is’s a pity. like others have said, i’ll miss the ease of operation and great life/service expectancy. i’m off to buy a spare express
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Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]
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Yeah, you have to wonder if the Express being discontinued is also meant to help HomePod sales.
(of course, it’ll help Sonos too)
He gave up on the Apple TV, quit making monitors, and now no airport, killing the entire apple eco-system concept where things "just work", but hey, we got a crappy "politically correct" car coming in the future... this guy single handily destroyed the Apple that Jobs built. How pathetic.
The years when Apple offered a full hardware ecosystem were the best. Always quality products that just worked. That was their business model.
Now, they’re in the business of selling advertising and subscription delivery devices. Hardware features are largely differentiation gimmicks. It’s really a shame. Those were good times.
Now, they’re in the business of selling advertising and subscription delivery devices. Hardware features are largely differentiation gimmicks. It’s really a shame. Those were good times.
And the Airport Extreme (NAT) is not fast enough for today's 1 Gbps Internet home connection.
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How did he give up on the Apple TV..? Do you really think their monitor and airport sales were what were keeping things afloat? Everything still "just works" but they are selling products that normal everyday people will want and use. They just aren't catering to this super small, super vocal minority that wants everything to be the super pro plus extra pro model.
The above are not bad.. However you also want to security for your network. I use Sonicwall TZ 500 for network security.
https://www.sonicwall.com/en-us/products/firewalls/entry-level
I suspect you stuck with stock OEM firmware. That would be your first mistake.
Is it? Perhaps it’s more accurate to say Apple Computer is dead. Apple Inc., under Tim Cook, is the richest company in the world.
They’re different companies. Cook recognized the value in app/ad revenue and the hardware is now incidental. That’s why it’s so neglected (save the iPhone of course because it’s the most universally useful device). He’s also an expert in international marketing. It’s made them far more money than the old business model would ever have.
To a lesser extent they’re trying to compete in the content market, but it’s a pretty bad effort. They’ll continue to focus on the iPhone (i.e, apps and ads) and the global market because that’s where the money is.
Apple has consistently crippled these routers over the past 5-or-so years anyway, by removing access to important advanced features the routers support from the AirPort Utility software. (Think Sony removing ability to run Linux from the PS3). I have to run older versions of the MacOS in a VM just to access older versions of AirPort Utility that still support these features. So I'm not surprised or especially upset to see them go away. But I still think it is a bad move. Even if they weren't making Apple $$$ it's important for Apple to keep making products that make life in the Apple-ecosystem easier and more consistent.
For example, these did integrate extremely well with Mac OSX Server, and they were really the only router that had a setup utility that was "Mac-Like" (whatever that still means, if it still means anything.) Can you imagine the majority of end-users comfortably configuring their routers via. an HTML interface? I can't. And the more Apple makes their ecosystem less-special the fewer reasons consumers have for staying loyal to Apple at all...
For example, these did integrate extremely well with Mac OSX Server, and they were really the only router that had a setup utility that was "Mac-Like" (whatever that still means, if it still means anything.) Can you imagine the majority of end-users comfortably configuring their routers via. an HTML interface? I can't. And the more Apple makes their ecosystem less-special the fewer reasons consumers have for staying loyal to Apple at all...
They weren’t hobbies. At the time they were introduced, networking, wifi, wireless backups were way too hard for the average user to figure out. These devices were critical to prime the maket for the features Apple was providing in their software. You could argue other products are now easy enough but I would argue there will always be a need for Apple to make the plumbing easy enough for the average user to get it all to work. Apple should be expanding into mesh networks like eero (or partnering or buying them) rather than retrenching.
No, you're lost; go and find Apple's accountants, have a chat with them and see what they say. Next, take Jony Ive and Marc Newson out for lunch (you never know, you may bump into Dieter Rams)... ask them anything you want... I think you'll discover that the one lost was the one without a copy of Leander Kahney's book about Jony Ive.
Many other companies make vastly superior routers, monitors etc. Why pay more for less & outdated hardware?
And, pray tell, where are all those improved products and services? 12,000 employees in the Spaceship alone and what are they really delivering? That is why the stock price has been so poor - Cook is not a product guy - he is now relying on financial engineering to prop up the stock price as opposed to brilliant new products. The AEBS is best in class and has been for some time now.
Thing is, there is little ecosystem any longer. There is iPhone and Mac. The Apple that brought beautiful peripherals to work with its core hardware is just dying a slow death.
This is a disappointment. I found that only the Apple AirPort Wireless Routers worked out of the box with all of my iPhones and iPads. My experience with other products is that the settings need to be significanly adjusted to work effectively when combined with cellular service. When my Xfinity router is providing wifi, my iPhone and iPad slow way down and when I switch over to Airport, the speed is back where it should be.
Apple has officially ended development on its AirPort line of products, which includes the AirPort Express ($99), the AirPort Extreme ($199), and the AirPort Time Capsule ($299).
"We're discontinuing the Apple AirPort base station products. They will be available through Apple.com, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last," an Apple spokesperson told iMore.
Apple has not updated its AirPort products since 2012 (Express) and 2013 (Extreme and Time Capsule), and in late 2016, Bloomberg said that Apple had stopped development on the AirPort lineup with the AirPort engineers reassigned to other products.
Apple reportedly began shutting down its AirPort unit in early 2016, in an effort to "sharpen" its focus on the "consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue."
Following news that Apple had shuttered the AirPort unit, the company began selling third-party routers in January of 2018 when it offered the Linksys Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System.
Apple's AirPort base stations provided unique benefits that are not available through third-party options like built-in Time Machine backup support in the Time Capsule and AirPlay functionality for the AirPort Express.
While the AirPort line is being discontinued, Apple will be providing service and parts for current generation AirPort Base Stations for the next five years. iMore says Apple also plans to share some knowledge-base articles in the coming weeks to assist customers who are transitioning away from the AirPort Express, Extreme, and Time Capsule.
Apple plans to continue to sell the three AirPort products online and in its retail stores until available supplies are exhausted. No price drops have been implemented at this time.
Update: Apple has shared a new support document offering tips on choosing a Wi-Fi router to use with Apple devices. The company recommends a router that offerrs 802.11ac, dual-band support, WPA2 Personal encryption, and MIMO or MU-MIMO.
Article Link: Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]
The Google Onhub routers are impeccable. I recommend anyone who is looking for a new one to just get this. You'll be set for years to come.
I realized soon after I was able to get gigabit fiber at my home about two and a half years ago just how antiquated the latest (2013) AirPort Extreme was. I had two of them in my home that were bridged wirelessly.
If my iPhone 6 (at the time) was connected to the bridged AirPort Extreme, the most throughput it would see consistently was 35-40 Mbps up and down. Almost a year and a half ago, I purchased a three-unit, first gen Eero system which was also bridged wirelessly. Immediately, the throughput on my iPhone 6 went to anywhere between 75 Mbps and 150 Mbps up and down everywhere in my home. With my iPhone 7 that I have now, I consistently see between 100 and 350 Mbps up and down depending upon where I am in my home.