4 ms·

Its not about margins (well, it is, but not primarily): its about story. The AirPort line was born during a time when your ISP only provided you with a modem,

by tammer 10y ago

Its not about margins (well, it is, but not primarily): its about story. The AirPort line was born during a time when your ISP only provided you with a modem, if that. Wireless connectivity was a brand new world that required new hardware. We're not in that world anymore: ISPs set up (and support!) wireless access with their networking at no extra charge. To most consumers, the AirPort went from being the simplest gateway to wireless coverage to being an accessory for the Apple-centric household. That's why you saw so many features added to the AirPort over time (hard drive, print server, airplay server). Bluetooth speakers, airplay receivers, AirPrint, etc. have over time obsoleted these uses. There's another story for the Mac Pro - although many professionals who look to the Mac as an option among many systems probably won't like it.

newscracker 10y ago
The ISP story you're talking about does not apply to the entire world. There are hundreds of ISPs who still charge for a WiFi router separately. No firmware updates coming in is a huge concern for all these routers and devices.
- symfoniq 10y ago
  Indeed. And where I live, pretty much everyone has municipal fiber. There is no ISP-provided default router—just an ethernet jack in your wall.
acjohnson55 10y ago
Yeah, but it's not just AirPort that's shrank. Apple appears to retreating on a whole bunch of fronts.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
muninn_ 10y ago
ISPs also charge you monthly for these services on top of your already existing service.
- douche 10y ago
  Usually for very mediocre equipment, and (if you have Comcast) it broadcasts publicly by default.
duaneb 10y ago
All of this makes sense if the routers they give you worked well. They don't. I find it impossible to airplay to the apple tv over the default comcast gateway, for a couple different reasons. So the idea that their products will 'just work' with the default setup is STILL laughable. Not that their Airport Extreme is the best on the market, but it's still something substantially more reliable than whatever ships with your cable modem.
pfranz 10y ago
As others have said, ISP wireless routers are terrible and many charge you monthly. A big, still unsolved issues with wifi is coverage. Most people only have one router and dead spots. Wifi repeaters exist, but have issues of their own and aren't user friendly. My ISP charges me monthly and my neighbor wanted my WiFi password because his won't reach the other side of his house. Acquiring something like Eero would help improve that story. Integrate it into a bunch of Apple devices would help the ecosystem. I feel like Apple has given up a bit on Wifi and moved to out of band wifi and Bluetooth. I wish they had stuck to Wifi. I can't really use AirDrop because my laptop is too old and doens't support out of band wifi. I was very confused why two AppleTVs showed up when trying to use AirPlay until after googling I found out one was Bluetooth and the other was WiFi.

by tammer 10y ago

newscracker 10y ago

The ISP story you're talking about does not apply to the entire world. There are hundreds of ISPs who still charge for a WiFi router separately. No firmware updates coming in is a huge concern for all these routers and devices.

symfoniq 10y ago
Indeed. And where I live, pretty much everyone has municipal fiber. There is no ISP-provided default router—just an ethernet jack in your wall.

acjohnson55 10y ago

Yeah, but it's not just AirPort that's shrank. Apple appears to retreating on a whole bunch of fronts.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

muninn_ 10y ago

ISPs also charge you monthly for these services on top of your already existing service.

douche 10y ago
Usually for very mediocre equipment, and (if you have Comcast) it broadcasts publicly by default.

duaneb 10y ago

All of this makes sense if the routers they give you worked well. They don't. I find it impossible to airplay to the apple tv over the default comcast gateway, for a couple different reasons. So the idea that their products will 'just work' with the default setup is STILL laughable. Not that their Airport Extreme is the best on the market, but it's still something substantially more reliable than whatever ships with your cable modem.

pfranz 10y ago

As others have said, ISP wireless routers are terrible and many charge you monthly. A big, still unsolved issues with wifi is coverage. Most people only have one router and dead spots. Wifi repeaters exist, but have issues of their own and aren't user friendly. My ISP charges me monthly and my neighbor wanted my WiFi password because his won't reach the other side of his house. Acquiring something like Eero would help improve that story. Integrate it into a bunch of Apple devices would help the ecosystem. I feel like Apple has given up a bit on Wifi and moved to out of band wifi and Bluetooth. I wish they had stuck to Wifi. I can't really use AirDrop because my laptop is too old and doens't support out of band wifi. I was very confused why two AppleTVs showed up when trying to use AirPlay until after googling I found out one was Bluetooth and the other was WiFi.