Maybe apple’s vision of the future is that every single device has its own cellular connection and they all back-up to apple’s cloud?
Home networking just goes away.
And we all pay a big monthly subscription.
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Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]
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Home networking just goes away.
And we all pay a big monthly subscription.
I see the problem from a different perspective than all other comments. I think that the issue in discountinuing this line is about branding, which taps directly into Apple’s philosophy.
It is undeniable that Airport ain’t what makes Apple the big bucks. However, the availability of Airport is directly connected to everything else in the Apple ecosystem. That is, if I went to an Apple store without any clue on how to setup an home office from scratch, Apple could have provided a global, easy solution without leaving Apple and without losing the necessary flexibility: iPad, iPhone, a computer (iMac, Macbook or MacMini, with possibility of an external display), router, local backup system, and miscellaneous accessories on top of whatever is offered on cloud services. Right now Apple is NOT offering this as it lacks at least two of the vital products needed for this. While it’s absolutely true that there are better products on the market (and this is Apple’s fault at least in part), and that I can always buy other stuff, conceptually Apple moved from the “all Apple experience” to the “Apple centric experience”. This is a branding decision.
Personally, I find it disturbing.
I am going to keep using the 3 I have setup in my home until they die.
I tried Google Wi-fi and a Linksys EA9500 and both are garbage compaired to the Apple AirPort Extreme AC units.
Google WiFi doesn’t work with AT&T WiFi calling and the EA9500 was a rebooting, signal dropping insecure (no updates in over a year) mess. I will just buy a spare AEBS in the event one of mine dies.
This decision by Apple is disappointing!
I tried Google Wi-fi and a Linksys EA9500 and both are garbage compaired to the Apple AirPort Extreme AC units.
Google WiFi doesn’t work with AT&T WiFi calling and the EA9500 was a rebooting, signal dropping insecure (no updates in over a year) mess. I will just buy a spare AEBS in the event one of mine dies.
This decision by Apple is disappointing!
I'm also concerned about how many of these more recent devices have to be set up using cloud-based configuration servers. So basically you are handing that company the keys to your network.
When I eventually replace my Time Capsule it will probably be with something that runs OpenWRT.
Yeah, notice how downhill they went went they stopped making printers. Oh, wait...
I think when people say that "Apple needs to focus" they mean they need to focus on making the Apple Ecosystem Experience as good as it can possibly be again. Just a few short years ago it was LOT better than it is today. They need to stop flailing-about with UI redesigns and adding another dozen gestures to their iThings and get back to building great devices instead of crap (new MacBook Pro keyboard? anyone? anyone?) with great, consistent, usable, UIs. And they need to make sure people can stay inside the Apple Ecosystem as much as possible. That means also building and selling products that make very little $$$, such as the Airport Extreme; so that people trust Apple to provide products that "everyman" can actually use with relative ease. That's focus.
I like to compare Apple to Porsche. There are a lot of similarities: Upscale product line; No bottom-tier products; Over Engineered; Vastly more reliable than similar competing products; Fantastic user experience. They are even similar when things go wrong: both companies often manage to include a major flaw that needs addressed in otherwise excellent products (how many years can Apple continue to build products that can't cool the GPU properly?) Even the customer-base is similar in many ways: Very loyal and outspoken - When Porsche went water-cooled, and when they started building some models with engines in the wrong place (i.e. the front), and also when the started building SUVs, Porsche fanatics went ballistic. But what Porsche did, despite widening their product range, was stay FOCUSED on the driving experience. In other words, the fears of the Porsche fanatics turned out to be unfounded. Porsche never "lost their way". They continue to build a fantastic world-class rear-engined sports-car, and also build a range of other vehicles that somehow also manage to provide that Porsche experience, even the SUVs. Apple. on the other hand, has lost that focus. What made Porsche great (the driving experience) is still there. What made Apple great (the user experience) simply isn't there anymore. That's what Apple needs to focus on fixing. And they can't fix it properly unless they sell an entire Apple Ecosystem.
Must be worth it to Tim to save the 0.000002% in profit to let us out in the cold.
Please forgive my ignorance. I have always used a TimeCapsule for its simplicity and Time Machine auto-backup + I'm not super tech savvy. What can fill this gap for those who need simplicity/Time Machine/Auto backup without buying two additional products to sit on the desk or take up space?
Steve was a visionary who always surprised his customers.
You don't surprise your customers by doing what they expect.
Couldn't agree more! Sadly examples keen on coming:
MacBook Pro since 2015 where you have to buy another gadget to provide the standard set of connectivity ports!
Mac Pro biscuit tin that again requires a plethora of attachment cables to match the old Tower Mac.
High Sierra that no longer supports RAID as a boot device.
Steve would not be amused...
The way the carriers charge (meter and/or throttle) 4G data it's going to be a very expensive 5G only future if that's the case. I'm hoping cable and fiber to the home survive because compared to the wireless options it's a fast and reliable pipeline for a lot less money in most cases.
It’s a bit of a shame. My Time Capsule worked great for a few years and I was hoping it would be updated.
LOL if anyone is actually interested in which routers are actually good
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/router/view
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/router/view
I’m a long-time Apple fan, but it’s starting to feel like they now want to trap you inside their ecosystem - as opposed to you deciding to stay.
Look at the HomePod:
- No bluetooth for an owner to connect any 3rd party device.
- No aux-in jack for an owner connect any 3rd party device.
- The only music sources that HomePod-Siri recognizes are Apple proprietary.
- It provided an industry standard 3.5mm jack to connect to any 3rd party music playing device or speakers.
- Airport Express is gone.
Look at Apple TV:
- It used to provide an industry-standard optical audio-out jack to connect any 3rd party sound system.
- That jack is gone.
Look at iPhone:
- It provided an industry standard 3.5mm jack to connect it to any 3rd party music playing device or speakers.
- That jack is also gone.
- We still have Bluetooth, but how long will that last?
Might be an OK vision fi Cellular service in many regions of the world are of the order of magnitudes slower than home internet, nevermind cost wise
Here in Canuckle-land. I've got unlimited data 200mbps for < 70/mth for home internet. However, the Cell providers are still charging roughly $90-$110 /mth for 4-6gb of Data.
that pie in the sky dream is a just that. A dream, until the cariers provide cellular services at the speeds and data rates that home based ones can.
This is a good point. Remember when they introduced the nMB? Schiller was like, we don’t need wires. We have airplay and wi-if and Apple TV and Time Capsule.
If Apple really wants to make good on their idea of a wireless world, they should really offer a wireless backup option. I think that would need to be more than just a 2 or 5 gig iCloud plan.
If Apple really wants to make good on their idea of a wireless world, they should really offer a wireless backup option. I think that would need to be more than just a 2 or 5 gig iCloud plan.
I spent an age on the phone to Apple support last month to see if it was worth purchasing an express to allow my very expensive B&W A7 speaker to work with airplay 2. I guess this answers that question.
Perhaps for the extremely rich. Imagine what 500GB of 5G data would cost per month....