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

McFreggle said:
Whaaat??? :eek:

I understand why they shut down their display business (though I'm not happy with it) because apart from design, they couldn't really make a difference in the display business.

But the AirPort, and especially the Time Capsule, really made a difference. I've never had a backup system that worked more smoothly and without any maintenance at all than my Time Capsule.

Sad day. Again. :(
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This! It's the easiest router to set up and configure and I use Airplay A LOT. Ugh, the thought of having to deal with some third party router setup is not something I look forward too. I get that it doesn't make a ton of money for them but it still enhances all their other stuff.

This sucks. I guess I should probably get a Time Capsule this Christmas before they're gone completely.
 
Won't be anything to do with staff resources it will be everything to do with margins. They know they can't compete with what is already out there and charge sky high prices hence no new Airport devices. Same as the Thunderbolt display.
 
I take it that we're not going from B, G, N, AC, etc as fast anymore, there's not a need to get a new one as often and therefore, just isn't going to be profitable for Apple to produce these anymore.
 
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.

And later, whenever your wifi network had an issue, you needed to plug the laptop again, the ethernet cable, etc, etc...
 
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Too bad, I like my Airport. I hope at least we will still be getting software updates.

Also glibly, come 2020:

"The central reason for abandoning the Mac line appears to focus mainly on its small revenue gains in comparison to the company's more lucrative products, like the iPhone."
 
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After they dumbed down airport utility forcing advanced users to use a workaround to keep using old version I probably wasn't going to buy another airport. Being able to see connection logs is an essential feature of a router for solving issues.

Disk utility was dumbed down too, they tried to remove raid but came back in sierra.

Macs days are def numbered under cook, maybe he should attend a Genius Bar session to learn about all the things you can do?
 
I could see them not killing off routers entirely but rather morphing them into router+personal assistant devices. Maybe not. But I don't see why they couldn't add Siri to a router
 
This is a mistake on their part. The airport, while not absolutely necessary to the apple ecosystem, contributes greatly to it. Not everything will make a ton of money, at the airport make everything else work well, especially in the consumer realm. This is a dumb move. They will eventually lose loyal customers. What once made them cool may disappear quickly. They are not listening.
 
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