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

Overall I get it, but probably for different reasons than whatever Apple's motivations are. I used to recommend Apple routers pretty much exclusively because they did what needed to be done very well, in a not-ugly way, could actually be configured by the average home-user, but (importantly) still supported a handful of key advanced functions such as controlling the signal-strength (important in high-density installations). But then Apple removed advanced feature support from the Airport Utility. I actually have to keep a 10.8 Airport Admin VM around just to run older versions of the Airport Utility so that I can still access features that *shipped in the hardware but which Apple decided to simply abandon in new versions of the Airport Utility*. So I stopped recommending them since pretty much any other router can be configured via a web-interface (thus future-proofing them from bone-headedness on the part of a single software-supplier.) I haven't installed a new Apple branded router now for, at a guess, three years. It's really too bad. Back before Apple crippled the software they were far and away my most recommended routers.
 
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Im shocked. I've heard good things about these routers and had been waiting for the next gen one...

You cant have everything you sell a "hot seller"... They should've tried to market their router more and make it better. They had the potential imo.. Esp as they pursuit for wireless environment..

What a paradoxical decision.
 
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skellener said:
Apple really is getting out of making computers and computer stuff. It's a sad day. :(

That being said, there's a much, much better product out there than Apple's Airport and Time Capsules. It's more Apple, than Apple. Get an Amplifi router for your home. I got one and the throughput is amazing! Better than my Time Capsule ever was! Superior in every way. My wifi delivers the same speed as if I was wired to it. I did a number of tests and they were astounding. So screw Tim Cook and Apple. :mad:

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I have one of these. It's now disconnected.

Problems: maxed out at 70 Mbps down (albeit a consistent 70 Mbps down). My 2 extremes are never less than double that. Internal speed test never worked. (Used Speedtest to measure download performance). No IPv6 (not a big deal now but will be - the apple extreme sets it up automatically)
 
DotCom2 said:
Maybe the Apple TV is going to be setup as a lot more functional in the future?
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My immediate thought when I read that members of the AirPort team were being moved to the AppleTV team was an AppleTV/Airport hybrid. Which could be very beneficial to consumers who put an AppleTV in each room.
 
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Rob_2811 said:
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.
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It would probably be best if they do kill the Mac Pro & Mini. If they did a refresh everything would be glued and soldered. Apple is now making disposable devices. Perhaps they think their customers have so much money they are happy to spend $3000 every 2-3 years. What they may end up doing is simply lose more customers. Brand loyalty only goes so far and Tim is overestimating it IMHO
 
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tampageek said:
It would probably be best if they do kill the Mac Pro & Mini. If they did a refresh everything would be glued and soldered. Apple is now making disposable devices. Perhaps they think their customers have so much money they are happy to spend $3000 every 2-3 years. What they may end up doing is simply lose more customers. Brand loyalty only goes so far and Tim is overestimating it IMHO
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Well I agree with you in as much as making the Mac Pro completely non upgradeable was a stupid decision for a machine like that, as you say people don't really want to be shelling out for one every couple of year but if they did update it they could at least make the claim that they are catering to the high end. At this point if you want graphics performance you can forget it with a Mac.
 
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1738 said:
My immediate thought when I read that members of the AirPort team were being moved to the AppleTV team was an AppleTV/Airport hybrid. Which could be very beneficial to consumers who put an AppleTV in each room.
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It doesn't really make any sense to me since people don't usually have their cable ingress located with their TV. I know that I wouldn't use such a product. My PC and my Mac are located at the cable ingress point.. no need for an Apple TV.

Also.. I backed up my outrage by spending $1k in the Apple store today. That'll show 'em. :-( I had to get my mom a new phone.
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tampageek said:
It would probably be best if they do kill the Mac Pro & Mini. If they did a refresh everything would be glued and soldered. Apple is now making disposable devices. Perhaps they think their customers have so much money they are happy to spend $3000 every 2-3 years. What they may end up doing is simply lose more customers. Brand loyalty only goes so far and Tim is overestimating it IMHO
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I'm absolutely down for a glued and soldered Mac Pro. Bring it on! I certainly don't prefer those things, but I certainly vastly prefer that to moving my workflow to a ****** Windows 10 box.
 
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Markoth said:
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.
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What we're talking about is the ability to connect an Airport Express via TOSLINK/3.5mm to an amplifier and stream music to it. I do this with my amp; use the Remote app to access my iTunes Library on a Mac Mini Server, tell it to stream audio to the Airport Express connected to the hifi in the living room and away you go. This is also a feature of AirPlay (it's actually the original feature of AirPlay, before they added video!)
 
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Mr. Dee said:
Maybe they are dismantling the team to focus their energies on a Amazon Echo competitor with similar functionality and capabilities.
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Nope. When Apple kills a product without announcing its replacement, that means they're done with that product line.
 
jwkay said:
What we're talking about is the ability to connect an Airport Express via TOSLINK/3.5mm to an amplifier and stream music to it. I do this with my amp; use the Remote app to access my iTunes Library on a Mac Mini Server, tell it to stream audio to the Airport Express connected to the hifi in the living room and away you go. This is also a feature of AirPlay (it's actually the original feature of AirPlay, before they added video!)
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And it's the only one that works reliably. I have to reboot the darn AppleTV's and restart iTunes at least once a week.
 
gertruded said:
And the Macbook "Pro" is obscenely overpriced, the Mini is dead, the Macbook Air is dead, the Mac Pro is dead, Apple monitor is dead, the iPhone is rapidly losing market share, Apple watch going nowhere, QC is suffering, Magsafe is going, Apple TV aborted, Apple car aborted.

The company direction is clear. Something is very wrong within the company.

Apple is so over. Sad.
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Microsoft didn't start reinventing itself till the old guards got the boot. Cook, Schiller, Ive and Cue have been in the game too long. They're out of ideas.
 
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jmgregory1 said:
I don't think this is as big of an issue as you're suggesting. There are a lot of people who simply use the wifi router built into the cable modem they get from their provider.
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Yep, the ones that don't care about home network security. Between not controlling software updates, to the ISP having the backdoor keys to their router, all it takes is one malicious tech rep, and the home networks compromised.

Airplay, screen sharing, and FaceTime have historically had problems working with non-Apple routers.
 
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They probably don't need people working on it because the current AirPort Extreme does a good enough job, keep selling the current product until people need a faster network. I hope they aren't going to discontinue the AirPort line, it'd be a dumb move.

Perhaps Tim doesn't have the stones to tell the board and shareholders to back off and let them create excellent products.
 
There are many trends Im seeing Apple do recently. So, calling it here and today - 11/21/2016: MacOS will be open to all hardware within the next few years.
Reason: Apple will cease to make its computer systems (May still retain a MacBook/Pro but largely will kill off the Desktop, Workstation, Mini's and all of that)
 
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Crzyrio said:
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.
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Apple doesn't have the resources, given the gazillions it has in cash?

And can you recommend a wireless router that works as well with a Mac? It would be good to know in case mine needs replacement.
 
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