Discontinued AirPort Extreme and 2TB Time Capsule Finally Disappear From Apple Online Store

[MultiMan]

Why are they ending this popular product?
Don't Apple enjoy making money?

They can make even more money in other areas and that's what counts for the quarterly earnings focused company that Apple has become, imho. Apple has been "courageous" the last couple of years removing all sorts of stuff, ending popular lines of products, removing ports and so on. All in the name of maximizing profits (selling extra dongles, lowering the cost of manufacture for existing devices), and of course, trying to reach a design goal of absolute minimalism and finally nothingness.

A quote from Lao Tzu (I believe) comes to mind:

"In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone."

 

[mtbdudex]

The AirPort stuff just isn't keeping up with the feature sets of other devices. Got a Ubiquity https://amplifi.com setup and it was as easy or maybe easier to setup than the old AirPort

I was advised to use this setup

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

I can only recommend Ubiquiti equipment. Most of it is geared towards enterprise WiFi, but that's exactly the reason why it works so well. Since I moved to an AP-AC-PRO I never had any WiFi issues. Also, it can handle 50+ clients without problems, while many home access points struggle with 15+, which is insufficient when used by a family.
The setup provided above is the Unifi Enterprise Solution, which is good if you want to tweak the network. You'll only get the full potental of Unifi (network monitoring, statistics) when installing the controller or use a cloud key. For more basic requirements I'd take a look at the Ubiquiti Amplifi router which is more a standalone solution.

R.I.P., best (most stable) routers on the planet...

Stable: yes. Best: Not even remotely. They were very basic routers...

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Well, any MESH system has at least the POTENTIAL to mop the floor with a single-source Router, and if the reliability, range, configurability, security, and STABILITY are there, then it COULD give the Apple Routers a run for the money.

It DID make SmallNetBuilder's Top 10 MESH Router Systems of 2018; but there are others that maybe even look better (at least on paper) :

https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-home-wi...MIy6i8sb3a3gIVu__jBx24lgDTEAAYASAAEgITffD_BwE

Although I DO feel it my duty to point out that Apple Routers CLEAR BACK TO THE FLYING SAUCER have supported "Mesh" Networking! Yes, that's right: Multiple Airport Routers have ALWAYS been able to provide a kind of "cellular" WiFi network over however-many "hops", with (theoretically) seamless hand-offs as you roam around inside the coverage-area...

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202056

Mesh and extenders are 2 different things. Extenders use the same frequency as every thing else while Mesh will have a dedicated signal to talk to the main router and mesh points.

 

[JungleNYC]

Such a terrible business and brand decision. Wow.

 

[flygbuss]

Just set up my old cMP running 10.11.6 I'm using as multi media player connected to a 4k TV as my Time Machine Server.
Since El Capitan doesn't support Time Machine within the Sharing System Preferences pane, I installed macOS Server from the App Store. (If you haven't bought it already you need to buy it on a device running a newer macOS otherwise you can't purchase nor download it. If you've purchased it earlier or elsewhere you can download it. You'll just get the message that you won't get the latest version, which is good in that case)
I put a 4TB WD Red spinner in an empty drive bay, encrypted it with disk utility and set it up as the Time Machine drive with the server app.
Now my other macOS devices running High Sierra and Mojave backing up to that disk automatically.
If you've encrypted the backup drive make sure to encrypt your Time Machine backup as well, or if you didn't, don't encrypt the back up. Otherwise the back up will take forever because of de- or encrypting.
Works like a charm and I don't need any additional hard ware. I thought about buying a time capsule before but now I'm glad I don't have an additional device sitting around in the living room catching dust.
+ If I need the data fast, I can just pull out the drive and connect it with a USB 3 adapter.
If you're on a later OS you won't need the server app, just share the drive within the Sharing Pref Pane, right click the shared drive / folder, click 'Advanced Options' and 'Share as a Time Machine backup destination'

 

[davebquinn]

Excuse my ignorance, and for asking what might not be a relevant question but I’m looking for an alternative to the airport expresses I have in my home at the moment. I’ve got an Ethernet network in my house and two expresses that are connected in my office and kitchen to giveg me WiFi in rooms where the router doesn’t reach. They’re too unstable now, my wife wants something that doesn’t need restarting in the office.

Is there anything out there that will do the job with no fuss?

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Excuse my ignorance, and for asking what might not be a relevant question but I’m looking for an alternative to the airport expresses I have in my home at the moment. I’ve got an Ethernet network in my house and two expresses that are connected in my office and kitchen to giveg me WiFi in rooms where the router doesn’t reach. They’re too unstable now, my wife wants something that doesn’t need restarting in the office.

Is there anything out there that will do the job with no fuss?

If you need eithernet, Orbi is pretty good. I used that for a while and it works nice.

 

[ignatius345]

Forget iCloud and time machine. All you need is a big hard drive (or SSD in my case) and Carbon Copy Cloner or some other good backup tool

OK. I use iCloud Drive to keep files in sync across several Macs and iOS devices, so how exactly would Carbon Copy Cloner help with that? Should I carry my backup drive to each device and hook it up somehow? Interested to hear how CCC would replace it.

along with a little bit of discipline to run a backup every once in a while

Not sure where this jihad against Time Machine comes from. You plug it in, set it and forget it. You get hourly versions of any file you're working on and the ability to restore your entire system from the recovery partition. And you don't need any "discipline" (aka: time and effort) to use it. Just as advertised, it's an instant solution to backup that anybody can use easily.

Carbon Copy Cloner is a great tool too. I've been using it for probably 10 years now, since back when it was shareware and back before Time Machine existed. I've used it to clone drives to migrate to new machines (back when you could pop out the drive on an iBook in 2 minutes), made bootable backups, all kinds of fun stuff. These days I use it to maintain offsite, encrypted backups of about 4TB of data I own. It's awesome, but it's also not the same feature set as Time Machine -- and it's also nowhere as easy to set up or recover files from. Different tools, different feature sets, different uses.

 

[MrGuder]

Get the refurbished. Exact same as new and covered under same warranty.

Right. My time capsule was a refurbished from Apple and it’s still going strong 3 yrs later. A couple months ago I bought the AirPort Extreme from Target on sale for 79.00 plus I had a gift card. It works great to extend my WiFi. These work great on Apple devices. I’ve never had any issues with them.

 

[ignatius345]

So I keep getting prompted to back up my computer via Time Machine but Apple no longer sells a product that I can use to do back ups?

Wirelessly, yeah, I think? Someone in this discussion was saying they were able to connect a drive to some kind of non-Apple wireless router and back up to it as they would a Time Capsule. Might be worth looking into.

If you're ok with backing up via USB, you can of course absolutely still plug in a drive and let TM do its thing. You'd be overpaying at the Apple Store, though. You can find a reliable external 1TB drive for like $50 these days on sale.
[doublepost=1542473849][/doublepost]

Seems like those decrying the end of Apples airport line haven’t taken a good look at the many awesome alternatives that are out there now

I don't think the issue is so much that Apple is discontinuing the current line of AirPort devices. While reliable and great in their time, un-updated old routers are bound to go away at some point, after all.

What people are decrying is the fact that Apple isn't updating and developing an AirPort line anymore. They made great routers at one time, and then decided to walk away instead of making the next generations.

 

[Elijen]

Time Capsule and Time Machine functionality was honestly the first thing that made me say "wow!" after my colleague was showing me his Mac Pro (that was before OS X Lion or something like that). I am quite sad that Apple is abandoning stuff that made their products special.

 

[flygbuss]

Time Capsule and Time Machine functionality was honestly the first thing that made me say "wow!" after my colleague was showing me his Mac Pro (that was before OS X Lion or something like that). I am quite sad that Apple is abandoning stuff that made their products special.

It's not that they are abandoning Time Machine, they just stopped selling the hardware.
Just get another Hard Drive or Router. There are plenty of compatible devices out there. Or just buy a used Time Capsule on ebay..

 

[BigBoy2018]

Wirelessly, yeah, I think? Someone in this discussion was saying they were able to connect a drive to some kind of non-Apple wireless router and back up to it as they would a Time Capsule. Might be worth looking into.

If you're ok with backing up via USB, you can of course absolutely still plug in a drive and let TM do its thing. You'd be overpaying at the Apple Store, though. You can find a reliable external 1TB drive for like $50 these days on sale.
[doublepost=1542473849][/doublepost]

I don't think the issue is so much that Apple is discontinuing the current line of AirPort devices. While reliable and great in their time, un-updated old routers are bound to go away at some point, after all.

What people are decrying is the fact that Apple isn't updating and developing an AirPort line anymore. They made great routers at one time, and then decided to walk away instead of making the next generations.

But thats where I say why care, since I doubt Apple would have released anything better than my Orbi.

I’m actually glad Apple got out of the router business since before, I was so myopic and ‘only Apple’ in my attitude that I never bothered to serriously look at any of the alternatives.
Once I did, my eyes opened to how my Apple-centric thinking had shut me out of so many great alternatives!

 

[ignatius345]

But thats where I say why care, since I doubt Apple would have released anything better than my Orbi.

I’m actually glad Apple got out of the router business since before, I was so myopic and ‘only Apple’ in my attitude that I never bothered to serriously look at any of the alternatives.
Once I did, my eyes opened to how my Apple-centric thinking had shut me out of so many great alternatives!

That's great, but you can also see that other people have other preferences. Whether or not Apple would ever have matched the system you use, who knows -- but some like to keep their setup all-Apple (myopic or not) because of ease of interoperabilty, ease of service, it being a long-lived and trusted brand, etc. Nobody's saying other kinds of wifi routers shouldn't exist, just that they wish Apple was still in that space.

 

[brinary001]

"Apple's AirPort base stations provided some unique benefits that are not available through third-party options like built-in Time Machine backup support in the Time Capsule"

My Asus Wi-Fi router actually supports remote time machine to a hard drive plugged into it.

Yeah I think my Netgear Nighthawk router does as well, though I'm yet to set it up because I regularly dock my MacBook Pro which is directly connected to my TM hard drive.

 

[jazz1]

This product was truly a 'it just works' device.
I had both, the flat one and vertical one. They were stable, fast and with great range. I have replaced mine with 2 Netgear Orbi's RBK50 (Base + Satellite) and have to admit, they blow any Airport out of the water. If you planning to replace your airport, these are not cheap but highly recommend devices. You will have greater stability, incredible long range with minimal drop in speed. If you love Apple design, the Orbi will please you with his minimal and high quality finish.

I own the same after using Apple Wifi devices for years. I found the Orbi worth the expense. The app on my iPhone and iPad works well. I've only seen one firmware update. The only thing I don't like is the power supply shape on the satellite. It is heavy, and oblong sticking out horizontally (I assume to preserve a second outlet. My dog keep hitting at it chasing squirrels at the window. Bad dog knocking out my Wifi

 

[SkippyThorson]

This day has been coming for a while. One day, Apple may see another area of technology that needs fixing and step in. But until then, routers is not that area.

That's a really, REALLY interesting way of looking at it - and I completely agree!

 

[jazz1]

That's a really, REALLY interesting way of looking at it - and I completely agree!

I have to admit I was really nervous to leave the Apple Wifi device world. I've stated previously I had the first and second Wifi "Saucers". But having a mishmash of Apple Wifi devices used to extend my network throughout the house and deck was not really working. If Apple comes back with a "mesh" network I'm in. But until then the Orbi is going to have a home with me.

I do have to state that it was my belief that Apple would continue to cover my "tech universe". Thank you for CarPlay BTW!

Maybe I should look at it in a different way. Apple isn't my Internet provider, for example. So, Apple leaving the the Wifi device world simply means I have to adjust. Just ask me about my Newton
Kind of hard to leave the Apple crib for Wifi networking after so many years of fantastic and innovative products. Is Apple perfect? Of course not. Roll on brothers!

 

[Lone Deranger]

Guess I'll have to take my business somewhere else when my TimeCapsule needs replacing.
Silver lining: it is a very effective way to free oneself from the overpriced confines of the Apple walled garden.
Oh well, that's less money for you, Timmy!

 

[jazz1]

Guess I'll have to take my business somewhere else when my TimeCapsule needs replacing.
Silver lining: it is a very effective way to free oneself from the overpriced confines of the Apple walled garden.
Oh well, that's less money for you, Timmy!

Curious, are you backing up more than one device?

 

[Lone Deranger]

Curious, are you backing up more than one device?

To the TimeCapsule? Just one currently. But I do wish to add additional devices in the future, should they find their way into my household.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Guess I'll have to take my business somewhere else when my TimeCapsule needs replacing.
Silver lining: it is a very effective way to free oneself from the overpriced confines of the Apple walled garden.
Oh well, that's less money for you, Timmy!

It’s just a router with a hard drive. You can do this set up with way better routers and way bigger hard drives. I seriously don’t get this at all. I like macOS, I buy Apple because of macOS and iOS, a router they made was a bonus at the time. When I got the Amplifi set up, it was actually easier to set up than any Apple router. And works way better too.

 

[jazz1]

To the TimeCapsule? Just one currently. But I do wish to add additional devices in the future, should they find their way into my household.

I've got different local backup hard drives to my two iMacs. So I can see that a network HD would be beneficial. I probably should go the say route.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

This has probably been answered already but one of my main reasons for using the AirPort Extreme is the benefit of being able to attach an external HD to it and use it as a poor-man's NAS, are there other routers that allow this nowadays?