Apple's Discontinued Line of AirPort Wi-Fi Routers Could Return in an Unexpected Way

[Maven1975]

Don’t know.. something seems fishy. Apple has really drug their feet with HomeKit. It’s gonna take more than a few new devices to make me a believer again.

Went with UniFi/Ubiquiti after making more excuses than I could count for HomeKit. (Like years) - Still not perfect as UniFi has their own set of issues.

I do hope Apple turns the ship around.

Currently rely on UniFi for networking and cameras. Everything else, and it’s a ton, still work and are connected with HomeKit.

(Don’t want to run HB, HA, Scrypted, Etc)

 

[groovyf]

Still rocking mine with 2TB.

Yep, same here. Solid as a rock.

 

[poematik13]

Sadly, I had to give mine up. IIRC the transfer speeds you can enjoy are up to 10 MB/s!

Its 25MB haha. I’ve spent many hours restoring systems from a time capsule. Takes all afternoon.

 

[amaze1499]

Time Capsule provided a complete backup solution that was simple to use with Time Machine, including the local backups of the mobile devices. iCloud only provides a complete backup solution for mobile devices, excluding MacBooks. Macs only have certain data synced automatically to iCloud. iCloud Drive only automatically syncs the Desktop and Documents folders. To my knowledge, there is no way to do a Time Machine backup to iCloud. That might be a possibility in the future, but as it is right now, iCloud not a competing solution.

Yet…

 

[mcnallym]

I doubt Apple is going this route. The general public ain't interested in a device that does all the mentioned tasks.

And certainly not at he sort of markup Apple would want.

 

[janwerbinski]

There is no point for Apple to make and promote it's own NAS solutions. It would kill profits from iCloud.

 

[lexvo]

We're still using a final-gen Airport Extreme.

I don't really get the Time Capsule, though. You can hook an external drive to the Airport Extreme and get the same functionality - but in upgradable form.

If I remember correctly, older versions of the AirPort Extreme didn’t support an external drive.

 

[guci0]

Please, I'm in o Express still – w8 for new release. And Studio Display #2 😁

 

[Ted13]

Dear Apple, please return the AirPort Time Capsule (with up to 16TB to backup all your Apple devices) and the AirPort Express allowing you to synch AirPlay with any receiver other audio input device.

I am still using my3TB AirPort TimeCapsule but have 8 TB of storage on my MacBook Pro, that needs a proper backup. And I have had to buy a used AirPort Express. Would love to have them upgraded to WiFi 7 and with Apple support.

 

[SkydiveGuy]

I never understood why they didnt just make the home pod with a full wi-fi router built in.

 

[MacGizmo]

I've had $60 routers that lasted longer than the three Airport TimeCapsule devices I went through before giving up on them.

I loved the ease of setup of the Airport devices at the time, but quite frankly the eero routers are even easier to set up and configure, and have lasted MUCH longer. And SSD storage drives are cheap (and easy to plug-in), so I really see no need or market for Apple here.

Now as a simple mesh network, yeah, I think Apple should turn the AppleTV and HomePod line into wireless router/access points. I've often wondered why they didn't at the very beginning.

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

Yes please! I love the Apple ecosystem and the “it just works” user experience. Bring back Time Capsule backups and I’ll pay a pretty penny.

My Eero just works.

 

[jz0309]

The time capsule (I think that’s the name of the router with built in harddrive?) was the most unreliable router I ever owned.

 

[MacCurry]

Yes please.

After using Airport routers for nearly 10 years, I tried routers from different manufacturers. They worked initially, but after 6-9 months, some issues would develop even after updating firmware, they became unreliable. Even mesh routers didn't stay stable for me. Finally, I setup a mesh network in my 3500 sq.ft. house using 5 individual ASUS routers in a combination of multiple wired ports and Wi-Fi.

What was easy-peasy became a pain to manage unless I simply spent considerably more and went to a commercial solution of fully configurable Ubiquity routers and access points.

 

[MacCurry]

I've had $60 routers that lasted longer than the three Airport TimeCapsule devices I went through before giving up on them.

I loved the ease of setup of the Airport devices at the time, but quite frankly the eero routers are even easier to set up and configure, and have lasted MUCH longer. And SSD storage drives are cheap (and easy to plug-in), so I really see no need or market for Apple here.

Now as a simple mesh network, yeah, I think Apple should turn the AppleTV and HomePod line into wireless router/access points. I've often wondered why they didn't at the very beginning.

AppleTV needs to output true high resolution audio output at 48-bit/192 KHz & make it a repository for movies & TV shows at Ultra HD more than anything else.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

If a customer is running fiber, I don't think they'd be using an AppleTV as a wireless access point!
Those are two completely different customer bases.

Fiber customer here who exclusively uses an Apple TV for media. I'm just one data point, but methinks you are very much wrong here.

 

[Howard2k]

I think it was a huge mistake for Apple to get out of making Wireless Routers, a huge mistake! I really wish Apple would get back into this business and offer a secure, and local way to store and sync all of my Data without needing to rely on iCloud/Online backups. Recent changes in the UK regarding Advanced Date Protection have me somewhat nervous, not because I’m a criminal or engaged in illegal activity, but because I care about being able to have privacy. That being said, I do think it’s sad how much privacy all of us have willingly given up so we can search for things on Google, use Facebook, check the weather, and just use a smartphone in general. I do appreciate the fact that as far as we know, Apple has not wanted to solely rely on their customer’s Data to turn a profit. Apple exploring getting into advertising more and more though has me worried that Apple is going to break the verbal contract they’ve made with their customers, and that is that their devices are their products, not their customers.

Did you have ADP enabled?

 

[Howard2k]

If a customer is running fiber, I don't think they'd be using an AppleTV as a wireless access point!
Those are two completely different customer bases.

No that’s not true. Fibre is a primary internet access is many areas as the telcos are reclaiming copper and replacing with GPON.

 

[hoodlum90]

I am glad that I waited to for the next AppleTV update. It looks like the Apple WiFi/Blue-tooth chip will provide some additional functionality and could be the demarcation point for future updates to both AI and WiFi capabilities for the Apple TV device. I hope they release a version this year with the Ethernet port.

 

[iDaniel88]

Fiber customer here who exclusively uses an Apple TV for media. I'm just one data point, but methinks you are very much wrong here.

Me too.

 

[FlyingDutch]

My home network was based on AirPort Extreme and a couple of AirPort Express at the time. It was very reliable.
I’m using a Fritz! setup right now, which is good but I’ll be very interested in a new Airport solution

 

[agmfan3]

I still have a old Apple airport, works just fine.

 

[golfnut1982]

Yep, same here. Solid as a rock.

Me too. I have a second one as a backup. After seeing this article, I was wondering if I should sell it? But I probably won't.

 

[Tagbert]

There is no point for Apple to make and promote it's own NAS solutions. It would kill profits from iCloud.

iCloud is not backup. It is file syncing. Not the same thing. Delete a file on your device and it deletes in iCloud.

 

[tennisproha]

I'd hazard a guess that this is all a deep misunderstanding or click bait from Gurman. I think two separate things are being conflated, mainly thread edge routing vs a typical WLAN router.

I agree that would be nice, but I wonder if people would break them? Maybe Apple could make an SFP dac connector out of a single billet of aluminum with the typical care they employ with that sort of stuff?

If we're tossing out dream scenarios I want an airport with LACP, 10Gb uplinks, 128Gbp switching capacity, at least a gig of RAM and at least a quad core CPU. For the cherry on top a generous packet buffer size.

Give me 2xSFP+ ports, 6xmulti-gig Ethernet (1/2.5/10Gbps) and 300 watts of PoE

I mean I'd be happy with a 10G sfp+ and if they build on their previous Airports with more up to date standards and security.

I think the argument Gruman is making is they now have the tech to make an all-in-on home hub that doubles as a router (both wifi and thread).

I however don't think it'll happen as an all-in-one device mainly because placement would be an issue for most homes. Where you want your Apple TV is likely not where people have their wireless access points. But every home is different, and I have the ability to modify my terminations to make it happen.

It would make more sense for Apple to do strictly well equipped networking Airport router that houses wifi and thread; and then do a separate Apple TV with HomePod combo imo.