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Apple Officially Discontinues AirPort Wireless Router Lineup [Updated]
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If you have your home wired for gigabit internet it will still be slightly faster than a mesh network, but the mesh networks can get pretty close. So if your home isn't wired, it is no longer worth the cost to wire it up as that will always be more expensive than mesh routers.
If only Apple would support with parts and service for 5 years, oh wait it says that in the article.
Could you explain what you mean by your last paragraph?
What a perfect time to remember this.
Steve Jobs introduces iBook and Airport.
I’ve used Airport exclusively since I bought my first MacBook in 2006. I have never had luck with any other router, and believe me I’ve tried. I remember the days I used to have three wireless routers because each one would overheat and have to be reset.
Now everything is Airport or Time Capsule. I don’t want to replace them but I want a 10-Gig Ethernet someday. Such a shame, such a shame.
I’ve used Airport exclusively since I bought my first MacBook in 2006. I have never had luck with any other router, and believe me I’ve tried. I remember the days I used to have three wireless routers because each one would overheat and have to be reset.
Now everything is Airport or Time Capsule. I don’t want to replace them but I want a 10-Gig Ethernet someday. Such a shame, such a shame.
Because if you sell it, you have to continue to have the facilities to manufacture it, you have to keep it updated and support it for X number of years.
Additionally, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we learn that a hardware component has a vulnerability in it that can't be patched with software, which would mean a redesign would be necessary to fix it. Even if no such vulnerability is known to exist, given all of the problems that we have seen recently means there is a strong possibility that there is indeed one there that no one yet knows about.
By discontinuing it, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Apple and they can reassign these manufacturing plants to manufacturing other devices that are more profitable. Really, this is a business decision that actually makes sense when you look deeper at it.
And one thing I have been learning is while some of the functionality is nice of an ecosystem, having everything in one ecosystem can be bad in the event that the company running the ecosystem decides to discontinue support. For example, Apple could push an update to every single Apple device that would prevent it from connecting to the Airport router. Not that they would, but other companies have done similar things, so it shows it is possible.
I know I would have, if they had been updated. I went from airport express to AirPort Extreme to time capsule to A/C time capsule. Then Apple stopped updating them. Would have loved to have 10gigabit time capsule or at least USB 3.0 ports by now.
No, they will have to keep it up to date for how many ever years they have to support the recently purchased devices, probaby 3-5 years and then support will end.
Vista was really the turning point where MS lost a lot of dominance. Leopard and Snow Leopard were so much better and far more advanced. The beautiful dock and now legendary wallpaper didn’t hurt! The first party Mac software especially for photography and videos which were beginning to really take off with better and cheaper digital cameras as well as YT made the platform a no brainer. The fact that you didn’t have to defrag the disk, worry about cleaning a bloated registry nor worry about viruses and malware as much just sealed the deal.
The Windows install of pretty much anyone I knew who wasn’t tech savvy was a complete mess while those same kind of people who were on macs never had any real issues.
I don’t need a mesh router. I live in manhattan. The less WiFi the better. That’s why I preferred Apple’s time capsule. They seemed to be the most energy efficient for Apple products, with things like beam forming. Just compare the heat of a time capsule to any other router. The less energy waste the better.
I am sure they will one day, the reality is that the HomePod's failure is probably what indirectly led to killing off Airport. Apple can see that other companies are making better routers that are easier to setup and more secure, which is something that wasn't happening when they first came out with Airport. HomePod has been a spectacular failure and rightfully so, they came in late to the game and came with an inferior product and service. Now Apple may finally be opening their eyes and figuring out that if they can't do it better, they shouldn't do it at all.
Damn.
I've got three of these in my house now (two serving one network, the third serving a separate wifi entirely for my second ISP).
These are the only wifi routers I've had that have lasted this long (nearly five years now). Not looking forward to shopping around for the latest and greatest when I need to. :-/
I've got three of these in my house now (two serving one network, the third serving a separate wifi entirely for my second ISP).
These are the only wifi routers I've had that have lasted this long (nearly five years now). Not looking forward to shopping around for the latest and greatest when I need to. :-/
It is possible, but you would actually be better off with a mesh network of your choosing, then you have a single WiFi network without overlapping signals and just in general works well.
When the original ABS was released in the late 90s it was pretty good. Apple was one of the first to offer built-in WiFi in their entire line of computers. When they introduced easy WDS and the Express it brought people to the platform and fueled interest in comprehensive WiFi. So, yeah, it did.
I have heard good things about this as well, I prefer the Google WiFi simply because it is dead simple, but there are plenty of options now.
They're built to coexist and work with each other. That's one of the reasons they were so great.
Apple should just discontinue all their products and stick to iPhones.
No, the writing has been on the wall for years; HomePod's initial reception had nothing to do with it. However, the HomePod class of products will expand into the space formerly occupied by AirPort hardware in the form of AirPlay 2 and a Siri that actually does something.