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

Return Zero said:
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).
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But how? No Airport. So we have to resort to third party wifi routers with their own set of issues, right?

I particularly loved one thing about Airport Express. It had a 3.5mm jack I used to connect my sound system to, and play music via the phone or tablet or MacBook from anywhere I was. That was Apple brilliance.

I don't know, if to date any other router has such features without looking or being obscene.
 
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That's the nail in the coffin for my 15 year loyalty to Apple.

The whole appeal of Apple is the entirely integrated ecosystem (the "it just works" thing evaporated a couple of years ago for me).

They killed the Cinema Display, they ruined iOS, they screwed up the new MacBook Pros, they abandoned Aperture and neglected Logic and to a lesser extent FCPX, they missed an opportunity with Apple TV with the TV part of it (and don't get me started on that remote), the services are way behind their competitors in features and reliability, the Apple Stores are not pleasant to be in (wait times, stock availability), their burgeoning SKUs, the consistency across them and connectivity between them are totally out of hand and now they are abandoning this?

I have said it once and I'll say it again...their corporate hubris without the substance to prop it up will be their downfall.

Steve approached it from the perspective that if you took care of the customer the ensuing sales would take care of the shareholders. Tim is tackling it from the reverse.

I'm done with Apple. Tim, Jony and their fellow execs need to be replaced with hungry, creative, customer oriented appointments asap. Not that I plan on hanging around to see it.
 
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Why is everyone so darn angry.

I actually believe - like a comment before - that Apple may integrate all into an Apple TV.
They will probably make a HUB or something that has TV, WIFI, etc...

I am not against that to be honest... Maybe they have a way to reduce clutter and to be honest maybe that would improve the router part of the Airport eco system.

Let's wait and see...

Either way, if Apple indeed kills Airport in any form, then yes... said times for Apple.
Kills beautiful and nicely working products.

I hate to sound like a grandpa, by my heart was broken when they killed Aperture. It was such a beautiful App.....
Tim is lacking perspective - it's obvious anyway - Steve indeed wouldn't have killed his own ecosystem which made Apple what it is.
I will not jump on the train of saying Apple sucks - because for now - it still doesn't. But Maaaan they really look like they are heading to a money oriented direction.

I have the feeling that Steve had a good grip on these guys' "cojones" (you know, these guys we always see and hear on Apple products explaining with selected words how erotic is Apple now - however I am not so horny anymore...)

Tim ... well.... he is dreaming about $$$ Good luck Tim being the richest guy in the cemetery.
Bill Gates had more vision than you that's a fact. And he made poop water....
You just make poop.....

Cheers!
 
indychris said:
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.
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You do realise that Apple has opened Time Machine support to third-party manufacturers? Don't really see how this fact fits into your assessment of the situation. I am disappointed that Apple is discontinuing Airport, this were some really nice routers, but I am sure that we will have a number of great alternatives very soon.
 
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You know the other day I was going through some things and Came across my Box Sets of Final Cut Studio, my old alien ship Airport, and my Quicksilver PowerMac G4, and my original click-wheel iPod. Somehow those times were filled with a since of awe, and magic. Being in the Apple Eco System was a great time. I still love Apple but I am genuinely concerned for any device/service that is not iOS, or the MacBook "Pro" for which to develop iOS apps on.
 
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Hey Apple, remember Blackberry and Nokia? Yeah, they put all their eggs in one basket and look where it got them. Maybe you should continue to support and develop the smaller product lines when the industry changes. Just some food for thought.

I love my time capsule. It's saved me many times. I sure hope they surprise us all with something new.
 
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I had a Apple Router for a few years then I bought the Asus AC68U and it blow it away in every way. Price, features and speed. Not sure what everyone is talking about Airplay, works just fine without a Apple Router
 
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Apple seems to have entered that post-visionary stage where strategy supports large, shorter-term profits but unwittingly at the cost of long term profits, brand, customer loyalty, and ability to innovate. Over a long enough time, you can bleed a lot from a bunch of tiny cuts. It adds up.
 
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So all those Time Capsule backups are going to be useless? Better hope your Apple Time Capsule or Airport never dies....
 
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One wonders how Timmy thinks all these "post-PC" devices like Apple TV, iPhone and iPad Pro are going to connect to the interwebs without suitable up-to-date wireless infrastructure hardware. Wireless is the future, but we don't make routers anymore. Here, buy this incredibly ugly router from some other company. We don't make displays anymore. Here, buy this ugly plastic display from some other company we "partnered" with. We were too busy playing with iOS to design a new display in house. Oh, we don't make a single computer you'd ever want to buy anymore? LOL, we don't care. We're a cell phone company looking to get into entertainment. Computers are old hat, daddy-oh. Don't be a square.

The news comes from a report by Bloomberg, who said Apple has been slowly shutting down the division over the past year and made the decision "to try to sharpen the company's focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue."
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If anyone needs more proof that the bean-counters have taken over at Apple, I can't help you. It is now blindingly obvious.
 
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JaySoul said:
Wise decision from Apple - used to have Apple one but now free routers I get given by broadband providers in the UK are excellent.

EDIT: Also Google have released their own ones recently -
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i hadnt seen this before.
google is creating the eco system we want.
apple is abandoning it (and us).

there might be some kind of apple TV / wireless screen/audio system play in here somewhere that apple is thinking about.
but until the IoT is REALLY everywhere, its devices that are still very much needed for real life networks and data to be pushed around and maintained safely.
 
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soon there will be apple tv in two colors, black and white

both with airport functionality
 
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robbyx said:
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.
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This. I have two AP Expresses, and they both have worked flawlessly and inconspicuously. So tiny devices, can be kept anywhere without large antennae protruding out. This is really just greed at this point, killing off things that connected and brought together people to the Apple platform in a real sense.

iPhones are not going to keep people connected to Apple long term. It was thoughtfulness towards the users and user-experience that Apple cared for and brought to the table that made people open their wallets so wide they'd tear and yet be happy with it.

Steve had once said about people paying Apple money to create the most amazing devices and experiences on earth. Can Tim say the same? Is he creating the most amazing devices and experiences on earth that people will pay him for? Time will tell Tim, time will tell.
 
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Sam_S said:
I think they are a little too focused on producing books that no one needs and a MacBook Pro that isn't very Pro. Apple is slowly decaying, I can't stand this.

Time Capsule was such a handy device that just worked.
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Then buy a couple more :)) it's pointless to get worked up by this. Until mine die, they're continue to be just as awesome as they were 10 minutes ago before this rumour was posted!
 
On a side note, the BT HomeHub 6 router is an impressive bit of kit after the disaster that was BT HomeHub 5. Covers our house complete and we actually get advertised speeds now.
 
I am (or was) a fan of the UI simplicity and the design. I like how they automatically switched between 2.4 and 5 GHz based on what was needed. I am confused as to how this works on say a Netgear router with logins for each band. I see that they some have MIMO support but I am not sure how this works...
 
I made a small list of reasons while I'm still an Apple user:
  1. Compatibility with iPhone
  2. Long-term stability compared to Windows (years of use without crashes etc.) (this is a major one)
  3. I'm not looking forward to finding out how to migrate everything out of the Apple ecosystem
  4. I prefer the interface and ease of use of a lot of Mac apps
This still outweighs the reasons to move on:
  1. Price made decent Macbooks out of reach
  2. Other Macs seem to be forgotten (but my Mac Mini is still doing fine)
  3. Exit Apple peripherals
  4. Stupid decisions (MagSafe, ports, ...)
But the second list is growing longer.
 
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