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Apple Abandons Development of Wireless Routers, To Focus On Products That Return More Profit (bloomberg.com)
Apple has disbanded its division that develops wireless routers in a move that further sharpens the company's focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue, Bloomberg reports. From the article:Apple began shutting down the wireless router team over the past year, dispersing engineers to other product development groups, including the one handling the Apple TV. Apple hasn't refreshed its routers since 2013 following years of frequent updates to match new standards from the wireless industry. The decision to disband the team indicates the company isn't currently pushing forward with new versions of its routers. Routers are access points that connect laptops, iPhones and other devices to the web without a cable. Apple currently sells three wireless routers, the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time capsule. The Time capsule doubles as a backup storage hard drive for Mac computers.
Glad they explained what they are /s
"Routers are access points that connect laptops, iPhones and other devices to the web without a cable."
I'm so glad my Airport router died. In true Apple fashion, you needed external software to configure it. Totally bizarre.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
right now i find the easiest to work with are for a plig and play option i like the netgear nighthawk line. and for a little more customability (not to say the nighthawk cant be customized i simply have not done any) I like the linksys wrt 1900AC flashed with tomato
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Yeah, I'm at a loss as to why they think moves like this are sensible. The hard core of Apple fanboys who want all of their devices to have that same logo and to automagically work together
I don't care about the label, but I emphatically believe that devices I buy ought to "automatically" work together, and that this feature (which I call "functionality") is worth paying extra for.
Apple's killed off peripheral businesses in order to strengthen their core businesses before.
For example, Apple used to have a $1B/year printer business, which was highly profitable. They killed it, because doing so for them to get all the major printer companies to ship their standard printers with support for both PC and Mac, which ultimately grew Mac sales.
They used to sell a digital camera, the first consumer digital camera that was easy to use with a computer. When the digital camera industry developed some decent standards and became easy for consumers to use, Apple killed their digital camera, and sold Canon, Nikon, etc.
Same for AppleTalk -> EtherNet, ADB -> USB.
Apple introduced their routers when routers were extremely consumer hostile with horrible software, and Apple's routers are well made and very easy to set up and use, making it easy for Mac owners to get online. Now, routers have gotten a lot better, to the point where Apple doesn't need to invest R&D in making them usable.
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
The "flashed with tomato" part is key. I find the default Linksys router's stock firmware to be worse than useless. Alternately, I find the newer Asus routers (the ones that can update online) to be flexible out of the box without needing to be flashed