If I ask you to mentally picture a router right now, you’re probably thinking of the one the carrier put in your house or at most some of the additional mesh networking solutions that some manufacturers offer you. .
But if you’re of a certain age, you might remember that Apple had its own routers, or rather: its own Wi-Fi access points. AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express, and AirPort Time Capsuleand they presented an integrated solution that some not too expert users miss.
From introducing the first Wi-Fi networks to supporting whole-home backups
The first time we saw an AirPort product was in 1999, at an event you can see in the video above if you make an effort to adjust to the low quality of the era. Steve Jobs tossed it next to an iBook and demonstrated its wireless capabilities by hula-hooping around the laptop: 24 years ago, wireless internet browsing seemed like magic.
The first Airport station included a 56K modem and two network ports, as well as the possibility of generating a Wi-Fi network. It was very rudimentary, but it already allowed us to see what would be normal years later.
Over the years, the product has been improved and extended to offer three aspects: a simple Wi-Fi access point with AirPort Express, a more powerful and complete access point with AirPort Extreme and finally a powerful access point Integrating a hard drive with the AirPort Time Capsule. . This last solution was ideal for a household with several Macs, because via Wi-Fi it could take care of make Time Machine copies of all the computers in the house.
Here’s what the latest generations of airPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule looked like. The latter incorporates an internal hard drive, placed vertically and diagonally to save space.
But one day, suddenly and without prior clues to suggest it, Apple decided to stop selling the AirPort line of products in the spring of 2018. other brands. like Linksys. I myself have a mesh Wi-Fi network at the moment maintained by one of these solutions, the Velop. The bad news is that no manufacturer has dared to replicate the idea of an integrated hard drive.
Although having seen several rumors of a possible resuscitation of the AirPort, it does not appear that Apple is in the process of doing so. And they failed because they had some key advantages such as ease of setup over other routers on the market. Everything could be adjusted to what we wanted through the AirPort Utility appwhich is still present in the App Store for anyone who continues to use one.
There are still users who use AirPort products, but Time Capsule hard drives no longer work as they should and I don’t recommend trusting them.
Because yes, there are still users who continue to use these routers to be able to deploy their networks. I verify this myself with my customers, and in fact the recommendation I give them is to be prepared: the disks of the AirPort Time Capsule are already many years old, and those that still work do so very slowly. If you use one of these disks to make your Time Machine copies, I advise you to check if the copies still end correctly because they can’t anymore.
Except for those brave few who continue to use their devices, the AirPort family officially died fifteen years ago and are unlikely to return. The market for selling wireless access points is very saturated and it would be very difficult to justify selling more expensive alternatives with the bitten apple logo.
And it’s not that Apple doesn’t want to keep up with new connectivity technologies: Matter and Thread are already built into accessories like the Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini. In Cupertino, they decided to accept the new standards and ensure that their devices work with them at the highest possible speeds. Next stop: Wi-Fi 7.
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