Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I just ordered a 2 TB from the Canadian store, MD032AM/A (4th generation) but when I received my confirmation e-mail, I cancelled the order because I wasn't sure if this is the updated model. Shouldn't the update be 5th generation?

No. The new Airport Extreme is the 5th generation of the Airport Extreme Base Station. This will only be the 4th generation of the Time Capsule. The MD032 is the new model.
 
It is really sad that the updated AEBS and TCs are still unavailable in the online store in China!
 
After the well documented 18 month Time Capsule failures they have been using slower WD Green drives on account of the lower heat emitted by these drives.
I'm really surprised to see that. A few people here were having problems upgrading their TCs to use the Caviar Green drives, due to the fact they didn't spin down when not in use. For that reason, I ended up choosing a Samsung EcoGreen instead, which has been working very well (and is much quieter than the previous drive). I don't know what "gen" my TC is, but it's one bought not long after they upgraded to dual-band.

I'm guessing Apple have their own Caviar Green drives with customised firmware. But if anyone's thinking of upgrading their TCs to use Caviar Green, please be aware you may have the problem mentioned above.
 
Wow. What a truly foolish thing to say. Apple just revolutionized the industry with iCloud. They are about to release a major update to OS X, and they are about to release a major update to iOS. They are releasing new hardware all the time, and they about to release a new major version of the iPhone. They have the best tablet and phone on the planet.

And Apple "sucks" because they didn't release some piece of hardware that you *IMAGINED*?

Cry babies. I'm literally disgusted by you.
I feel like Apple has some similarities to the government of San Marcos in Woody Allen's Bananas, too.

$1700 for a 2.13GHz Core2Duo Laptop with 4GB RAM and 256GB SSD - It's due for an update, but still. Doesn't even matter how slim it is.

$2750 for a 17" Laptop with 2.3GHz 2nd-gen i7 quad core, 4GB RAM, 750GB 5400RPM or 500GB 7200RPM hard drive. I could build a clone based on the 17" Sony Vaio EC-series for $1700 and sell the old dual core i7 CPU and HDD on top of that - nearly as good (last-gen vs. current-gen top-of-the-line Radeon), but significantly cheaper.

I might be a huge fanboi, but lately the reasoning part of my mind starts asking questions :rolleyes:

Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about iCloud, Lion and iOS 5, too. But Apple's hardware is more like Porsches: Small iterations of always the same, but somewhat enhances. Even Woz seems to rather rock the significantly cheaper japanese "Z", and it appears like he still does. You see similarities between the 240-ZX and the 350-Z? Me neither, now try a 911.
 
Last edited:
I think the point has been missed

These new models are just giving you a free TB in line with cheaper HDD prices.

The real update will come with Lion including iCloud and other features rumoured. This will be a firmware update for both the new and previous generation of TCs.
 
I love all you guys who get all pissed off that a RUMOR posted on an internet board doesn't come true....and then BLAME APPLE! They didn't start the rumor, they made no promises, but yet, it is Apple's fault somehow?

Love the guy that went and sold his 2TB TC yesterday "before the prices dropped on used ones" in anticipation of the new TC to be released...all based on rumors. Guess that was Apple's fault, and more directly Steve Job's fauly and Apple should give him a free TC....

Whom says anything about the rumours? The point is that Apple "updates" their TimeCapsue and AirPort Extreme without barely updating anything besides the hard drive inside which they claim to be "server grade" when it's in fact Western Digital Green Power series hard drives which are as far from server grade as you get in 2011..


Who cares whatever Apple promises or don't promises? Whom really care what rumours says upfront or not? The fact still remains that this is a really lacklustre update by Apple and they could definitely have done some much more out of these devices than what they decided to, which sure is disappointing regardless of whatever was promised or rumoured upfront.
 
Who cares whatever Apple promises or don't promises? Whom really care what rumours says upfront or not? The fact still remains that this is a really lacklustre update by Apple and they could definitely have done some much more out of these devices than what they decided to, which sure is disappointing regardless of whatever was promised or rumoured upfront.
If MacRumors hadn't reported on the update, you wouldn't have ever even known. So how can it be a disappointment? If there's any important new tech going down, you can be sure that Apple will let you know with a big fanfare.
 
Whom says anything about the rumours? The point is that Apple "updates" their TimeCapsue and AirPort Extreme without barely updating anything besides the hard drive inside which they claim to be "server grade" when it's in fact Western Digital Green Power series hard drives which are as far from server grade as you get in 2011..


Who cares whatever Apple promises or don't promises? Whom really care what rumours says upfront or not? The fact still remains that this is a really lacklustre update by Apple and they could definitely have done some much more out of these devices than what they decided to, which sure is disappointing regardless of whatever was promised or rumoured upfront.

Only people who had expectations or a huge wishlist will be disspaointed by this update. For those who are in the market for an easy all in one solution this update is fine.

It is not really fair to comment on how good or bad the product is without first trying it and looking at increase in performance if any or what possible updates can do to this product.

Apple have continued to allow people to choose either their Airport products or you can choose an alternative they do not hold a gun to its consumers heads!
 
good product: yes

high price: yes

could have used more stuff: yes


with the news of the iCloud and iOS and Lion on the mind, these could have had a huge impact on the consumer with what they could offer. Granted these could be hidden features yet to be revealed but then why put them up before the launch of Lion/iCloud...

Unless the FCC got teh date wrong and Apple hurried to put them up and still hold out on important details.

Time Capsule pricing is ridiculous! a drop in price and added stuff would have made this fly off the shelves but as it stands it is an "ehhh" maybe i can still hold out rather than buy now.
 
Synology (and other NAS) backup broken in Lion?

For everyone slamming this product as limited, not as good as NAS, etc, and promoting other solutions, such as Synology, isn't it true that those other Time Machine solutions will be broken in Lion due to it updating the Apple File protocol version? I understand some manufacturers like Synology are working on providing upgrades, but don't think they are there yet. So, one thing to remember is that while the Time Capsule may be "overpriced" for what it does, it does have the appeal of "It Just Works". As someone with an HP MediaSmart sever NAS setuo, I can appreciate all of the other awesome stuff that a NAS can do. But, it's Time Machine is essentially broken, and HP has stopped supporting it's WHS product line.

I am sooo sick of having to be a sysadmin at home, and work to get all of this crap working. Especially for something so essential as a backup solution. So, I'm ordering a Time Capsule. I wish it was cheaper and had more cool rumored features, but will be relieved to have such an easy to maintain backup solution that will just work with all my Macs. I'll still have my MediaSmart windows home server for other file storage. But, honestly, since I've gone all Mac, I may just sell that damn thing, and replace it with a mini and expand the storage with external drives.
 
I love that people make up rumors and all of these completely unrealistic expectations for Apple hardware, then go on and say how bad Apple sucks when they don't have all these magical features.

Apple's iCloud is still in beta. It's not even fully working on iOS devices yet. What on earth makes you think Apple is ready to release TCs and APEs that have an even more complicated implementation of iCloud on it?
 
N broadcast power improved almost 2-3x

See a post by an AI forum member who looked up the FCC information on the products. http://forums.appleinsider.com/showpost.php?p=1886915&postcount=7 (kudos to rigorkrad)
The new devices are putting out considerably more power for the n bands.

Synopsis: A, B and G not that different, (not shown here)

Old model:
frequency range / mode / output power dbm / output power milliwatts
2412-2462 802.11n(ht20) 21.17 130.92
5755-5795 802.11n(ht40) 21.44 139.32

new model:
2412-2462 802.11n(ht20) 24.11 257.63 (about 2x)
5755-5795 802.11n(ht40) 25.94 392.64 (about 2.8x)
 
TC is Airport Extreme + internal hard drive for network storage. An external hard drive with TB port has to be connected to a computer with a TB port. It’s like any other external drive with USB 2.0 or firewire ports. The difference is that TC can be used with any computers on the network because it is accessible from the network. An external drive is restricted to the computer it is connected to (unless you share the drive on the Mac with other Macs).

thanks i understand that much... I guess my question was more so when connected directly to a computer how is it different than an external harddrive? like people are saying that there is no point to it having a TB port because you would still be limited to ethernet speeds. I had assumed that I could use it as a network storage device, but when I wanted to do a major backup or restore i could plug directly into the TB port (if it had one) for a faster transfer.
 
For everyone slamming this product as limited, not as good as NAS, etc, and promoting other solutions, such as Synology, isn't it true that those other Time Machine solutions will be broken in Lion due to it updating the Apple File protocol version? I understand some manufacturers like Synology are working on providing upgrades, but don't think they are there yet. So, one thing to remember is that while the Time Capsule may be "overpriced" for what it does, it does have the appeal of "It Just Works". As someone with an HP MediaSmart sever NAS setuo, I can appreciate all of the other awesome stuff that a NAS can do. But, it's Time Machine is essentially broken, and HP has stopped supporting it's WHS product line.

I am sooo sick of having to be a sysadmin at home, and work to get all of this crap working. Especially for something so essential as a backup solution. So, I'm ordering a Time Capsule. I wish it was cheaper and had more cool rumored features, but will be relieved to have such an easy to maintain backup solution that will just work with all my Macs. I'll still have my MediaSmart windows home server for other file storage. But, honestly, since I've gone all Mac, I may just sell that damn thing, and replace it with a mini and expand the storage with external drives.

Congratulations. You just fell into Steve's trap and are supporting his game.

Besides, what can a Time Capsule do that a simple 3TB external drive with Carbon Copy Cloner cannot do for dirt cheap by comparison?

Wow. What a truly foolish thing to say.
Apple just revolutionized the industry with iCloud. They are about to release a major update to OS X, and they are about to release a major update to iOS. They are releasing new hardware all the time, and they about to release a new major version of the iPhone. They have the best tablet and phone on the planet.

Wow. What a truly fanboy thing to say. :rolleyes:

And Apple "sucks" because they didn't release some piece of hardware that you *IMAGINED*?

I didn't imagine anything. This is a rumor site. Someone else imagined it for me. I've been using ATV with a dedicated 24/7 server for some time (because when I got it, it was the best interface and overall solution around). But like most Apple products, there are some serious shortcomings and incompatibilities with industry standards (like UPnP and its subset, DLNA). Apple avoids standards when it finds it convenient to them to sell more crap to you. And like a good little fanboy, you slurp it right up.

And no that's not why Apple sucks. Apple sucks because it's run by a megalomaniac who thinks everything he does is magic. As someone else on here put it, when Steve takes a piss, the fanboys all get in line to bottle it, thinking it magic like everything else about Steve. :D

Cry babies. I'm literally disgusted by you.

Oh, I'm so upset. :p
 
Last edited:
it does have the appeal of "It Just Works
The reason why TC just works is because it's essentially just an external hard drive with no NAS functions. A simple USB hard drive that i plug in my computer just works as well with a fraction of the money. Why do i have to pay such a premium for a back up system that doesn't even have redundancy or any other option?
 
You can't really compare Time Capsule to a regular external hard drive for obvious reasons.

First of all Time Capsule has a built in Dual-Band router, one of very few that manages 3x3 stream wireless. Secondly using Carbon Copy or TimeMachine to and external hard drive isn't really comparable to using Time Capsule as it would do automatic backups for you WIRELESSLY instead of you having to manually go and grab your external hard drive and hook it up in order to get the job done.

If you don't see the difference between automatic wireless backup which you don't really need to worry about as it's done wirelessly without you needing to do anything for it to work. With an external hard drive you don't only have to actually attach the device upfront, but you also got the whole hassle with the hard drive needed to be connected while TimeMachine (or Carbon Copy) does the backup. Compare to Time Capsule whereas you don't really need to think about having a hard drive attached limiting your portability and everything it's quite a huge difference if you ask me.



Like you can read in this thread I'm one of those really disappointed about how little Apple did with the Time Capsule this time around so I'm by no means a Apple bloodsucker but still I understand that you can't simply compare a regular external hard drive and Time Capsule as they are quite different solutions.
 
Congratulations. You just fell into Steve's trap and are supporting his game.

Besides, what can a Time Capsule do that a simple 3TB external drive with Carbon Copy Cloner cannot do for dirt cheap by comparison?

Thanks, it's very cozy in this trap! :rolleyes: What can Time Capsule do that CCC and an external disk can't? Hmmm... maybe backup ALL of the macs on my network wirelessly, every hour, maintaining versions of all of the files I modified, so I have a choice of WHICH version to go back to, and not just the last? Oh yeah, and it takes ZERO thought or effort on my part. Once it's setup, it Just Works. Good luck doing that with your external HD and CCC!


The reason why TC just works is because it's essentially just an external hard drive with no NAS functions. A simple USB hard drive that i plug in my computer just works as well with a fraction of the money. Why do i have to pay such a premium for a back up system that doesn't even have redundancy or any other option?

Because it works wirelessly, no need to attach it to different computers, and has a router built in. If you don't need this features, don't buy it. But, I have 3 mac laptops, and cannot be bothered on connecting external harddrives to all of these every day for backups. Maybe you have a single desktop, and can always leave one attached?That failure point is far riskier than the lack of redundancy. But, in point of fact, you CAN back up your time capsule to an external drive. Do that once a month or so, and store it off site. Between that, the Time Capsule, and the copy of the data on your computer, you should have enough redundancy for 99.9% of the population.
 
The reason why TC just works is because it's essentially just an external hard drive with no NAS functions. A simple USB hard drive that i plug in my computer just works as well with a fraction of the money. Why do i have to pay such a premium for a back up system that doesn't even have redundancy or any other option?

Are you ignoring the fact that TC is also a router, sets up guest networks, supports wireless printing, etc, etc, etc?
 
You say "no improvements" ? Take that!

You say "no improvements" ? Take that!

Link to Wikipedia

a956d46ba8128994635729973a9973d9056fe370345f41ec38ac382bdbf3ae6f6g.jpg


Additional: from the above testing, I conclude that it is possible to make AEBS work in 802.11n-ONLY mode (HT40)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Test Report - Previous version
Test Report - Current version

And that is not because of six antennas: I have checked the sources above, there are still three antennas.
 
Last edited:
Are you ignoring the fact that TC is also a router, sets up guest networks, supports wireless printing, etc, etc, etc?
I am not ignoring the router part. What i am saying its crazy priced for what it offers:

Airport Extreme 139 GBP
3TB HDD: +260 GBP
 
That might actually make the 5.0GHz @ 40Hz range really, really good. I haven't seen any other 3x3 stream 5GHz router close to those numbers.

I hope this change is also included in the new Time Capsule?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.