVERY[B/] company in existence, wants to make profits. That is the goal of every company in any industry (ignoring charities). Apple never sacrificed profits in the past "for the good of the consumer/industry/technology/Jobs' selfishness" and never will. They just happen to make products that aligned with your desires, and now they don't as much. If you don't like that, go to windows.

 

[tampageek]

I don't know if you are trying to be condescending with comment about Walmart, but I would like to still have an airport express with up to date hardware in the future, but that won't be a thing anymore. If you weren't trying to be rude, then please if you could, express your thoughts on why we people shouldn't be that upset about a product that people are sad about losing. I would like to see a positive.

I will admit I really dont know how the marketing world works. But, I will say that everything that I liked about this company is starting to slowing fall. I enjoy my macbook Pro, and my new iPhone 7, but will be sad knowing that my airport express will be the last iteration and there won't be any new ones.

I had to look up what loss leader is, and you might need to explain to me the walmart and loss leader statement a bit better for me. What I got out of it was that, apple under tim cook is just about money and revenue, and will drop a product if they don't bring enough. And that sucks, and yes thats just how things are, but still trying to find how this is good for the apple ecosystem. I thought apple was trying to bring everything to wireless.

I mentioned before, tim cook just seems to be about numbers. I understand tim cook isn't Steve Jobs, but still unhappy that I enjoy a product that is now being discontinued.

Yes there are plenty of other router options, but as stated before, I'm disappointed with how its just about money and revenue and less how having another option that Apple provided that was a simpler solution.

Why is this a problem for me or those who want one? Maybe customers just liked and enjoyed their products and would like to see improvements to what they really liked. Is that even a problem? Seems like not since they are taking away these products anyway. (Cinema display, airport routers)

And here someone says, then move to a different brand or platform. But isn't that the issue? We would like Apple to continue making these products because we liked them then the other competition?

too long; didn't read
Apple has stopped making airport routers, and we all know Walmart isn't going to make improvements to them. Sad user is sad

You misunderstood my comment- Maybe because the top of it is missing. What I was trying to say is that even if a product is not that profitable, it still makes sense to continue selling it because it serves as an entry point to other products. So, yes they should still sell Airports even if they lose money. They more than make up for it when it leads people to buy their other products, as I and many others have done.

I am just as disappointed in this move as many others. It's the disassembly of the  ecosystem and what millions have come to expect from the brand. Usually when a company starts cutting products it's because they're in trouble financially. This does not appear to be the case with Apple so I really won't know why they are doing this.

 

[Huracan]

Apple is really losing its sense of direction. It's sad. I liked my little ecosystem of Airport router, Mac computers and phones and tablets. For the first time in years I haven't updated my iPhone. Waiting to see what comes next year. I would hang to my old MacBook Pro, thank you very much for making a MacBook Pro that cannot be upgraded at all after being bought (I really hate you Apple for that). You don't want customers to hate your brand. Apple used to be really smooth at extracting money from customers but leaving them with a smile. Now it is just naked profiteering. Charging a lot for just incremental improvements to products with no real innovation. I hope Apple finds his way back. Once a customer is gone, it is difficult to get that customer back.

 

[0x100]

Really ?

maybe they'll get the same people that designed the iphone 4 antenna

 

[dawindmg08]

Sad to hear. The Time Capsule was the option that worked the best with Time Machine backups, though that's probably not true now with more robust NAS options on the market. And most service providers now give you a modem with wifi capabilities so I imagine that Apple was feeling the drop in sales.
-D

 

[0x100]

If it's not related to iOS, Apple wants nothing to do with it.

See the stagnant Mac releases, gutted pro Mac software, ceased production of stand alone desktop monitors, and features that are added to OS X are ONLY if they are iOS related.

Up next: Mac mini, Mac Pro.

Just wait until they put iOS on the laptops

 

[haddy]

Resources probably pulled to shore up watch band development.

Great! I already have one AirPort Extreme, which is enough, but only five watch bands.....need a couple more

 

[rvinny]

Unfortunately, it is much more limited than Airplay on the iOS platform. It doesn't work with popular apps like Apple Music and Overcast...to name two.

The good news is that Airfoil now supports Chromecast (I haven't tried it yet), so that will at least fill some gaps if you stream from a computer.

True. Just amended my comment to add that you -do- get more options if also willing to switch from Apple Music to Google Music. GM supports both Chromecast and Airplay in the iOS app (but not Android's version). This way you can play both sides of the fence.

Another catch for me for not switching sooner was podcasts. Google recently added this to the Google Music app but only for Android. iOS version doesn't have it. However, I also have a couple of Sonos speakers. If you add Google Music to the SOnos app the podcast option is in there!

So essentially, I plan to replace Airport Express for Chromecast; Apple Music for Google Music; and I am considering pulling the Apple TV and selling it as well since my Sony TV already has Android built in.

As I said in my other posts, I was all Apple for years. I had several bits of hardware I was starting to shop upgrades for. Recent events haven't been encouraging. The ease of use was a big draw but the company's direction no longer seems to be worth the premiums paid. Even the Keynotes seem to have lost their luster. We spend more time talking about new emojis and animated bubbles in iMessage than new hardware and features. WTF.

Microsoft and Google IMO, aren't necessarily better but at least they are trying. I would rather reward that with my $$ than supporting what Apple is up to lately while blindly paying premiums for a decreasingly premium experience. I am planning to piece by piece extract myself from their ecosystem and test the waters. Google Photos is next.

 

[SeaFox]

Perhaps they will open up AirPlay and Time Capsule wireless backups to third party routers.

You don't have to use an Apple router to do wireless Time Machine backups. I could set up a share on my FreeNAS server and point my MacBook to it to use for Time Machine (which would run through my TP-Link router), but I don't keep enough documents on the laptop to make it worth my time (most are already synchronizing to other devices with SyncThing).

 

[iShater]

So what the hell are they're going to do with AirPlay?

Apple Music

 

[0087215]

Apple is clearly losing the grip on reality. I have been waiting for 2 years to update my good old AirPort Extreme (the best and most reliable router I have ever had), but now I get it: there will be no hardware update at all. I am so fed up with Apple's short sighted leadership.

 

[Rob_2811]

If it's not related to iOS, Apple wants nothing to do with it.

See the stagnant Mac releases, gutted pro Mac software, ceased production of stand alone desktop monitors, and features that are added to OS X are ONLY if they are iOS related.

Up next: Mac mini, Mac Pro.

Oh god yeah, i've been saying this for a while. The Mini and the Pro are toast I think, can't see why they would've gone so long without an update otherwise.

If they kill the Mac Pro that will be an unbelievable stupid decision. Killing the only Mac that offers high end graphics performance is just forcing people to move to Windows, once people are forced to look outside Apples ecosystem for their computing needs, well.. its the thin end of the wedge.

The ecosystem is like a chain, once you start weakening the links in the chain the entire ecosystems weakens. When you force a Mac user to start using a Windows machine professionally he also loses the benefit of continuity and iMessage on the desktop, maybe they are significant factors keeping him/her from switching to an Android device.

I honestly think Jobs understood this, I think Cook looks at some products see that they dont sell in the tens of millions or reap a huge margin and just draws a line through them.

 

[notrack]

Sounds like they're going the blackberry route, to be just another cellphone company. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[Phil A.]

Perhaps they will open up AirPlay and Time Capsule wireless backups to third party routers.

They already exist - I backup using wirelessly using Time Machine to my Synology NAS and I've got an old Netgear router in the cupboard that supports AirPlay

I've had several Airport routers over the years and they've generally been pretty good but the Time Capsule really seemed like an anachronism compared to "real" NAS devices - very limited functionality and not exactly straightforward to replace the HDD in case of failure! I also long ago relegated my Airport Extreme to secondary usage as newer devices have much more functionaility

 

[Markoth]

This is sad, but it is the right move for Apple and their business plan. For better or worse, things are all moving to the cloud. In the perfect cloud world, neither Time Capsule backups or AirPlay is necessary, since all of your stuff can be accessed and played from anywhere. Of course, this perfect implementation is a long way off (and may never fully materialize), but hanging onto stuff like the Time Capsule will only slow people's adoption and trust of the cloud. As much as I hate the cloud and the privacy issues therein, it is the way of the future for the general consumer (and we all see that Apple panders to the general consumer rather than the professional or niche markets anymore).

Why the heck do so many people think that an AirPort router is necessary for airplay? It isn't so. I'd like to see where people are getting this false impression from, however.

 

[kis]

Maybe they are dismantling the team to focus their energies on a Amazon Echo competitor with similar functionality and capabilities.

nah, going straight to iPhone 7S "development".

 

[FireArse]

Saddened by this news. I found the 'Airport' products to be of great quality and value. They helped with the 'Halo' effect and will be missed. I rather like my 802.11AC router and have bought and fitted more than 10 of these for clients.

I would certainly spend more cash on high-performing kit and will miss these when they finally go. I just don't trust some of these other suppliers.

F

 

[Crzyrio]

Apple is really losing its sense of direction. It's sad. I liked my little ecosystem of Airport router, Mac computers and phones and tablets. For the first time in years I haven't updated my iPhone. Waiting to see what comes next year. I would hang to my old MacBook Pro, thank you very much for making a MacBook Pro that cannot be upgraded at all after being bought (I really hate you Apple for that). You don't want customers to hate your brand. Apple used to be really smooth at extracting money from customers but leaving them with a smile. Now it is just naked profiteering. Charging a lot for just incremental improvements to products with no real innovation. I hope Apple finds his way back. Once a customer is gone, it is difficult to get that customer back.

This appears to be Apple refocusing and getting rid of all the useless products they don't have the resources to develop for. When Apple released these products there was a need for them but now days there are a number of other manufactures that offer a similar if not much better experience for routers.

 

[applezulu]

You know, the current Airport and Time Capsule products don't really need much development. 802.11ax is a couple of years from adoption. The existing products function fine as-is. They don't need a big engineering team twiddling their thumbs to maintain a product at status-quo. Reassigning those engineers to other projects doesn't mean they're abandoning the product line, either, however. Perhaps as .11ax gets closer to adoption, they'll revisit their plans for routers and time capsules, but right now, all they have to do is keep making and selling the existing models.

 

[Crzyrio]

Perhaps they will open up AirPlay and Time Capsule wireless backups to third party routers.

Airplay & Time Machine back ups are not dependent on anything other than having a Mac

 

[JDGwf]

I understand your frustration and you may be ranting but:

M$ can barely get their own OS that they built themselves to work right most of the time...Oh btw, M$ just joined the Linux foundation

Google has Linux/BSD variants to grab and tweak all they want, don't need macOS to build a desktop/notebook OS....Instead they chose the ChromeOS that only works through the "Cloud" functionality, not interested at all it seems.

Microsoft maintains backward compatibility that far exceeds Mac. Can MacOS Sierra run on a 1998 class Mac? Can you get software from 1998 and hope for it to run on any Intel Mac with the one of the last 5 releases of MacOS/OS X?

That level of complexity and compatibility is exceedingly difficult. Windows isn't perfect, but neither are any other operating systems. However they're a company that's dedicated 100% to making a better Desktop and Device experience while attempting to have one API and one set of development tools.

Right now I have to write two separate applications for macOS and iOS. Sure I get to use common .swift libs for the Model. But the View and Controller elements of software are still completely different.

With Microsoft OS and Dev Tools. A developer can target one project for Phone to Tablet to Multi-Desktop computers with the same code, layout tools and data connections.

Addendum/Edit:
Microsoft joined the Linux foundation partially to support Microsoft SQL on Linux.

 

[VMMan]

Tim Cook isn't John Sculley 2.0.

He's more like the anti-[insert name of your god here].

 

[1738]

Perhaps they will open up AirPlay and Time Capsule wireless backups to third party routers.

Both AirPlay and Time Capsule wireless backups are already accessible from 3rd party devices. The 3rd party router would just need a USB port and the ability to share a disk plugged into the USB port, at that point you just point your time computer to do time machine backups to that drive.

As for AirPlay, it works on 3rd party devices. A lot of businesses that use Meraki and Aerohive networks still utilize AirPlay.

 

[DotCom2]

Maybe the Apple TV is going to be setup as a lot more functional in the future?

 

[manhattanboy]

No reason they couldn't have made a USB-C magsafe, Griffin has managed to.

I think you are missing the point. The USB cord is a charger and a data cable in one. I agree Apple should have thought it through better, but think about it if you are traveling in the not too distant future: you could use one cord to connect to a monitor source, one cord to charge, and one cord to transfer data to from other devices. What apple should have done is come up with a magsafe that is breakable in the middle of a USB C cord. That way there is nothing proprietary for either end of the connection, but there is a quick break-away if needed.