I could see a new product line that does the Eero-style mesh wifi using a new Apple TV and an Echo-style device using Siri.
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Apple Ceases Development of 'AirPort' Wireless Routers as Engineers Reassigned to Other Products
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Apple's long killed off it's pro user base
My experience has been quite the opposite.
As far as I know, many ISPs still charge a monthly fee for equipment rental. I know AT&T Fiber just dropped their modem/router equipment fee but I'm almost positive that Comcast still charges $10/month if you rent the modem/router from them. You can buy a good router many times over for the $120 year you're paying Comcast.
Also, many times, the equipment rented from the ISP is configured incorrectly because the installer is lazy, incompetent, or both. I've lost track of how many times I've seen situations where a household is paying for >60 Mbps but the only band enabled on the ISP-provided router was 2.4 GHz a/b/g so the max Wi-Fi throughput was 54 Mbps. That kind of sloppy setup (which is all too common, in my experience) also makes me tell friends and family to avoid the equipment and equipment setup provided by ISPs.
Yes. It's part of the total "ease of use" package that Apple was selling. Minimal set up time and more intuitive too, and most importantly, it just freaking worked. I've used 3rd party routers before too. "Ugh" is the least of it. Coupled with last weeks announcement that Apple killed Mac app automation department and it not even bothering to rebrand the LG monitor announced with the new MBP there really should be no doubt from anyone that Apple is in the beginning stages of depreciating the Mac.
I have an Extreme and older Express units in my house and will use them until 802.11ax product emerges into the consumer stream but if I were you I would not buy a TC at this point. It's clear Apple's maintenance of it will be slow and weak, if not nonexistent, especially as new iterations of OS X roll out.
It's been 5 years since Jobs death. I predict in another 5 Apple will have no resemblence to the Apple that existed the day he passed away, and not in a good way either. RIP Steve Job's Apple, RIP.
Damn, these were such good routers, even 3.5 years later they are some of the best options.
What???
I ONLY use Apple AirPort's because they are only reliable routers that are not garbage. Find me another decent simultaneous dual band router that can be chained together via Ethernet and require ZERO setup to make it all just work perfectly. Apple's just work. I will never purchase Netgear Cisco or other crap.
I ONLY use Apple AirPort's because they are only reliable routers that are not garbage. Find me another decent simultaneous dual band router that can be chained together via Ethernet and require ZERO setup to make it all just work perfectly. Apple's just work. I will never purchase Netgear Cisco or other crap.
This really bums me out...I've been using Apple routers since day one and have had nearly zero (0!) issues with our networks or backups, once we added a Time Capsule.
What is the state of the art in routers, and what do people recommend I use now? Less concerned with price (relatively reasonable) than with stability and reliability.
I don't envision NEEDING to replace our Time Capsule any time soon, but I am worried about no further patches/firmware maintenance.
What is the state of the art in routers, and what do people recommend I use now? Less concerned with price (relatively reasonable) than with stability and reliability.
I don't envision NEEDING to replace our Time Capsule any time soon, but I am worried about no further patches/firmware maintenance.
I think it's safe to say Time Capsule is effectively zombie technology.
I've found that things 'just work' to be less and less accurate these days...
Maybe the Xmas tree that Jony Ive has been designing has a Wifi Hub built in ? As that is all he seems to have been working on....
Yes, it will only make sense with this decision.
Why not turn the Apple TV into a device that handles wireless router and Time Capsule all-in-one? Routers now are kind of a dime a dozen from where they used to be and the chips currently available can handle this task no issue. This also goes with the energy efficiency/green initiative Apple has been touting for so long, less devices drawing power. It can be a mid-tier router (nothing fancy) that handles basic wireless transmission and Time Capsule needs (ability to attach an external would be nice but I know AAPL won't..)
Not really, AirPorts have never offered much in the way of features. You can set the name, password, and maybe a couple other features. Almost any other wireless router in the same price range offers much greater customization, better WiFi performance, USB ports for printers, hard drives, LTE modems, etc. If you want a wireless router that just works without tweaking anything, there are lots of mesh networking options that you configure with an App on your phone too.
Come on people, this took some serious COURAGE. Just ask Phil.
I'm in the same boat. I was waiting for the next generation. Not sure what to do now.
For the one at the top governing Apple, it is all about maximise the income. Earlier, it was done through offering a full ecosystem that worked together nicely and reliably. I have not touched another router since 2011 when I got a Mac and I hate to use the web interface 192.xxxxxx for other routers. Later on bought another one to supplement and extend wireless. Apple had a wonderful solution that worked reliably for me. Now, the news of them killing the Airport line is just saddening.
It really is just about decorative items in form of thinnest and lightest that's it. They are out to kill everything that "just works".
As a corporation, it can be sued by shareholders if it does something that doesn't maximise profit. Capitalism, babe.
I recently upgraded from an iPhone 5s to a 7 Plus. Love the big screen, 256GB of storage and Apple Pay. But I must say I find Force Touch and Haptics a complete gimmick.
I also happened to walk past a Microsoft store the other day and was pretty blown away by the new Surface PC. Design is awesome. Being able to push the screen down and switch seamlessly between mouse, stylus and touch depending upon what one is doing is, well, something I would have expected from Apple.
I've been buying Apple computers for over 30 years, but I'm pretty sure my next machine will come from Microsoft. I can't believe I just wrote that. I find Apple entire product lineup rather uninspired these days. AirPort may not have been a big money maker, but the routers have outperformed and outlasted every third party router I've tried. I definitely think the Mac's days are numbered at this point.
Spot on. We need to take Apple to a previous restore point about 15 years ago and start again without Cook, Ive and the rest of the "form over function" brigade.
Amen to that! This is just another bad sign that apple is moving away from the computer market. The pro users are leaving in droves and taking with them their whole ecosystem, which means all of their desktop and laptop hardware, tablets, phones and any other apple related products and moving to windows/linux and supported android products. Apple has been very short sighted on their lack of support and attention on the computer part of their business, and who their core users are/were and what they represent to apple's whole ecosystem.
I saw a few interviews with Tim Cook and all he wanted to take about was the iPhone and missed some very good opportunities to pitch their full line of apple products and how they work together so seamlessly. Now that Steve Jobs has been gone for so long Tim Cook is lost and doesnt really know how to move forward, and thats bad for apple and its end users.
So are they going to license that technology for other companies?
These provided an 'ecosystem for Apple products to just work', and now they are throwing people in to the hands of other companies that might have a vested interest in not supporting Apple devices?
Why, sure. That makes a hell of a lot of sense... Yeppers...
I mean, aside from the really ridiculous look of the Extreme's, they were bullet proof. I guess I'll have to upgrade the ones we use here sooner than I thought. Or Bloomberg is wrong?
These provided an 'ecosystem for Apple products to just work', and now they are throwing people in to the hands of other companies that might have a vested interest in not supporting Apple devices?
Why, sure. That makes a hell of a lot of sense... Yeppers...
I mean, aside from the really ridiculous look of the Extreme's, they were bullet proof. I guess I'll have to upgrade the ones we use here sooner than I thought. Or Bloomberg is wrong?
I'm loathing Apple at the moment, but I can't say this surprises me in the least. I've used Airport base stations exclusively for years. In my experience they are the easiest to set up, and the most stable to run, of any networking device I've used. I have them installed at home, my office, Indianapolis and Central America, and I never have a problem with them.
But let's face it: this is simply another step in Apple establishing what they think people should want/need. The Time Capsule, as helpful and useful as it is, doesn't fit with Cook's 'bleed them like a turnip' corporate mentality. We're only customers, not stockholders worth millions. As long as we'll continue to pay monthly subscription fees for everything, including music and iCloud backups, why in the world would they shoot themselves in the foot by offering a reliable piece of equipment that doesn't bring in guaranteed monthly income to Cupertino.
Seems like nearly every move Apple makes pushes me closer to the door.
I am a camel, and someday there will be that one straw...
But let's face it: this is simply another step in Apple establishing what they think people should want/need. The Time Capsule, as helpful and useful as it is, doesn't fit with Cook's 'bleed them like a turnip' corporate mentality. We're only customers, not stockholders worth millions. As long as we'll continue to pay monthly subscription fees for everything, including music and iCloud backups, why in the world would they shoot themselves in the foot by offering a reliable piece of equipment that doesn't bring in guaranteed monthly income to Cupertino.
Seems like nearly every move Apple makes pushes me closer to the door.
I am a camel, and someday there will be that one straw...