“Apple back in April ended development on its AirPort line of products, which includes the $99 AirPort Express, the $199 AirPort Extreme, and the $299 AirPort Time Capsule,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“At the time the accessories were discontinued, Apple said that it would continue selling existing stock until available supply was exhausted. It appears that point has been reached,” Clover reports. “There are no longer any AirPort products available for purchase from the online store or Apple retail locations, with the exception of some refurbished AirPort devices that may continue to be available on the refurbished site. ”
Clover reports, “In lieu of its own line of AirPort products, Apple is now offering third-party routers.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: R.I.P. AirPort. Long live eero!
Looking to replace discontinued Apple AirPort gear? With Apple out of the Wi-Fi game, the closest we’re going to get to Apple-esque good looks and ease-of-use are Eero products. We use and recommend eero Home WiFi Systems.
SEE ALSO:
How to set up your home network for many Apple TVs, Macs, iPhones, and iPads – June 12, 2018
Apple begins to sell out of AirPort base stations – May 17, 2018
Requiem for the AirPort base station: A testament to everything Apple was and isn’t anymore – April 27, 2018
Apple makes yet another short-sighted decision: Apple has discontinued a product that it should have made a cornerstone of its home automation and entertainment ecosystem – April 27, 2018
Apple’s decision to discontinue AirPort products is the wrong decision at the wrong time – April 27, 2018
Apple pulls plug on AirPort Wi-Fi router business – April 26, 2018
eero’s new mesh WiFi system packs more power in an Apple-esque design – June 29, 2017
AppleInsider reviews eero Wi-Fi: ‘A solid option for Apple’s outgoing AirPort’ – February 27, 2017
With eero, you can kiss slow Wi-Fi goodbye forever – February 10, 2017
And so it ends with a whimper, the remaining inventories, tens (hundreds?) of thousands of little white gadgets going into landfills. Well done Mr. Cook, aka enviroCEO…
No happening. Apple at the very least will move any remaining inventory to the referee store. They would never land fill anything they could make a buck off.
Collosally stupid decision on Apple’s part unless they are plannng some future amazing MagiFi system. In some respects it’s like they now think it beneath them to sell WiFi stations. Eero here I come.
… need to replace my stuff I sure as hell won’t buy any third party equipment from Apple. Up yers Timmy The Rainbow Cook.
I didn’t realize that was his nickname. Further… I’m still looking for the connection between rainbows and third party equipment.
The wired Apple mouse also disappeared.
Well, of course it did. They don’t have any ports to plug it in to soon.
heh, yeah, since we have all replaced all of our old computers with new ones!
Apple have been a phone company, so……
And no cinema displays, no air ports bases stations, no updated Mac Pro, no iPhone SE, no x-serve, . Apple is no longer the company that cares about the customers. Apple future does not look good.
Not everyone on this site appreciates that real problem. I only wish we could take ALL Apple execs into the backyard shed and give them the righteous shellacking they deserve. They wouldn’t be able to sit for a month. It’s beyond the pale and a contributing factor to people’s shifting loyalties. You don’t truly care about us previously Apple faithful, we shall return the favor.
Well said, pete. Them boys need a hind end tanning.
Dismantling the ecosystem stone by stone. – The legacy of Timmy.
What Steve built, Pipeline has allowed to wither away and die. Pipeline has crapped all over Steve Jobs’ legacy. He is an embarrassment to Apple.
My iPhone X is going to stay with me for many, MANY years. I simply have zero interest funding Pipeline’s Apple.
Apple is no longer the company I loved, the company I grew up with from the late 70’s until now. Pipeline has utterly destroyed it. Pipeline gives customers like me the finger ever day.
Pipeline would rather sell dongles than build an ecosystem.
If Apple had a board with even a slight amount of competence, Pipeline would be looking for a job. With Eddy Cue.
You’re too stupid and shortsighted to own Apple tech, so take it in for a refund or sell it all on Craigslist and go buy a Nokia 3310, it’s clearly more suited to your mental capacity.
Let’s all remember that #russiantrolls spew discord on both sides to create the impression that we’re a divided, vitriolic failed state.
My sentiments EXACTLY. Long lost that warm feeling of my favorite company since the 1980s under pipeline. Every new announcement is met with skepticism and trepidation, what are they now discounting or taking away while charging more. Now that the phone decline has begun the board needs to grow a pair and put a stop to this madness…
Why are so many worked up about a wireless router? There are plenty of good 3rd-party routers. Sure, I’ve used Apple Airports since the first gray spaceship, and I still use a TimeCapsule. It just recently got a software update. When it dies, I already have a mesh router ready-to-go I bought on Black Friday last year.
Wireless router today – Mac tomorrow. Apple has dropped a whole passel of still desired products – Xserves, Apple branded monitors, etc.. It’s never “just one thing.”
I suspect my two Airports are throttling my Internet speed so now anxious to move on to Eero. I have a very fast connection but it’s taking too long for pages to load. (Why do the words “Apple” & “throttling” seem to occur together much too often lately?)
Probably because people want to throttle dumbasses like you who profess Apple loyalty but are actually extremely disloyal
I’ve been a total Apple guy and previous defender since 1992 until I was betrayed in 2013. Betrayal will do that to people. I’m not a mindless loyalist like you but my prior loyalty was pretty fierce back in the day when it was deserved.
I have spent plenty on Apple, and defended them in the dark days. Just remember – loyalty is earned and ain’t a right. And Tim Cook is not the kind of leader that invites nor has earned steadfast loyalty.
I’ve been reading on warfare recently. Betrayal is essentially a personal, religious, and political term. Apple has indeed been described, and denounced, in those terms. Can it really be true that of all corporations, Apple alone ascended to these high ranks? Or is it that of all corporations, Apple alone seduced consumers into an ideology to a fanatical degree? I am able to ask these penetrating questions only because I barely escaped the thrall of Apple’s controlling narrative. I always kept one foot on the DOS/Windows landscape. From that vantage, I could see Apple’s maneuverings as bivouacs in a constantly changing landscape of experimental warfare, a system of sorties to test the resistance, a triumphant discovery of the high ground. Apple never meant to win the likes of us over, but to win the high ground itself even at our expense. We are casualties of war, martyrs to the higher cause of advancing computing into a new age of teenage hackers and emoji or whatever comes next. The future doesn’t care, doesn’t see or respect the likes of us. More’s the pity.
I respect your independent perspective, Herself. You have helped to anchor this forum for years with your generally thoughtful and always elegant prose.
But you have extended your fanciful language a bit too far in this case. If you “…barely escaped the thrall of Apple’s controlling narrative…” Then you only have yourself to blame. Apple makes products. Apple makes an ecosystem. Apple is not attempting to brainwash anyone, and the company also deserves credit for advocating personal privacy and control over personal data to the extent possible in today’s society. It should not take “…one foot on the DOS/Windows landscape…” To keep you grounded in the realities of the realm of consumer electronics and consumer electronics companies.
None of these companies are altruistic. They are all for-profit corporations looking to lock in your dollar. Apple just happens to be the best at that game. But Apple also has other redeeming qualities which have attracted me as a consumer. I am not a blind lemming or a fanboy. I simply know what I value and what I like. And I don’t have to dip a toe into the dark side of computing to maintain a realistic perspective. Apple has never been a religion for me.
“Apple makes products.”
No more Airport, X-Serves, Aperture, monitors or updated Mac Pros and iMacs. What’s next?
“Apple is not attempting to brainwash anyone”
They don’t have to, they leave it up to blind sycophant fanboys like YOU.
“I am not a blind lemming or a fanboy.”
You LIE. Read above.
“And I don’t have to dip a toe into the dark side of computing to maintain a realistic perspective.”
That is precisely where Herself is brilliantly correct and you are epic dead WRONG. Herself and myself have been working on both platforms for decades. You gain an important perspective and know the significant differences between platforms hardware and software alike. You are simply making excuses for your personal walled off ignorance.
“Apple has never been a religion for me.”
No other way to say it — LIAR!…
Insightful thoughts, Herself. We are all casualties of Cook’s cluelessness. As a beancounter the incessant bottom line focus is holding Apple back and denying customers superior products.
No reason Apple cannot improve Airport to make it the best router the world has ever seen.
No reason Apple cannot improve monitors that work with Apple TV and make the best monitor the world has ever seen.
No reason Apple cannot improve the Mac Pro and make the best computer the world has ever seen.
Unfortunately, those concerns are lost under Hollywood fashionista Pipeline…
I’m not sure Tim Cook is clueless. If his company were on the ropes, i might agree, but it’s not. So let’s agree that he understands what we are demanding of him but disingenuously tries to assure us that he is working to meet our needs, despite evidence to the contrary. He has exhibited zero sensitivity to the well-known production cycles of professional computing, both in science and the arts, whose excellence is increasingly dependent on reliable hardware with predictable upgrade schedules. He’s blowing us off because his engineers can’t give him a rock-solid timetable, and they can’t give him one because the design apparat headed by Sir Jony Ive hovers on a dream horizon of possibilities unrelieved by any real-world urgency.
Apple has done much, perhaps more than most, to serve the world well. But I, for one, have given up touting their superiority in specific technical areas, or their professed morality, as evidence that they should be given broad leeway to determine our future in every one of their undertakings. We all must keep a gimlet eye fixed upon our masters in both commerce and politics, regardless of our tribal leanings and cognitive biases. Otherwise, we suffer.
Yes, well said and I certainly agree that Cook “disingenuously tries to assure us that he is working to meet our needs” and “has exhibited zero sensitivity to the well-known production cycles of professional computing.”
Says it all about the man particularly when it comes to the core and backbone of Apple’s founding, Mac computers. I believe he is clueless in the sense he does not understand Mac importance as related to the company and its fanbase; guessing he does not use Macs personally; and as you pointed out is unaware of how professionals and companies rely on stable Macs and refreshes for their livelihoods. Good man, but over his head in some ways.
Think about what we can rely on from Apple nowadays. As Jack Palance famously said in City Slickers, “one thing.” That would be yearly releases of new iPhones. Not very comforting from a company the size and amount of resources Apple enjoys. A strong visionary leader would right the ship…
Peter, an intelligent and respectful reply. Unfortunately, it is totally WASTED on the BANNED MDN village idiot and potty mouth pea brain Citizen X.
He shows up from time to time like the plague changing his screen name EVERY time to avoid detection.
Above he also posted as Ishkadumass Von Stink. Easy to detect, 100% insults to anyone that criticizes Apple or supports the president and his party. Trumpanzee is his favorite word.
Never an intelligent thought and I simply IGNORE his pathetic presence…
When they go low I try to aim a bit higher. Not always successfully.
Yes I figured the two negative posts (Peter Broods since ‘71 & Ishkadumass Von Stink) were clumsily & transparently obvious from the same intellectually challenged individual. Some people will never get out of the proverbial “Mom’s basement.”
You call him disloyal as if it’s a bad thing.
Loyalty is something that was demanded by Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler. My loyalty doesn’t respond to demands from totalitarian white men.
“worked up about a wireless router?”
Just snowflakes that need the world to cater to them or they can’t function. They’re the kind that wish they could buy Apple suppositories and dental cream.
What Airport Express plugging in to stereo system fo streaming? Am I missing something (as usual)?
Airport Express was an unadvertised gem in Apple’s portfolio. In addition to wifi bridging it enabled Airplay for legacy stereo speakers —analog or digital mini Toslink. Too bad Apple couldn’t keep a good thing going. Apple didn’t even update it beyond 802.11n. When the Airport Express dies, I will have a new wiring project to do. Pain in the butt but wires are cheaper and more reliable than any other wireless bridge system for sale now.
Yes, Apple is basically just a phone company now. Everything else is amateur hour.
Fuck Tim Cook, now I can buy routers that need booting every month and drop me 3 times a month.
Sounds like you are rooTED
Is that really necessary? Watch your language. Thanks!
And what about Airplay now that Airport is dead? How are they thinking?
How are they thinking?
Why, differently, of course.
1) Airports (for me) were stable devices. When I first used airports instead of third party I was astonished how much more stable they were. They were designed from ground up to work with Apple devices. We’ve always said iPhones are better because Apple controls the chip, the OS and the design. Built for each other, seamless, is better.
Now I got a third party Wifi device and I’ve lost connections to various parts of the house and need a booster which I never had to with my Airport.
With Airport I had an interface to trouble shoot, the 3rd party Wifi that came with my cable provider is mainly built for PCs and most the Apple interface is ON the WEB ! so if my Wifi is dead so is the troubleshooting stuff…
2) An Airport COULD have been, if they had INCREASED its capabilities instead of IGNORING it, a HUB to easily control and configure the increasingly complex house network.
With Airplay, with TV shows, phones on Wifi, HomePods, Minis as servers, etc surely a control and troubleshooting hub for those who want them is a big plus?
Will any third party router maker ever have the capability, the inside knowledge of Apple devices or even the desire to make a router/controller as Apple could have done? My third party wifi has almost no Apple device configuration help ability beyond the very basic.
3) Small MARKET SHARE. OK maybe an airport market is small as many just use their cable providers wifi etc But Tim cook has said for SO MANY Apple initiatives form Apple Music on (plus rumours for the new TV shows) etc that Apple is not all in them for money but customer satisfaction. (note Apple music probably loses money as Spotify doesn’t make a profit).
at the end if we read about the absurd efforts put into the Campus:
are one and half year to design door handles, is campus window glass researched by Apple product designers more important than a hub for the Apple home network ?
Seamless ECO SYSTEM is Apple’s advantage. As others have pointed out today you can’t even plug new iPhones into some Macs without a dongle while you can with PCs…
Totally agreed.
Ever since I purchased the first Airpot device (Airport base station, was it? That was a long time ago), then Airport Extreme (flat box one), I have never experienced any issues, not even a single drop except to blame provider. Hard to believe, but it’s true. It was a true “plug it and forget it” product. Airport Extreme has been working well for so many years with a solid 5Ghz connections and strong signals, when I heard that Apple might be dropping the Airport, I immediately purchased blindly the latest AirPort Extreme (a long cube one), fully knowing it might be of somewhat obsolete design. But hey, it’s been working so great without a single issue, I needed a spare. And I think it was a bargain price (something like C$250 or so?, a rare bargain in today’s Cook/Apple world) when other brands of routers cost hundreds of dollars. I am willingly pay Apple Taxes for something worth it. Perhaps Cook does not know what the router is, and how to properly price it, thank you!
Yes.
Also to get a third party Wifi router or booster you have to do research, looking through reviews etc. if it doesn’t work properly you have to return it.
Just looking through reviews is probably a couple of hours.
How much is time worth?
I bet many Apple users would gladly pay an ‘Apple premium’ of 50-100+ for Apple wifi devices and as you say ” a true “plug it and forget it” product and one if they boosted it’s capabilities can be a ‘control hub’ as well.
As an INVESTOR too , seeing the stock get trashed because too many analysts emphasize iPhone, isn’t it better for Apple to widen its product base especially in things it’s good at?
With one billion plus Apple users there’s no market for Apple routers? Sales might be down simply because Apple IGNORED it like the Mac Mini (until recently) , the Mac Pro etc.
Obviously all of that is completely wrong. Apple has built a multi-hundred billion dollar company without any of that nonsense.
Next you’ll want Apple to build fridges and washing machines, too.
Please get your head out of your ass, it’s dark and smelly and not conducive to thinking straight.
Ever since Apple announced their withdrawal from the WiFi bidness I have wondered over and over why they didn’t just get on the mesh bandwagon and make it ‘just work’ for all of us invested in the Apple ecosystem.
I don’t think it was innovation (even though they have been slow on many fronts) adding another frequency band to allow inter-router communication while not slowing throughput (different from speed…) couldn’t have been that big of a hurdle.
Profits? No, again I don’t see this as the reason, especially had they been on the bleeding edge like they were for WiFi in the 90s. Ever notice how any businesses use Airports just for reliability??
I’m starting to wonder if a huge part of why Apple has dropped WiFi, monitors, servers and a few other peripherals is SUPPORT! They spend so much on call centers, tech support, genius bars and grills plus warranty/recall headaches that they simply don’t WANT to tie up resources supporting something like routers when they have so many man/hours tied up with phone support and some computer issues. They simply don’t want the headache from so may ‘newbies’ trying to configure networks.
you make a very interesting point of ‘call support’ which didn’t occur to me.
Replaced Apple with an Orbi several months ago and very pleased with performance.
The Airport line has been a huge benefit to millions. It became a “hobby” about 5 years ago instead of a business when Apple “lost interest” and was happy raking in profits but not thinking about how to help its customers network in the future. Next, Apple will drop Macs, which are currently in the “hobby” mode, being updated only when the customers become a nuisance and complain after four or five years without an update. Soon, it will just be iPhones and Apple Watch and coffee table books.
Pretty much. And around about the time iOS is turning 18, they’ll be transitioning to the next big thing and all the millions of iOS users will be feeling the pain macOS users are feeling today. Apple II to PowerMac, PowerMac to Intel Mac, Intel Mac to iOS… I could probably find an old Apple II or PowerMac article now, repost it without the name of the system and you’d think it was written yesterday.
Timmy & Jonny can see the future & it’s not in Airport thingimajigs, it all about MeMojis & they’re gonna take over the world.
I’ve just transitioned from my AirPort Extreme AC to a Ubiquiti Unifi access point and Edge Router. I didn’t want the router from my telco when I changed from DSL to FTTH two weeks ago and the Airport Extreme didn’t support VLAN tagging. I also replaced my network switch with one that supports VLANs so I can separate my IoT devices from the other devices. Even with being a tech savvy person it was a pain to configure everything. It would have been nice to have an easy to use Apple product that integrated this capability for IoT, HomeKit, guests, and iDevices. I guess I’m dreaming . . . .
Idiots. Apple has a partnership with Cisco. That is why Apple will not compete with them. Also companies like Eero is doing good job so Apple lives space for them.
Got a Linkys from Cisco a few years back and it gave a lot more problems than my AirPort.
Apple has deals with Samsung, Intel, Google, Qualcomm etc and it doesn’t stop them from making their own devices when it serves them. Look at Apple Maps after Apple had a map deal with Google. Apple even had a Motorola Apple PHONE , the Rokr. Jobs called it a failure and decided that building your own phone is better, the rest is history…
Good ridden , Apple airport stuff was just another apple hobby destined for abandonment.
I dumped that crap years ago for Ubiquiti stuff and never looked back. I haven’t had to restart my stuff now for years. With Apple you had to restart to get your speeds back.
Watch out for apple hobbies, you get dropped without notice and left holding the bag.
I was disappointed to hear this. I sold my now obsolete Extreme and Time Capsule for top dollar on Amazon and got the Google Mesh WiFi System which I think is more stylish than the Eero. Super strong WiFi and self-adjusting to minimize interference without rebooting.
i don’t know why everyone is so upset, the apple wifi equipment was total consumer garbage. it has terrible throughput and 0 access to normal settings like every other cheaper better faster smarter wifi widget out there.
GOOD RIDDANCE,
we changed out our whole fleet for ubiquiti ages ago and its light years ahead in tech and speed and everything else apple could possible have thought of.
you’re arguing that somehow AirPort is ‘Naturally Bad’, nope it’s only not the best because Apple wilfully IGNORED it, like they ignored the Mac Mini and Pro.
so it’s so wonderful that a company who ignores a product, doesn’t update it, a perviously best selling highly rated device, and then abandons it?
Apple almost did the SAME thing with the MAC DESKTOP LINE. They only upgraded the Mini — which non updated had become a PERFORMANCE JOKE compared to PCs — because iPhone sales are now FLAT. I.e they need more revenue. So it have been great for Mac users if Apple abandon all the Macs if there was more money selling iCloud Storage?
So if Ford doesn’t update it’s cars but tries selling tech y’know like 2015 models at full price today and then it doesn’t sell and cancels all the cars, it’s so great? You’re going to say to Ford fans and investors : “hey ! Get a Toyota. ”
People argue ‘why build Wifi when others do it’
so did Apple buy Beats when there are plenty of great Head Phones etc?
Why did Apple make the iPhone when there were other phones?
Google Maps is STILL better than Apple Maps in many areas yet Apple keeps plugging at it…
I’m angry because if Apple PAID ATTENTION, they could have made a new GREAT DEVICE, I’m angry because as a consumer and investor I realize it’s all about ECO SYSTEM. I’m worried because the HEART of Apple, what made it great was wonderful hardware and software, now they are paying so much attention to emojis, campus furniture, watch bands etc.
Look the way to get Apple to notice your disgust is to:
Boycott their services, iCloud, Maps the stores; as many as you can
Don’t update your phones.
In other words give them a good kick up the bum.
I’ve got a 6sPlus which I’m not going to upgrade until I’m dragging and kicking to do so. Likewise Apple has hobbled me when it comes to Mojave as some of my critical software can’t be upgraded so my 2015 iMac and High Sierra is as far as I go for the foreseeable future.
I know this might sound harsh but until Apple takes a real hit to their profits they’ll blithely and arrogantly go about screwing us over and over and again.
Oh, and for the record, I absolutely refuse to use iCloud and I limit myself from using their Maps programme as well. Buying from “the store” forget it! In fact I’m so pissed off with Apple (pardon my language) that I go out of my way to limit my involvement with the company out of principle. Do I use Windows? No! Do I use Android products? No! Do I naively and continuously hand over money to a company that screws me over and over again? No way. Maybe you should do the same thing.
Timmy Cook, Steve’s worst mistake.
Daggone boys, I wanted to read comments, not a blasted novel. Whew…
I donno guys — having invested in Apple products (lots of them, going all the way back to the 128K Mac) — I’m just not feeling your pain. Apple products will always be mission-critical to our operation yet we’re comfortable adding higher-end 3rd party displays, router, server, etc. into the mix. We are a professional shop with high volume digital output (we’re pushing 100/100 fiber) yet we’re happy with a bunch of maxed-out iMacs. I think the new Mini holds great promise, and if there is a modular PowerMac on the way, great! But since we’re not VR designers, we may not need it.