Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]

[jacg]

Has anyone tested the Airport Utility (ver. 5 or 6) on High Sierra or Windows 10? Does it still work?
Is it 32 or 64-bit?

Version 6 works fine, better than before actually (more compatible with older models). V5 is not, but can still be made to run using a simple 3rd party helper app. Sorry not at Mac to check 64 bitness.

I guess this means no AirPlay 2 is coming to Airport Express? That’s very sad, although mine are now wired and used mostly from iTunes so maybe not a big deal.

 

[posguy99]

This would have really bummed me out—however, the Linksys Velop system is so outstanding it completely eliminates the need for Apple to develop an in-house solution.

Someone's probably already said this farther down, but it's Linksys. How good can it be?

 

[boodle]

That’s not what asked. My question is when do you think Apple TV or HomePod will replace AirPort?

I did not mean to suggest that these devices would ever provide WiFi or network routing. They have replaced AirPort for every function except WiFi which is now a commodity and not worth Apple's time.
[doublepost=1524787783][/doublepost]

Someone's probably already said this farther down, but it's Linksys. How good can it be?

Right? Linksys was pretty good until Belkin bought them from Cisco now it's crap like the rest of their gear. I've had two new Linksys routers melt themselves recently. Not to mention the self-corrupting firmware. Never again, Belkin, never again.

 

[EvanEiga]

I had a Linksys or whatever big brand router before, the connection just kept dropping every few minutes. I remember Apple released their first gen time capsule at the time and I bought one, haven't looked back ever since.

I lived in China last year and the first thing I did right after I hooked up my internet was to get an Airport express.

 

[brushlee]

I really love mine - cute little white "tower" with external usb 2.5 hdd attached..... Sigh - nice job Apple.....

 

[pat500000]

Yeah okay... f apple. No heart for apple users.

 

[fairuz]

There are hundreds/thousands of suitable alternatives on the market that will be just as stable, provide better performance, and be at least as easy to setup. Apple didn't get where they are by making networking equipment. Leave that to the professionals who reall

It's a bundle, and the point is having it work well with your devices and having an easy config. I've tried countless routers for three homes and two apartments, and nothing ever compares in terms of ease to set up, especially when you're dealing with non-basic things like port mapping. Best part is you could upgrade AirPort devices and use the same config for the new ones, or a similar setup, instead of learning the inevitable crappy UI and quirks of the alternatives.

Apple probably doesn't even make the router itself, and I don't know where you're getting the performance numbers from. One of my use cases was a large house with ~100 devices (some of them servers) and 3 tiers of switches behind the router, no problems whatsoever pulling 200mbit/s from the Internet or 1gbit/s on LAN. Some of the other routers did crap out rarely.

Ubiquity is the best alternative I've seen, but they're still not nearly as easy to use. I already said earlier the two things the other bundles really don't have at all, AirPlay and Time Machine support. There's no good replacement for those.

 

[Greymacuser]

Apple giving up on something...again? What a complete shock.

 

[xxspirit4musicx]

Look guys, Tim Cook is scum. And he came from money hungry I.B.M. And someone needs to mug the hell outta him.

> List of discontinued products:
AirPort
17 inch Macbook Pro
Jet Black coloured iPhones
The home button of the iOS
Safari for Microsoft Windows
Removable card slots
Soon-to-be-MacBook-Pro-keyboard

 

[boast]

Comments almost look the same as the thread announcing Apple will stop selling Thunderbolt displays.

 

[SkippyThorson]

So what the hell happens with Time Machine? Sure I can connect a drive, but not wirelessly, and USB-C device prices haven’t come down to comparable levels yet. Adapters, sure, but really? Wireless Time Machine is basically dead soon I take it? This is the most upsetting Apple cancellation since I’ve joined the iWorld. The iBook G4 was fantastic, and Leopard sold me with the free Time Machine backup solution. Sigh.

 

[npmacuser5]

What Apple missed badly, All of our security starts at the door. Think about securing ones home, protect the perimeter first. Apple echo system built on personal information management security. They just gave away the keys to their front door and kingdom to third parties. Amazing hit with a Stupid Stick Apple, especially as Apple moves into home automation and personal assistant applications. Best line of defense, stop the threat at the door, not at the bedroom light. Stupid is the kindest word I cared to share.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Steve Jobs would be rolling in his grave.

Cook is gutting this company.

 

[bbednarz]

Good lord, they killed off a product that hasnt been updated in 5 years. How many people are buying routers on their own these days? Do people on this forum realize they are in the tiny minority? People sign up for service with an ISP and 9/10 people just rent the modem/router combo that is supplied. The vast majority of people are not buying a $300 router. There isnt enough money to be made for Apple to continue to putting resources in this category, if there was Apple would have made a new one by now.

 

[WannaGoMac]

I just bought one this month to fill out my Apple network. However, I paid half price used on eBay. That brings me two ac extremes, one n extreme, and one n express.

Here’s a little known fact: Macs and iDevices on an Airport network with multiple Airports working together on a wired backbone will roam freely and seamlessly despite it not being a true mesh network.

I went this route even getting another Airport in 2018 because all my mobile devices are Apple, and it was much cheaper than going with a third party mesh system.

Ive done this too at multiple sites. So easy to setup a wired backbone with the Apple routers as wifi access points. Sigh, what a shame it's gone.

 

[Eduardo1971]

Sad; I have two express and two extremes at home.

 

[Blackstick]

Been super happy with my eero mesh network.

 

[Tozovac]

This makes me a little sad.
The AirPort Express was nice to use with satelite speakers.

Yup. And MobileMe was great for easy website servicing. Shame these valuable features are tossed out, losing focus on the bigger picture of customer value products.

 

[fbicking]

This did it for me. I use Airport Express connected to speakers throughout my house. I was hoping the express would get Airplay 2 and I would slowly rollout Homepods once they had Airplay 2. Now that they are killing yet another product line I am done. I will start rolling out Sonos this weekend (funny because I almost bought two Sonos last night thinking this would happen). Use to love having a total Apple ecosystem but that just can't happen under Cook and the system he has created. For now I will stick with Mac, IOS and watch but who knows going forward with even them.

 

[Kabeyun]

Hyperbole much? If this was a massive seller then it wouldn’t have been cut, just like their $1000 monitors. What got them to the top were music players, and then phones which incorporated those music players. Everything else was limited in scope and adoption even among Apple users. I doubt that 1% of iPhone users in any single recent quarter purchased an Airport device in the past 3-5 years.

Don’t forget the iMac. Comeback product of the century.

 

[Braderunner]

They kill this, one of their better products, but continue to sell hot garbage like Mac Mini, Homepod, Watch and the outdated, overpriced and unupgradeable Mac Pro?

Soooo, basically, you don't like much of anything that Apple makes. If you think the Watch is garbage, you absolutely don't know what you are talking about. Based on that comment, your opinion doesn't matter. Or make sense...for that matter.
BTW, I love my Airport Extreme. I've had it since it was released, and it is by far the best router I've ever had. So, I'm not happy with this news.
But, to call the Watch hot garbage? That is one of those rare cases where one's opinion can be, and is...wrong.

 

[ErikGrim]

A little, I guess. However, Eero is available and is up-to-date with the latest wifi mesh technology. Its design and ease of use are very much like Apple.

Eero is also only available in the US and Canada so a non-starter for most of the world.

 

[EvilEvil]

Today is a sad day. Not only for Airport Extreme but for Apple over all.

Everyone has this strange feeling that the company going down hill.

The bigger they get, the harder they fall. Where's zombie Steve Jobs when you need him?

 

[PKoz]

This company loves destroying everything that got them to the top.

I have to say I'm a little upset about this. Airports are easy to update and configure. Don't why they are doing this. They should be updating them, not getting rid of them.

 

[EugW]

I wonder if prices will go up or down now on eBay. I had been waiting for eons for a refurb to show on the Apple Store (Canada), but there haven't been any in the last year. Luckily I found one locally on eBay for way cheaper used. Setup is as below now, to cover a large L-shaped house, over three levels.

I actually use my ISP's router to route, and just use these Airports as WiFi access points.

Can two Airport Extremes work within one house? i.e. one upstairs and one in a basement that has signal loss? Can or do they play nice together?
I already have one Airport Extreme and love it. Would get another if they can coexist.