Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]

[hwy1trd]

I don't think this is true. I've never explored using Time Machine with a different router since I own a Time Capsule, but you should be able to use Time Machine with network attached storage on a non-apple router.

here's a tutorial for a Netgear router: https://kb.netgear.com/21360/How-to-setup-Time-Machine-with-your-NETGEAR-router

I don't think that is true for all Netgear products. I recently switched from extreme N base station hard lined to multiple extreme and express airport units. Was a very reliable system but not super fast. My dad bought me an Orbi mesh system with a total of three units, one base and two satellites. Speed is really nice compared to old airport system. Then I realized that Netgear/Orbi has yet to fully adopt adding external hard drive support to Orbi for network backups. TM backups have saved me a bit running cMP 2,1 on El Cap. Now, as a work around, having to keep external HD connected to one mac, and then share that network drive to other mac computers in the house for TM backups. It works, but definitely not plug-and-play.

 

[Lioness~]

I don't like greedy companies that only looks at their own profit and ignoring it's customers.

I'm an experienced IT guy so I know how to install third-party routers but take a look at the customers aged 40-80. Do you think they are going to look for third party accessories and install everything themselves?

HomePod is not going to make Apple any money. I think everyone knew that before it even launched since Siri is the most dumb assistant out there by far. So that works?? Not really.

Siri is probably Tim’s alterego. Just as smart.

Buy a HomePod.

Funny joke. I hope it was. HomePod won’t last long in that way they sell it.
Dumb Siri and too expensive for what you get.

 

[Baymowe335]

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

Seriously, what are you talking about?

 

[Martyimac]

It's a damn shame, the Airport line is the most elegantly designed networking hardware I've ever used. I've gotten spoiled by the Airport app on my phone.

Gonna be a real bummer when I have to resort to browser-based configuration shenanigans in the future.

Edit: Even more spoiled by wireless Time Machine backups. Ugh.

You might want to look at the Eero mesh router.. Easy setup and the iphone app works well and cleanly.

 

[9081094]

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. When third party companies out-Apple Apple, there's no need for Apple to remain in the space.

They should eliminate their whole business because at the moment there isn’t a thing that really stands out

 

[petitpiton]

I could not say enough good things about my Ubiquiti UniFi setup. It has been rock solid but might be overkill for a lot of people.

In which case... AmpliFi HD - Ubiquiti's wifi router for home networks.

 

[blacktape242]

Totally sucks I have 3 working now at my house, at least they will last a few more years before they need to be replaced with something faster / better.

 

[sofila]

My Airport Express is connected to my old amplifier and I stream with iTunes my ALAC files. Hope it is going to last 10/15/20 years more. My good old Sansui AU5500 is from 1975, why not wish for this?

 

[Abazigal]

The problem is the less sticky the ecosystem becomes, the less likely someone is to buy an iPhone. I have iOS\iPhone because it ties in so nicely with everything else Apple I own. The less of a tie I have to the ecosystem, the easier it would be to stray in the future purchases of phones.

What do you think Apple is trying to do with the Apple Watch, Apple Music, Airpods and HomePod, if not lock users to the iPhone?

They feel more sticky to me than a Mac, since there’s actually very little integration between an iPhone and Mac compared to the other iOS devices and accessories.

The more time goes by, the more the Mac sticks out of Apple’s product lineup like a sore thumb. I don’t think Apple will drop the entire Mac like anytime soon, but I can see how this uncertainty and neglect can be frustrating to users who have come to rely on their Macs for an integral part of their work.

 

[realtwang]

No - but what got Apple to the top once was the eco-system. If I purchased a MacBook Pro in 2012 I could get a MacBook Pro with Magsafe (I could see if my battery was charging or not + magnet for safety), I could charge my iPhone with the USB ports, I could buy an Apple Display to hook up with my MacBook Pro and also buy a AirPort Extreme to get my network set up in literally 10 minutes. That took Apple to the top.

We don't have that anymore, any of it actually.

Totally agree. It doesn't make sense to me that the "It Just Works" company would take this part of their ecosystem away. What about HomeKit integration, etc? Handoff? Airplay? Is all that expected to be seamless through a Brand X 3rd party router? I'm very disappointed about this. Seamless integration is Apple's whole selling point over any other brand. Software and hardware, remember? I fear we are headed for "It Might Work".

 

[Starship67]

Now it’s official. Well **** I love my Timecapsule.

 

[Packers1958]

Considering most people barely get 50 Mbps service from their isp, the AE and TC will be functional for many years to come, even when Apple stops support in 5 years. I might just buy another TC in case my current one fails. I get great coverage through my entire house and have no need to upgrade to anything else.

 

[tkermit]

Totally agree. It doesn't make sense to me that the "It Just Works" company would take this part of their ecosystem away. What about HomeKit integration, etc? Handoff? Airplay? Is all that expected to be seamless through a Brand X 3rd party router? I'm very disappointed about this. Seamless integration is Apple's whole selling point over any other brand. Software and hardware, remember? I fear we are headed for "It Might Work".

Headed? That's the current Apple. Products that come with a huge feature list, but a lot of them half-baked, unreliable and unlikely to be fixed... Handoff and Shared Clipboard for example always stop working for me at some point. Great features in theory, useless in practice because they're too unreliable

 

[kaiseryeahhh]

Dep in rip en paz

 

[EugW]

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.

 

[HiRez]

Pretty sad, my Time Capsule is still chugging along doing the dirty work in the trenches, my mom is still using my previous Airport, and my ex-roommate is still using the generation before that. I guess there are better options these days for routers (although the better ones aren't cheap) but the Airports have always been rock solid in operation and dead easy to set up.

 

[smallcoffee]

Oh btw: tcook@apple.com

If you think this is a bad idea there is no reason not to send him a polite email as an Apple customer.

 

[mixedup]

This is a huge bummer. This was all part of the ecosystem and worked seamlessly (imho) with other Apple products.

The ability to stream music via Airplay to the Airport Express and use a digital optical out to an external DAC has been so useful to me! My original AE is still going strong but I may pick up another so when it dies i've got a backup. Problem is that Apple will probably have killed off Airplay support by the time that happens.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Watch? Homepod? How are those products "hot garbage?" Sure, the Homepod isn't a world beater in the smart speaker space, but it's a good piece of hardware with impressive sound. The Watch is a success in every sense of the word.

The watch is absolutely useless without an iPhone... a device that you need next to the watch does everything the watch does and then some (except for that heart rate monitor). So what's the point of having it?

 

[palebluedot]

And yet its still at the top. Whether we like it on not companies are "living organisms" and have to change with the times or die. Apple made it clear it can't make meaningful revenue developing and selling routers. Apple is only going to do things that make money. It's not a co-op.

Airport was a great product. Hate that its no more. But it's 2018. It's not like there aren't decent, easy to set up routers these days. This is not a terrible move for Apple or Mac fans. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale.

I disagree in one sense. The Airport is one of those (now rare) "magical" products that is a combo of power, usability, and interesting use cases. For example, I have my Main Time Capsule plugged into a USB Hub. Every month, I plug in a portable drive and Airport Utility clones the TC hard drive. That drive is then stored in a secure place off site so that, in the event of fire or flood, I can recreate my family's digital life for each Mac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, etc. in the house. This is seamless and takes me about 3 min of time. The light on the TC goes from blinking to green when it is done. It is elegant and easy. Sure other routers can do certain things TC can do but there are not many rock solid, NAS providing, Mac integrated, beautiful, and reasonably priced routers.

It is a shame.

 

[Lucky736]

And yet its still at the top. Whether we like it on not companies are "living organisms" and have to change with the times or die. Apple made it clear it can't make meaningful revenue developing and selling routers. Apple is only going to do things that make money. It's not a co-op.

Airport was a great product. Hate that its no more. But it's 2018. It's not like there aren't decent, easy to set up routers these days. This is not a terrible move for Apple or Mac fans. Take a deep breath and slowly exhale.

Microsoft was at the top once. The fall was long and slow. Arguably it was the Xbox that saved them until they could get back up and learn to walk again. History will repeat itself only the name will be different.

 

[Kettil]

As expected.

 

[Tech198]

It's a pity. They were very decent pieces of hardware.

Yep.. You just know this is gonna end baddly..

Particularly when not many third party router manufactures implement Bonjour fully... I was unable to use WOL over Back-to-my-Mac to wake my Mac-mini from over at friends place.

 

[palebluedot]

I’d just like to announce that I am wearing some software-based ecosystem products in my ears and on my wrist at this time. I have discovered how to wear software.

Edit, just in case the point isn’t clear: The Mac is no longer the center of the ecosystem. It never will be again. The “center” is now iOS devices and specifically the iPhone, and it’s not going back.

You can't tinker with worn software like you can with a computer. Future generations will forget how our tools are made as we become a culture of consumers and not inventors. But that is a larger philosophical issue than the removal of one router. It is just more of the same as we march towards monopoly and homogeneity.

 

[Tech198]

It hasn’t been updated in 5 years. The router market is a lot more mature now than it was in 1999.

May have been, but Airport products were simple, easy to set up, and none of that advanced config people didn't want..