Tim has killed off Airport, Cinema Displays, the startup sound, Magsafe, and the pulsating sleep light. Sucking the soul out of Apple.
Good riddance to the startup sound! I HATED that! It was always either waking my wife when I powered up late at night, or making me the centre of unwelcome attention when it announced my presence in a group while someone was speaking. On one occasion I had to reboot while on the air and forgot to mute that channel so the entire audience got to hear the BONG over the anchor reading a news story.
I guess they didn't have to kill it, I would have been just as happy with a System Preference that allowed me to turn it off, but I'm sure glad to be free of it.
Dismantling the ecosystem stone by stone. - The legacy of Timmy.
Please tell me where the AirPort lies in terms of the ecosystem and why it's important? I'd love to hear. I'd be willing to bet more often than not, most Apple customers never used an AirPort or TimeCapsule which is most likely why Apple dropped it from its lineup in the first place.
It is important because nothing beats setting up your devices without fanfare, having it just work, those that use Windows, Linux, or Android crap will never get it.
It's a pity Apple chose to leave this market -- SECURE routers that aren't easily prey to spyware/hackware and that can resist data-collection by ISPs and DNS providers (coughGOOGLEcough) etc are more needed now than ever, and Apple had already built most of that in their AirPort line, and such devices would enhance Apple's existing reputation for user privacy first. But I get it -- the public still doesn't care that much about this stuff yet.
It's a pity Apple chose to leave this market -- SECURE routers that aren't easily prey to spyware/hackware and that can resist data-collection by ISPs and DNS providers (coughGOOGLEcough) etc are more needed now than ever, and Apple had already built most of that in their AirPort line, and such devices would enhance Apple's existing reputation for user privacy first. But I get it -- the public still doesn't care that much about this stuff yet.
At one of my three visits to the Genius Bar for a dead Airport Extreme tower (we didn't enjoy what you would call exceptional reliability), someone sitting next to me pointed at it and asked "What is that?" Not only didn't she have one, she didn't even know what it was. When I explained, she asked why anyone would need that when internet providers supply one for free.
I bought an Eero system to replace my ailing Airport(s). It’s at least as easy to set up and maintain as Apple’s Airports (it’s much easier, if I’m honest with myself) and its multi-unit performance is miles beyond. I think that Apple no longer needs to be in this space: it’s outside of their core business and others are up to par.
Tim has killed off Airport, Cinema Displays, the startup sound, Magsafe, and the pulsating sleep light. Sucking the soul out of Apple.
Yep - I wonder how much he even uses a macOS any more ? I remember seeing pix of SJ with my last favourite mac monitor the 30" cinema display. and the term 'enthusiast' comes to mind...
I would love to be on the inside of this decision to drop routers from their product line.
Especially with home automation proliferating, a secure and reliable WiFi becomes of increasing importance. Or, is Apple expecting that 5G could take over that task?
I think there is more going on here than we know.
Apple is expecting 5G to take over the task.
Every Apple device will connect directly through 5G/WIFi so there will be no need for routers in the Apple ecosystem.
It’s hard to imagine today what a revolution the original AirPort was. It was inexpensive, friendly, and functional, and almost singlehandedly created the home wireless networking market. Those little UFOs started appearing everywhere, and almost overnight having a wireless network was the thing. It really is the end of an era.
Dismantling the ecosystem stone by stone. - The legacy of Timmy.
Please tell me where the AirPort lies in terms of the ecosystem and why it's important? I'd love to hear. I'd be willing to bet more often than not, most Apple customers never used an AirPort or TimeCapsule which is most likely why Apple dropped it from its lineup in the first place.
It is important because nothing beats setting up your devices without fanfare, having it just work, those that use Windows, Linux, or Android crap will never get it.
Apparently its not that important as I said before, most Apple customers did not use an AirPort.
I would love to be on the inside of this decision to drop routers from their product line.
Especially with home automation proliferating, a secure and reliable WiFi becomes of increasing importance. Or, is Apple expecting that 5G could take over that task?
I think there is more going on here than we know.
It's just manpower. Apple runs like a large startup and they can't hire engineers fast enough. Why waste talent on dumb commodity projects when they could do something future-facing like the HomePod?
I'd like to see them acquire Eero or Plume, though, both terrific products… really lots of good alternatives to the old crap routers like Netgear and Linksys.
Tim has killed off Airport, Cinema Displays, the startup sound, Magsafe, and the pulsating sleep light. Sucking the soul out of Apple.
Not to mention the glowing Apple logo behind the laptops, TouchID on the iPhone, the headphone jack, the headphone jack to Lightning adaptor bundled in...
Come on man, there are a lot more things. Why stick to your limited list?
The original AirPort was important, because it was the first readily available consumer-grade WiFi router.
But subsequent models had more problems than benefits.
The AirPort Express brought an audio output jack... but it also required that you plug it straight into an outlet, which usually meant putting it someplace that wasn’t a good choice for a strong radio signal. It also didn’t work well if your (U.S.) wall outlets were getting old, because the weight would cause it to pull out of the wall. And if your outlets were oriented horizontally, the antenna pattern would work poorly.
And they tended to have power supply issues due to overheating, since they were made as small as possible without much regard for heat dissipation. That problem was even worse in the first-generation Time Machine, which packed way too much stuff in a small case. It was a race—what would die from heat death first, the power supply or the hard drive?
Frankly, Time Machine over a network is something of a crapshoot. I’ve had bad luck getting a network-based TM backup to restore. Where possible, I use local external drives; they’re faster and vastly more reliable. An unreliable backup is no backup at all.
There are much better alternatives to the AirPort line when it comes to WiFi routers. For most people, I recommend the Ubiquiti AmpliFi series. It comes with a small cube-shaped router that configures easily via iOS app, and optionally one or two mesh units to extend the signal. It’s very old-Apple-like, and it’s not small for the sake of small.
And for most people who say “but I get Wi-Fi with my cable modem from the cable company,” I point out that most cable companies put a monthly charge on that modem that you can avoid by buying your own modem and router... and in most cases, if you buy your own, you come out ahead within two years or less.
So when is “Time Machine” backup being removed from MacOS? It is not perfect but I works and that what I like
Time Machine literally has nothing to do with AirPorts, so not sure why that'd be a thing. A Time Capsule was just network attached storage.
It's only a thing because so many third-party routers don't support Time Machine.
We had a big external drive plugged into the USB port on the Airport. Our new router doesn't even have a USB port. The one we tried before this one had a port and allowed setting up the drive as shared storage, but it would not work with Time Machine. Apparently there's something unique about Time Machine that the router must specifically support. Just because a router allows attached storage doesn't necessarily mean that Time Machine will work. The majority of routers we looked at didn't.
Not that we particularly miss it. Before we made the switch we wanted to make complete backups of all our computers. We started with mine, a Touch Bar MBP with about 750GB stored on it. When it still hadn't finished the initial backup after THREE DAYS we gave up on it.
The rule of thumb is that the first backup should be directly connected to the computer. All subsequent backups can be done over wifi.
Sad to see it go for good. Nothing I know compares to the Apple products in terms of ease of use and design. At least, from a layman’s perspective. Don’t want to think about the day my time capsule or other airport stuff dies...
There are several products on the market that are just as good so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Technically speaking, I'm sure you are correct. But... some of us appreciate the esthetics of the Apple products. Design is lost on most of the offerings out there.
A dedicated "real" NAS server like something from Synology works just fine as a Time Machine. I bought a relatively basic 218J (two drives set up as a simple RAID) and I use it to back up all my Apple devices.
So when is “Time Machine” backup being removed from MacOS? It is not perfect but I works and that what I like
Time Machine literally has nothing to do with AirPorts, so not sure why that'd be a thing. A Time Capsule was just network attached storage.
It's only a thing because so many third-party routers don't support Time Machine.
We had a big external drive plugged into the USB port on the Airport. Our new router doesn't even have a USB port. The one we tried before this one had a port and allowed setting up the drive as shared storage, but it would not work with Time Machine. Apparently there's something unique about Time Machine that the router must specifically support. Just because a router allows attached storage doesn't necessarily mean that Time Machine will work. The majority of routers we looked at didn't.
Not that we particularly miss it. Before we made the switch we wanted to make complete backups of all our computers. We started with mine, a Touch Bar MBP with about 750GB stored on it. When it still hadn't finished the initial backup after THREE DAYS we gave up on it.
Using a USB drive on an AirPort Extreme was actually not officially supported for Time Machine, and was known to be problematic.
Comments
I guess they didn't have to kill it, I would have been just as happy with a System Preference that allowed me to turn it off, but I'm sure glad to be free of it.
It is important because nothing beats setting up your devices without fanfare, having it just work, those that use Windows, Linux, or Android crap will never get it.
I remember seeing pix of SJ with my last favourite mac monitor the 30" cinema display.
and the term 'enthusiast' comes to mind...
Every Apple device will connect directly through 5G/WIFi so there will be no need for routers in the Apple ecosystem.
Assuming, of course, that 5G takes off.
And we don't know if Steve would have done the same...so what's your point?
I'd like to see them acquire Eero or Plume, though, both terrific products… really lots of good alternatives to the old crap routers like Netgear and Linksys.
Not to mention the glowing Apple logo behind the laptops, TouchID on the iPhone, the headphone jack, the headphone jack to Lightning adaptor bundled in...
Come on man, there are a lot more things. Why stick to your limited list?
But subsequent models had more problems than benefits.
The AirPort Express brought an audio output jack... but it also required that you plug it straight into an outlet, which usually meant putting it someplace that wasn’t a good choice for a strong radio signal. It also didn’t work well if your (U.S.) wall outlets were getting old, because the weight would cause it to pull out of the wall. And if your outlets were oriented horizontally, the antenna pattern would work poorly.
And they tended to have power supply issues due to overheating, since they were made as small as possible without much regard for heat dissipation. That problem was even worse in the first-generation Time Machine, which packed way too much stuff in a small case. It was a race—what would die from heat death first, the power supply or the hard drive?
Frankly, Time Machine over a network is something of a crapshoot. I’ve had bad luck getting a network-based TM backup to restore. Where possible, I use local external drives; they’re faster and vastly more reliable. An unreliable backup is no backup at all.
There are much better alternatives to the AirPort line when it comes to WiFi routers. For most people, I recommend the Ubiquiti AmpliFi series. It comes with a small cube-shaped router that configures easily via iOS app, and optionally one or two mesh units to extend the signal. It’s very old-Apple-like, and it’s not small for the sake of small.
And for most people who say “but I get Wi-Fi with my cable modem from the cable company,” I point out that most cable companies put a monthly charge on that modem that you can avoid by buying your own modem and router... and in most cases, if you buy your own, you come out ahead within two years or less.
James