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Time Capsule Arrives, Early Notes

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Apr 12, 2001
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Image from Engadget​
The first Time Capsules have started arriving, and some Apple Stores already have the new wireless backup solution in stock.

First impressions from Gizmodo and Engadget provide the following observations:

- New AirPort Utility software with easy to use step-by-step
- USB Drives connected to Time Capsule are available for backup
- Initial backup takes a while.
- An Apple Tech note recommends not interrupting your first backup. and notes that you can use an Ethernet connection for your initial backup.
- Can't transfer an existing Time Machine backup to Time Capsule.
- "so far it works as billed, clean and easy."

Apple has posted (PDF) the Time Capsule setup guide which provides detailed instructions on the the product's usage.

Time Capsule is a wireless backup accessory for the Mac that allows you to backup your computer's data. It was announced by Apple at Macworld San Francisco 2008 and is available in 500GB ($299) and 1TB ($499) models.

Article Link: Time Capsule Arrives, Early Notes
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/29/time-capsule-arrives-early-notes/
Hahaha how are you supposed to backup the MacBook Air then? It's got no ethernet. Good going, Steve.
 
Well I cancelled my order on the 1TB because I got sick of waiting. Hopefully this fixes the Airdisk and I will buy one. Anyone see updates on the Airport software for AEBS or is this just Time Capsule airport software that is included?

Please post once anyone confirms that the Air Disk works aside from just back up for Time Machine. Does it mount drive right away, etc?
 
MacRumors said:



- USB Drives connected to Time Capsule are available for backup


Article Link
Click to expand...

I will be interested to see what those who breakdown the parts if there is a new controller for the external drive. If not it should just be a firmware update to the old AEBS to get USB drives to work. That being said, I wouldn't put it past Apple to disable this simply to "keep the lines separate". (and make an extra buck off loyal customers)
 
The reason not to use WiFi for the ONE big transfer is that it's slower than Ethernet--especially if interrupted--but it does work.

If USB drives CAN be connected to TC (if not Airport Extreme--yet) and fully utilized for Time Machine, then it could make sense to buy the 500, wait until you NEED more, and then get 1 or 2 TB external down the road, at prices cheaper than today. (I realize that drive might not be "server grade" like the TC's is, but I haven't seen any details on what that entails.)
 
me still thinks this is waste of money....what is so difficult about plugging your External Drive onto your USB or Firewire? 500gb external USB drives cost around $120 and if 1TB ATA drive prices fall, you can just buy the drive and replace it in the external closure.

of course, that voids the warranty for external drive but i thought warranties for those external drives were useless since you can't get back what you lost during the damage anyway.

I guess if you have no airport extreme then $299 for 500GB is reasonable but noway in earth $499 for 1TB is reasonable.
 
Eidorian said:
~130 Mb/s on 802.11n is going to be painful compared to gigabit Ethernet.
Click to expand...

Much like with iPods, it's only once. After that it should only be minimal changes. So it shouldn't be too bad.

ALSO, nice to see it allows external USB drives to be used. Now we just need an update for older base stations to allow the same and we'll be all set! Sure hope that's actually coming...I'm just guessing at this point, but I know a lot of people will be quite cross if it doesn't happen.
 
Time Machine Sucks

It is backup system that eats gigabytes of drive space like a black hole. I Turned mine off after 3 weeks and went back to using SuperDuper.
 
Does anyone know the quality of the HDs included? I heard the 1TB version has a 7200 rpm, but there no info on the Apple tech specs and that speed seems like something short of "server grade" to me.
 
People are mentioning you can use it as a NAS and as a time machine drive.

I want to know if you can limit the amount of space time machine uses. IE If I were to get the 1TB drive only allow 600GB for time machine backups ....
 
I'm not quite clear on the software...

Anyone know if I could plug in 2 external drives and assign each of my 3 computers to each of the 3 back-up drives?

So MacPro -> Time Capsule internal drive
iMac -> USB Drive 1
Macbook Pro -> USB Drive 2

Would that be possible or it just going to throw everything onto the first drive until it's full?
 
I recently picked up a new AEBS to replace my dying G version. It was causing issues with Apple TV as well as my iMac connection. I toyed with the idea of ordering/waiting for the Time Capsule but the 500GB version I felt would soon be outgrown by my needs, and the 1TB version was too $$$. At $120 more for the 500GB version it seemed like an okay idea, but I didn't want to endup with a situation where I would then need a disk connected to it, and how to configure it to backup across two drives, since it isn't a true RAID.

I currently have a RAID case with 2 Seagate 750s 32MB cache, so with 1.5TB backup and 750 internal to my iMac and another 500 external, my 2 drives can be backed up by the RAID.
 
What about automatically backing up a laptop while running on battery power? So far, even if I plug my USB external in while the laptop is on battery, it won't initiate a Time Machine backup without my explicit command.

In a way, it makes perfect sense, since a backup could be corrupted if cut off mid-run by the battery going completely dead---but even so, if Time Machine won't automatically back up to Time Capsule while on battery power, it somewhat defeats the purpose of wireless automatic backup. If I have to plug in, I'm using the computer at my desk, in which case I can just as easily plug the USB drive in. But what about when I'm sitting in bed with the computer on my lap? Having to remember to check battery status and manually initiate a backup runs contrary to the philosophy of Time Machine.
 
Ugg

I've been calling my Apple Store twice a week for the past 2.5 weeks to see if they've gotten Time Capsule in....(last time I called was last night).

After seeing this post I call and they tell me that they received a shipment this morning....but already sold out of them.

Damn u Apple.
 
While it would nice to backdate the firmware to AEBS, I don't really see any reason for Apple to do it. I mean, if they do it, kudos to them for it. But it's fine by me for them to keep the products lines seperate. As evil as it sounds, they're a public company, and every bit of profit counts, can't blame them for that. Thats how it works, so eh. People bought the AEBS expecting what they got, so theres no real reason they 'have' to do it. Either way it works :D

Anyway, nice to see you can add disks to it. Surely this'll mean people'll go for the 500GB? Unless the 1TB is competively priced? Let me know peeps :)
 
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