To me, it's actually exciting that Apple is axing products left and right. It means that they're needing the resources to focus on something that is truly worth killing these products for. Also, goes against the notion that Apple's primary focus is simpy making money, and being money hungry. This is a company that can make an extra few billion by slapping their logo on products like routers and displays, but they chose not to because they don't feel the need to remain in every market if they aren't making a highly differentiated product than everyone else.
Ha ha, why assume that Apple is axing product lines to focus on other projects? We see what rules the post-Steve Jobs Apple: profit margins and end consumer products (and celebrity designer PR). There's zero evidence to support the notion that the displays and Airports are discontinued to put focus on other products but Apple's last three+ years is evidence that they're doing this to cut spending on product development to increase profits.
Apple is going to ride their bubble till it bursts and then the executives will float off on golden parachutes, suffering zero consequences for wrecking an historically important part of the computer industry for the stupidity of the Wall Street mindset.
There IS evidence that Apple can't get hold of enough oxide-backed large screens yet to offer their own monitors. But you have to use your head to see that evidence.
Routers won't be missed - other companies refresh theirs every few months with latest tech/antennae/protocols, etc. They are the behind the scenes 'plumbing' that no ones really pays attention to and rarely replace - most customers use what their cable company provides. I must imagine the support alone for these products must be a costly headache.
However, nixing monitors is a mistake - doesn't Apple want their logo on the product users stare at all day long!? Aesthetically, I want a like-colored Apple monitor next to my iMac or MacBook Pro not a black LG or (gasp) Dell or Samsung branded monitor. This is common sense! Just stick the LG panel in a nice Apple designed bevel, tweak it a bit for better calibration and overcharge us loyal customers - why would they get rid of that?
Because oxide-film technology is so new and so dicey that LG can't supply enough to Apple to customize them?
I have to challenge a premise here. This article includes a link to a previous article from May '16 and saying that Airport Extreme and Time Capsule have been pulled from stores. Yet, when I go to the Apple website, pull up those products and then use the 'check availability' function, both products appear to be in stock and available at Apple stores all over the US.
I haven't gone to my local store to physically check, but it sure appears that both products are still widely available. I have some vague recollection of routers being pulled back then to address some sort of standards or security issue, but they appear to be back.
With one premise of this article being wrong, I have to wonder about the veracity of the other. It could be true, but with it being based on a single article sourced from "unnamed" individuals and "no comment" from Apple, I think I'd wait for more reliable information before getting too worked up about it.
To me, this comes back to Apple’s ethos of saying no to a thousand things and saying yes to a few.
While many of us on here love Apple products like this for their simplicity, it's also not the stuff that will continue to make Apple culturally significant in the years to come. Printers, displays, wireless routers—they're all needed. But they’re just not spaces where Apple can make a leading difference anymore. Companies like Eero and AmpliFi make better mesh networks than AirPort can.
And these types of decisions will continue to lead to product sunsets. Even ones we really love.
I find this disappointing because I have an integrated Apple ecosystem at home, with several Airport Express Access Points doing airplay to speakers, and an Airport Extreme as a Time Machine/File Sharing solution. As Apple keeps making a mess of products like iTunes and discontinuing products I like, it gives me less incentive to stick with them. Why should I continue to invest in AppleTV? They are likely to kill that niche product next. The configuration of an Airport is far easier than that of cheaper access points, and worth the extra money.
Seriously. The current products are available online and in stores. 802.11ax is several years away from adoption. For the time being, there's not a lot to develop for these routers. Time Capsule could get an update with USB-C connectors, but that's about it. Maybe they could sell one with a 6 TB drive soon. Replacing hard drives with SSD seems unlikely, as SSD is more expensive, and when one of those dies, there's not much hope of recovering data, which would be ugly for a backup drive.
Pulling engineers from a product that's o.k. as-is for now does not equal abandonment of the product line. It means they're fine as they are for now. I predict they'll keep making and selling the things and re-visit staffing for further development in a year or two.
When 802.11ax and 5G become actual things, Apple will move people onto this project. There is no point having experts sitting around not working on a product so they may as well be improving future products. These people haven't been fired.
This makes more sense. 11ax isn't even close to being ratified, there really isn't anything more you can do to improve on the devices, so why have the team working on that. I think this is a whole lot of hoopla over nothing people. No one got fired, they are just working on something different right now, probably all dealing with networking technologies while we wait for 11ax to come close to ratification.
Also, bear in mind, there is a whole lot of people who like using that ecosystem for their networking because it "just works". From Macs, to Phones, to Pads, and TVs; their system just works. Also, people do use AirPlay a whole lot, unless that has become open sourced, they will not get out of the networking business for that reason alone.
One hundred posts to get a rational comment. Actually there were a couple of others, but they did not contain the term "bean counter."
I can't believe how overwhelmed emotional people have allowed themselves to become.
Although the comment is rational, there is a lot more to do then just new hardware. When a router is involved, security is paramount. Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker.
As for people becoming emotional. You got that right but the part that you got wrong is the "have allowed themselves" part. Apple has caused this culture change from us long time loyalist praising and promoting their products to frustration and anger. Killing off products for no other reason than profit margins is the beginning of the end for Apple. The reason Apple is successful is because of the entire ecosystem being simple and easy to use. Some people are wiling to pay more just not to have problems. Although, Monitors, Airports, Mac Mini's, Mac Pro's, 17" macbooks are not big money makers directly, they allow the ecosystem to thrive and keep the entire experience in Apple's control. By taking these things away, you introduce new variables and potential for problems. If people have to deal with these problems anyways, why would they pay more for Apple.
I know our company, buys MacBooks, iPads, iPhones because they work seamlessly with our Mac mini servers and Mac Pro work stations (and airport extreme). Take our Mac Pro's and mini's away and the rest goes too. The problem is that Apple management is too high on themselves to listen to the anger and frustration that continues to grow louder and louder. Mac Pros are over a thousand days old for pete sake and there is absolutely no communication of what's going on.
When the one trick iPhone pony comes to an end, that will be the only time Tim and company will listen. The problem with that is that it will be too late. Apple is squandering away what any company would kill to have, and those are the true loyal evangelists that helped make this company what it is.
When 802.11ax and 5G become actual things, Apple will move people onto this project. There is no point having experts sitting around not working on a product so they may as well be improving future products. These people haven't been fired.
This makes more sense. 11ax isn't even close to being ratified, there really isn't anything more you can do to improve on the devices, so why have the team working on that. I think this is a whole lot of hoopla over nothing people. No one got fired, they are just working on something different right now, probably all dealing with networking technologies while we wait for 11ax to come close to ratification.
Also, bear in mind, there is a whole lot of people who like using that ecosystem for their networking because it "just works". From Macs, to Phones, to Pads, and TVs; their system just works. Also, people do use AirPlay a whole lot, unless that has become open sourced, they will not get out of the networking business for that reason alone.
One hundred posts to get a rational comment. Actually there were a couple of others, but they did not contain the term "bean counter."
I can't believe how overwhelmed emotional people have allowed themselves to become.
Although the comment is rational, there is a lot more to do then just new hardware. When a router is involved, security is paramount. Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker.
As for people becoming emotional. You got that right but the part that you got wrong is the "have allowed themselves" part. Apple has caused this culture change from us long time loyalist praising and promoting their products to frustration and anger. Killing off products for no other reason than profit margins is the beginning of the end for Apple. The reason Apple is successful is because of the entire ecosystem being simple and easy to use. Some people are wiling to pay more just not to have problems. Although, Monitors, Airports, Mac Mini's, Mac Pro's, 17" macbooks are not big money makers directly, they allow the ecosystem to thrive and keep the entire experience in Apple's control. By taking these things away, you introduce new variables and potential for problems. If people have to deal with these problems anyways, why would they pay more for Apple.
I know our company, buys MacBooks, iPads, iPhones because they work seamlessly with our Mac mini servers and Mac Pro work stations (and airport extreme). Take our Mac Pro's and mini's away and the rest goes too. The problem is that Apple management is too high on themselves to listen to the anger and frustration that continues to grow louder and louder. Mac Pros are over a thousand days old for pete sake and there is absolutely no communication of what's going on.
When the one trick iPhone pony comes to an end, that will be the only time Tim and company will listen. The problem with that is that it will be too late. Apple is squandering away what any company would kill to have, and those are the true loyal evangelists that helped make this company what it is.
"Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker."
You don't actually know that, do you? There is one article, based on unnamed sources, and even that really only says "...the company isn’t currently pushing forward with new versions of its routers." You don't need a huge team of engineers to write router firmware or software updates for security patches. As it is, those seem to roll out only once or twice a year, at most. I think they're just standing pat until there's a reason to do something more dramatic with the product line. That's a lot different than abandoning it.
Let's assume that the future of home and SMB Wi-Fi is a wireless mesh network.
Given that, new Macs, iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs, etc. will have more powerful (or dual) WiFi/Cell radios -- so that each device is a full node on the mesh network -- with the ability to navigate/route/send/receive to other nodes on the network.
In that way, each device added to the mesh network would enhance the network (accessibility, speed, reliability, etc.) rather than detract from it.
Wireless mesh networks were originally developed for military applications. Mesh networks are typically wireless.[citation needed] Over the past decade,[when?] the size, cost, and power requirements of radios has declined, enabling multiple radios to be contained within a single mesh node, thus allowing for greater modularity; each can handle multiple frequency bands and support a variety of functions as needed—such as client access, backhaul service, and scanning (required for high-speed handoff in mobile applications)—even customized sets of them.[clarification needed]
Work in this field has been aided by the use of game theory methods to analyze strategies for the allocation of resources and routing of packets.[6][7][8]
Early wireless mesh networks all use nodes that have a single half-duplex radio that, at any one instant, can either transmit or receive, but not both at the same time. This requires a shared mesh configuration.
Some later wireless mesh networks use nodes with more complex radio hardware that can receive packets from an upstream node and transmit packets to a downstream node simultaneously (on a different frequency or a different CDMA channel), which is a prerequisite for a switched mesh configuration.
So, it is possible that Apple axing the Router Division and assigning engineers to other, more lucrative projects is the natural manifestation of technology advances.
It could be the use of Intel modems (with lots of Apple design participation) in iPhone 7 devices is the first visible step in that direction.
Well as they merge them It would be great if someone made a 5 x 2.5inch raid that matched the AppleTV. Even better if that someone was Apple and it work as a local iCloud backup.
Edit: then realised Apple File System. If Time machine is going to work with that makes sense to bring them into the iOS family.
When 802.11ax and 5G become actual things, Apple will move people onto this project. There is no point having experts sitting around not working on a product so they may as well be improving future products. These people haven't been fired.
This makes more sense. 11ax isn't even close to being ratified, there really isn't anything more you can do to improve on the devices, so why have the team working on that. I think this is a whole lot of hoopla over nothing people. No one got fired, they are just working on something different right now, probably all dealing with networking technologies while we wait for 11ax to come close to ratification.
Also, bear in mind, there is a whole lot of people who like using that ecosystem for their networking because it "just works". From Macs, to Phones, to Pads, and TVs; their system just works. Also, people do use AirPlay a whole lot, unless that has become open sourced, they will not get out of the networking business for that reason alone.
One hundred posts to get a rational comment. Actually there were a couple of others, but they did not contain the term "bean counter."
I can't believe how overwhelmed emotional people have allowed themselves to become.
Although the comment is rational, there is a lot more to do then just new hardware. When a router is involved, security is paramount. Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker.
As for people becoming emotional. You got that right but the part that you got wrong is the "have allowed themselves" part. Apple has caused this culture change from us long time loyalist praising and promoting their products to frustration and anger. Killing off products for no other reason than profit margins is the beginning of the end for Apple. The reason Apple is successful is because of the entire ecosystem being simple and easy to use. Some people are wiling to pay more just not to have problems. Although, Monitors, Airports, Mac Mini's, Mac Pro's, 17" macbooks are not big money makers directly, they allow the ecosystem to thrive and keep the entire experience in Apple's control. By taking these things away, you introduce new variables and potential for problems. If people have to deal with these problems anyways, why would they pay more for Apple.
I know our company, buys MacBooks, iPads, iPhones because they work seamlessly with our Mac mini servers and Mac Pro work stations (and airport extreme). Take our Mac Pro's and mini's away and the rest goes too. The problem is that Apple management is too high on themselves to listen to the anger and frustration that continues to grow louder and louder. Mac Pros are over a thousand days old for pete sake and there is absolutely no communication of what's going on.
When the one trick iPhone pony comes to an end, that will be the only time Tim and company will listen. The problem with that is that it will be too late. Apple is squandering away what any company would kill to have, and those are the true loyal evangelists that helped make this company what it is.
"Killing off products for no other reason than profit margins is the beginning of the end for Apple."
Unless you have insight into Apple's product roadmap, this is just an assumption. If they fired / laid off the entire wireless technologies team then I would be more inclined to agree but Apple didn't do that. They've been assigned to other projects. So it's quite likely Apple has something else up their sleeve.
This story is what's wrong with newsmedia in the current age. One article, -based on an unnamed source- gets written, and this site, macrumors, and apparently dozens of other tech sites are now screaming from the hills that Apple is abandoning WiFi routers!
I think the story is fundamentally incorrect, and I predict a statement in the near future from Apple that says something to the effect that "Apple is not abandoning its AirPort and Time Capsule product lines. We will continue to manufacture, sell, and support these products for the foreseeable future. Apple's customers can rest assured that they can continue to enjoy these reliable and simple to use wireless networking products."
In this case, other than people briefly getting their drawers in a wad over false, or at best incorrectly interpreted (and anonymously sourced), information about internal staffing decisions at a private company, this really isn't that important. When Apple corrects the record, people will shrug and say, "oh, well never mind, then." They'll move on and forget all about it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of far more important things that people read, share, and react to based on scant or dubious information, and much more important decisions get made that will affect real people's lives in significant ways. We as human beings have got to learn to be better than that.
"Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker."
You don't actually know that, do you? There is one article, based on unnamed sources, and even that really only says "...the company isn’t currently pushing forward with new versions of its routers." You don't need a huge team of engineers to write router firmware or software updates for security patches. As it is, those seem to roll out only once or twice a year, at most. I think they're just standing pat until there's a reason to do something more dramatic with the product line. That's a lot different than abandoning it.
Its impossible to actually know anything over at Apple. I do know that if I was running Apple and saw this going around every tech internet site, that I would at least make a comment that clarifies whats going on.
As a person that's in charge of IT at my company that uses Airport extremes, I have to assume the worse case and consider this is a dead end product effective immediately. I have no idea how long the plan to kill this product has been going on over at Apple, and for all I know, nobody has been working on security for years. As you mention and which is more probable than my assumption, there still is a security team working on it. but I can't take that chance. Actions speak louder than words. Tim's words "Macs are so very important to us" Tim's Actions "Mac Pro = over 1000 days old. Most Mac's = rated don't buy". I can not risk my company with a company that fails to communicate and worse yet, one that I lost trust with in the rare event they do.
I've been waiting forever to update our Mac Pros but its getting to the point that I don't think Apple can be trusted as a business partner any longer. This is from a die hard Apple fanboy that's been solely using Apple products since 1984 (still have my 128k Mac). The thought of having to switch to PC's after over 30 year is gut wrenching. I know deep down inside, I have to do the switch but I keep hoping for a miraculous turn around from Tim and Company. Sigh. instead, it just keeps getting worse. This is the lowest I've been on Apple ever (and I lived through the Emilio years)
Since Apple's product secrecy prevents any certainty about what this report means, let's use some logic to deduce a most likely scenario.
The latest speed standard (802.11ac) for home routers is three years old and airport products were last updated to it in 2013. Yet Apple is only now re-assigning engineering talent to other projects? An engineering team sitting around twiddling their thumbs for three years doesn't sound very Apple-like, don't you think? These same products had their retail availability limited to online after being pulled from U.S. stores in May this year. Doesn't this behaviour usually mean EOL stock clearance preceding a major product upgrade / redesign?
I don't understand all the automatically negative whining about this here when it may, in fact, represent the advent of a radically new and interesting approach to home networking, smart home, TV, etc.
"Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker."
You don't actually know that, do you? There is one article, based on unnamed sources, and even that really only says "...the company isn’t currently pushing forward with new versions of its routers." You don't need a huge team of engineers to write router firmware or software updates for security patches. As it is, those seem to roll out only once or twice a year, at most. I think they're just standing pat until there's a reason to do something more dramatic with the product line. That's a lot different than abandoning it.
Its impossible to actually know anything over at Apple. I do know that if I was running Apple and saw this going around every tech internet site, that I would at least make a comment that clarifies whats going on.
As a person that's in charge of IT at my company that uses Airport extremes, I have to assume the worse case and consider this is a dead end product effective immediately. I have no idea how long the plan to kill this product has been going on over at Apple, and for all I know, nobody has been working on security for years. As you mention and which is more probable than my assumption, there still is a security team working on it. but I can't take that chance. Actions speak louder than words. Tim's words "Macs are so very important to us" Tim's Actions "Mac Pro = over 1000 days old. Most Mac's = rated don't buy". I can not risk my company with a company that fails to communicate and worse yet, one that I lost trust with in the rare event they do.
I've been waiting forever to update our Mac Pros but its getting to the point that I don't think Apple can be trusted as a business partner any longer. This is from a die hard Apple fanboy that's been solely using Apple products since 1984 (still have my 128k Mac). The thought of having to switch to PC's after over 30 year is gut wrenching. I know deep down inside, I have to do the switch but I keep hoping for a miraculous turn around from Tim and Company. Sigh. instead, it just keeps getting worse. This is the lowest I've been on Apple ever (and I lived through the Emilio years)
Do you really make decisions for your company based on single, anonymously sourced articles out on the internets? You say actions speak louder than words, but best I can tell, this one article consists only of words.
If I were you, I'd give it a couple of days before you start ripping out the Airport extremes and replacing them with ... whatever. Apple likely hasn't made a statement yet because (1) They can't respond to every silly thing that gets written, and (2) depending on the complexity of how this (if there even is a this) relates to whatever might be under development down the pipeline, a statement would require some finesse. If the whole thing is nonsense, a statement that the whole thing is nonsense would be fairly easy to craft. If they're moving people around in preparation for some other thing that they have no intention of announcing yet, then crafting a response that addresses the current concerns while disclosing nothing about not-ready-for-primetime new things, well, that takes some verbal dexterity.
In any case, I'd give it a little time before you start making decisions based on scant and dubious information.
P.S. Apple has never been in the habit of announcing new products or product updates before they're ready. I don't quite understand how you could have been a 'die hard Apple fanboy ... since 1984' and not have noticed that.
P.P.S. One thing Apple has been pretty good about announcing is when they intend to halt support for a product. Given the security concerns related to wireless networking, I would be stunned to find that they had quietly abandoned support long ago. In fact I know they haven't, since Airport routers got a software/firmware update earlier this year.
This is a bummer if true, but I find it difficult to think that Apple will completely abandon their wifi equipment, it is after all the apple rug that ties the apple room together.
This utterly sucks, I have recently been through 5 different routers from other vendors , all of which were complete shit. Two weeks ago I gave the AirPort Extreme a go and all my wifi problems are now fixed.
Did you try Synology's router? Was considering either Synology or Airport for my next router.. one of them is of the table now..
No, I didn't know they did one. I have a Synology RAID though. Love it.
If true that Apple has "completely" abandoned any updates to its wireless networking products, I will certainly be disappointed. I have found them very reliable and easy to setup in general (although the Mac app is really not that intuitive). I have found range to be very good as well, compared with the ISP alternatives.
That said, I do wonder how many they sell. How many households with Apple products have one? One wonders if it is a small number of us who tend to like that "all-Apple ecosystem" and pay the premium for it. I only know a few that do have one, as most just use what comes with their ISP. Is this really a big blow to the ecosystem that many are predicting here?
As for abandoning the standalone monitor business, I would expect Apple sold a couple orders of magnitude less monitors than routers. In this case, I think it was inevitable. Apple was not really providing any "value" (beyond design) for this product. At least with wireless networking it includes Apple s/w and customer silicon, and ability to have value was there (though perhaps the volumes really have fallen beyond point of making them viable).
As always, the Internet echo chamber could do with taking a breather, going for a walk, and seeing what does happen before ripping all of the Apple stuff out of the wall tonight...
Preplexing..
its not about dollers and cents on every little item..
Its about a complete product line and synergic ecosys.
Lose that and you lose the luxury of the premium you charge .
ps.._
INCLUDING NEGLECTING TRUE PROS… A kids in hardcore gaming. The extremes define your credibility and prowess Apple !
Without it you are just another gadget maker.
Do you really make decisions for your company based on single, anonymously sourced articles out on the internets? You say actions speak louder than words, but best I can tell, this one article consists only of words.
If I were you, I'd give it a couple of days before you start ripping out the Airport extremes and replacing them with ... whatever. Apple likely hasn't made a statement yet because (1) They can't respond to every silly thing that gets written, and (2) depending on the complexity of how this (if there even is a this) relates to whatever might be under development down the pipeline, a statement would require some finesse. If the whole thing is nonsense, a statement that the whole thing is nonsense would be fairly easy to craft. If they're moving people around in preparation for some other thing that they have no intention of announcing yet, then crafting a response that addresses the current concerns while disclosing nothing about not-ready-for-primetime new things, well, that takes some verbal dexterity.
In any case, I'd give it a little time before you start making decisions based on scant and dubious information.
P.S. Apple has never been in the habit of announcing new products or product updates before they're ready. I don't quite understand how you could have been a 'die hard Apple fanboy ... since 1984' and not have noticed that.
P.P.S. One thing Apple has been pretty good about announcing is when they intend to halt support for a product. Given the security concerns related to wireless networking, I would be stunned to find that they had quietly abandoned support long ago. In fact I know they haven't, since Airport routers got an update earlier this year.
First off... I appreciate your exuberance as a die hard Apple fanboy, however, I don't appreciate to have my abilities to run a company chastised over a simplification of one issue. My decisions are based on a culmination of many things. The biggest being I've lost my trust in Apple. That is my feeling and Apple's actions the last few years is what caused it. Right or Wrong... That's what I feel. I am not going to explain the countless reasons why I have come to this conclusion but I'll leave you with one.
The primary reason is the neglect and treatment of the Pro Market. From Apertures death to the Final Cut X fiasco, I quickly learned that Apple has no qualms killing entire industries in a heart beat. Its one thing to be all secretive like they have always been when your update timeline is somewhat consistent (12 to 18 month) but the Mac Pro has been updated only once in five years, and that one update was a side grade to say the least. Our 12 core machines from 2010 cost 1/3 as much and are far more expandable and upgradable than what is available today, 6 years later. I just wonder what your take on the handling of the Mac Pro is? I am curious to hear how long I should wait for new Mac Pro's in order to meet your qualifications of making good decisions for my company?
The router situation is just something else to tack on to a long list of things. As mentioned. This isn't a simple article on a rumour site. This is plastered on every tech site on the internet (some incorrectly stating it as fact) with discussions going on at a mega level. If they think books and christmas trees are more important than firing off a quick one liner settling this debacle down, then their is not much more for me left for me to say. They don't have to reveal any secrets or products or anything. Just phil saying, "hey guys, you know that router demise talk... Not true". You may think its nonsense and that may very well be true but the level of discussion this is generating is harming Apple. Hopefully you understand that my intentions are quite the opposite of dragging Apple down.
Comments
There IS evidence that Apple can't get hold of enough oxide-backed large screens yet to offer their own monitors. But you have to use your head to see that evidence.
Because oxide-film technology is so new and so dicey that LG can't supply enough to Apple to customize them?
I haven't gone to my local store to physically check, but it sure appears that both products are still widely available. I have some vague recollection of routers being pulled back then to address some sort of standards or security issue, but they appear to be back.
With one premise of this article being wrong, I have to wonder about the veracity of the other. It could be true, but with it being based on a single article sourced from "unnamed" individuals and "no comment" from Apple, I think I'd wait for more reliable information before getting too worked up about it.
While many of us on here love Apple products like this for their simplicity, it's also not the stuff that will continue to make Apple culturally significant in the years to come. Printers, displays, wireless routers—they're all needed. But they’re just not spaces where Apple can make a leading difference anymore. Companies like Eero and AmpliFi make better mesh networks than AirPort can.
And these types of decisions will continue to lead to product sunsets. Even ones we really love.
Pulling engineers from a product that's o.k. as-is for now does not equal abandonment of the product line. It means they're fine as they are for now. I predict they'll keep making and selling the things and re-visit staffing for further development in a year or two.
Although the comment is rational, there is a lot more to do then just new hardware. When a router is involved, security is paramount. Knowing that there is no team watching over this to update firmware and/or software is a deal breaker.
As for people becoming emotional. You got that right but the part that you got wrong is the "have allowed themselves" part. Apple has caused this culture change from us long time loyalist praising and promoting their products to frustration and anger. Killing off products for no other reason than profit margins is the beginning of the end for Apple. The reason Apple is successful is because of the entire ecosystem being simple and easy to use. Some people are wiling to pay more just not to have problems. Although, Monitors, Airports, Mac Mini's, Mac Pro's, 17" macbooks are not big money makers directly, they allow the ecosystem to thrive and keep the entire experience in Apple's control. By taking these things away, you introduce new variables and potential for problems. If people have to deal with these problems anyways, why would they pay more for Apple.
I know our company, buys MacBooks, iPads, iPhones because they work seamlessly with our Mac mini servers and Mac Pro work stations (and airport extreme). Take our Mac Pro's and mini's away and the rest goes too. The problem is that Apple management is too high on themselves to listen to the anger and frustration that continues to grow louder and louder. Mac Pros are over a thousand days old for pete sake and there is absolutely no communication of what's going on.
When the one trick iPhone pony comes to an end, that will be the only time Tim and company will listen. The problem with that is that it will be too late. Apple is squandering away what any company would kill to have, and those are the true loyal evangelists that helped make this company what it is.
You don't actually know that, do you? There is one article, based on unnamed sources, and even that really only says "...the company isn’t currently pushing forward with new versions of its routers." You don't need a huge team of engineers to write router firmware or software updates for security patches. As it is, those seem to roll out only once or twice a year, at most.
I think they're just standing pat until there's a reason to do something more dramatic with the product line. That's a lot different than abandoning it.
Edit: then realised Apple File System. If Time machine is going to work with that makes sense to bring them into the iOS family.
Unless you have insight into Apple's product roadmap, this is just an assumption. If they fired / laid off the entire wireless technologies team then I would be more inclined to agree but Apple didn't do that. They've been assigned to other projects. So it's quite likely Apple has something else up their sleeve.
This story is what's wrong with newsmedia in the current age. One article, -based on an unnamed source- gets written, and this site, macrumors, and apparently dozens of other tech sites are now screaming from the hills that Apple is abandoning WiFi routers!
I think the story is fundamentally incorrect, and I predict a statement in the near future from Apple that says something to the effect that "Apple is not abandoning its AirPort and Time Capsule product lines. We will continue to manufacture, sell, and support these products for the foreseeable future. Apple's customers can rest assured that they can continue to enjoy these reliable and simple to use wireless networking products."
In this case, other than people briefly getting their drawers in a wad over false, or at best incorrectly interpreted (and anonymously sourced), information about internal staffing decisions at a private company, this really isn't that important. When Apple corrects the record, people will shrug and say, "oh, well never mind, then." They'll move on and forget all about it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of far more important things that people read, share, and react to based on scant or dubious information, and much more important decisions get made that will affect real people's lives in significant ways. We as human beings have got to learn to be better than that.
As a person that's in charge of IT at my company that uses Airport extremes, I have to assume the worse case and consider this is a dead end product effective immediately. I have no idea how long the plan to kill this product has been going on over at Apple, and for all I know, nobody has been working on security for years. As you mention and which is more probable than my assumption, there still is a security team working on it. but I can't take that chance. Actions speak louder than words. Tim's words "Macs are so very important to us" Tim's Actions "Mac Pro = over 1000 days old. Most Mac's = rated don't buy". I can not risk my company with a company that fails to communicate and worse yet, one that I lost trust with in the rare event they do.
I've been waiting forever to update our Mac Pros but its getting to the point that I don't think Apple can be trusted as a business partner any longer. This is from a die hard Apple fanboy that's been solely using Apple products since 1984 (still have my 128k Mac). The thought of having to switch to PC's after over 30 year is gut wrenching. I know deep down inside, I have to do the switch but I keep hoping for a miraculous turn around from Tim and Company. Sigh. instead, it just keeps getting worse. This is the lowest I've been on Apple ever (and I lived through the Emilio years)
The latest speed standard (802.11ac) for home routers is three years old and airport products were last updated to it in 2013. Yet Apple is only now re-assigning engineering talent to other projects? An engineering team sitting around twiddling their thumbs for three years doesn't sound very Apple-like, don't you think?
These same products had their retail availability limited to online after being pulled from U.S. stores in May this year. Doesn't this behaviour usually mean EOL stock clearance preceding a major product upgrade / redesign?
I don't understand all the automatically negative whining about this here when it may, in fact, represent the advent of a radically new and interesting approach to home networking, smart home, TV, etc.
If I were you, I'd give it a couple of days before you start ripping out the Airport extremes and replacing them with ... whatever. Apple likely hasn't made a statement yet because (1) They can't respond to every silly thing that gets written, and (2) depending on the complexity of how this (if there even is a this) relates to whatever might be under development down the pipeline, a statement would require some finesse. If the whole thing is nonsense, a statement that the whole thing is nonsense would be fairly easy to craft. If they're moving people around in preparation for some other thing that they have no intention of announcing yet, then crafting a response that addresses the current concerns while disclosing nothing about not-ready-for-primetime new things, well, that takes some verbal dexterity.
In any case, I'd give it a little time before you start making decisions based on scant and dubious information.
P.S. Apple has never been in the habit of announcing new products or product updates before they're ready. I don't quite understand how you could have been a 'die hard Apple fanboy ... since 1984' and not have noticed that.
P.P.S. One thing Apple has been pretty good about announcing is when they intend to halt support for a product. Given the security concerns related to wireless networking, I would be stunned to find that they had quietly abandoned support long ago. In fact I know they haven't, since Airport routers got a software/firmware update earlier this year.
If true that Apple has "completely" abandoned any updates to its wireless networking products, I will certainly be disappointed. I have found them very reliable and easy to setup in general (although the Mac app is really not that intuitive). I have found range to be very good as well, compared with the ISP alternatives.
That said, I do wonder how many they sell. How many households with Apple products have one? One wonders if it is a small number of us who tend to like that "all-Apple ecosystem" and pay the premium for it. I only know a few that do have one, as most just use what comes with their ISP. Is this really a big blow to the ecosystem that many are predicting here?
As for abandoning the standalone monitor business, I would expect Apple sold a couple orders of magnitude less monitors than routers. In this case, I think it was inevitable. Apple was not really providing any "value" (beyond design) for this product. At least with wireless networking it includes Apple s/w and customer silicon, and ability to have value was there (though perhaps the volumes really have fallen beyond point of making them viable).
As always, the Internet echo chamber could do with taking a breather, going for a walk, and seeing what does happen before ripping all of the Apple stuff out of the wall tonight...
The primary reason is the neglect and treatment of the Pro Market. From Apertures death to the Final Cut X fiasco, I quickly learned that Apple has no qualms killing entire industries in a heart beat. Its one thing to be all secretive like they have always been when your update timeline is somewhat consistent (12 to 18 month) but the Mac Pro has been updated only once in five years, and that one update was a side grade to say the least. Our 12 core machines from 2010 cost 1/3 as much and are far more expandable and upgradable than what is available today, 6 years later. I just wonder what your take on the handling of the Mac Pro is? I am curious to hear how long I should wait for new Mac Pro's in order to meet your qualifications of making good decisions for my company?
The router situation is just something else to tack on to a long list of things. As mentioned. This isn't a simple article on a rumour site. This is plastered on every tech site on the internet (some incorrectly stating it as fact) with discussions going on at a mega level. If they think books and christmas trees are more important than firing off a quick one liner settling this debacle down, then their is not much more for me left for me to say. They don't have to reveal any secrets or products or anything. Just phil saying, "hey guys, you know that router demise talk... Not true". You may think its nonsense and that may very well be true but the level of discussion this is generating is harming Apple. Hopefully you understand that my intentions are quite the opposite of dragging Apple down.