Should I wait for a Time Capsule/Airport Express refresh?

[Ryft]

I am looking to either buy a new Airport Express or Time Capsule for my apartment's wi-fi network, but I am not sure if I should wait for a potential refresh...

Does anyone know if either of these products will be updated soon? If so do you think it will come with any new functionality that would provide reason to wait for the refresh?

Any thoughts, theories or other insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[netdog]

This is a big impulse add-on at the Apple Store when folks are buying a new Mac... especially for switchers me thinks as one of the sales pitches regarding current Macs with Leopard is Time Machine.

It has a very high profit margin and seems to sell very well (whenever I am at Regent Street, I see somebody with one in hand at the till).

Also, 1TB is sort of the top stable drive at the moment, N is the standard (for sometime to come), and while there are 10 Gbit cables and switches available, Gigabit is the practical high-end standard.

I could see a slight price drop some time (though I doubt any time in the near future), but I don't see what they would upgrade at the moment.

 

[Saladinos]

Agree with above poster. Not really much room to upgrade. They could add an ADSL modem, but Apple don't seem to like that idea much (has been missing in the Airport Express since inception IIRC). The only things they could potentially improve are the noise and power consumption. But that's looking for an upgrade - I doubt Apple have anything in the works right now.

Perhaps a price drop. That's about all I can think of.

 

[cherry su]

No; most likely to happen will be price drop or storage expansion (500->750 and 1000->1500 when 1.5TB disks are available).

 

[Le Big Mac]

No; most likely to happen will be price drop or storage expansion (500->750 and 1000->1500 when 1.5TB disks are available).

Yeah, that seems to make more sense.

I suspect that the AE will not get updated any time soon. The TC may get a larger drive at the same price point, but who knows when.

 

[Apple Ink]

It'll most likely be a price drop (only TC) some time soon!

Storage upgrades (only TC again) are quite distant since 1.5 TB disks are a bit expensive to be bought as wholesale (or whatever thats called)

Airport is nowhere near an update since I really dont see what they'll update
{N ratification can be brought about as a firmware upgrade}

 

[ohforfckssake!]

I would like a smaller, more portable Time Capsule with AirTunes streaming capability (now only available in the Express). Call it the Time Cube.

 

[Ryft]

thanks guys! i appreciate the feedback. i went ahead and bought an airport extreme and an external HD.

 

[Apple Ink]

Which xHDD did you buy? Is the setup working as you expected?

 

[Ryft]

yeah, everything is working as expected and i ended up getting a western digital 500gb 7200rpm xHDD w/ firewire 400/800 and USB 2.0.