My original model AirPort Express has been dedicated to only AirPlay for a long time (the WiFi is even deactivated as much as I can make it it’s connected by Ethernet cable to my AirPort Extreme), I don’t expect it to fail but if it did, I know there are options.
Bluetooth has become much more common for wireless audio receivers and speakers but there are 3rd party WiFi audio receivers. The AirPlay protocol for audio was reverse-engineered long ago and others have been able to make hardware and software that supports it for a long time. Devices like this iDER audio receiver I saw on Amazon are much cheaper than an Apple Airport Express.
I’m not concerned about Apple dropping AirPlay support once AirPlay 2 is done, especially not for audio.
Yes, but another user responded earlier about an iPhone app that allowed them to configure a non-Apple router, which is what I think Jack is referring to. I doubt that it is as user friendly as the Airport Utility, but it’s a start.
So those with Macs and Airport networks are screwed.
John Ferman
Minneapolis, MN
My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and as a result have a severe morale fibre deficiency, so I should not be expected to save the world."
Stupid idea - who at Apple decided this was the way forward? Probably the same person who decided to stop making cinema displays! Other routers i’ve tried just ‘suck’ in terms of performance and setup. The constant need to reboot the Netgear routers i tried made me mad - for no specific reason… they would just stop working requiring a restart. Airport extreme / express have never had a problem and work flawlessly with my Apple eco system. Buying what i can before they are gone for good. The reason my Apple devices work so well is because there is a quality wifi product tying it all together. Just dumb Apple, see you again in 2 or 3 years when you realise that the customer experience of your products suck without quality wifi… just like cinema displays - now Apple is making them again as the promised LG alternative is a bad substitute and terrible overall user experience affects the Apple brand.
But there are many quality WiFi products avaialable now at about the same price point as an airport express and a single extreme. Yes, most of the single netgear routers (and others) are pretty lousy, but that’s not where the market is heading.
Apple’s choices were to stop doing WiFi routers or to spend some time on the development of a Apple branded mesh product. I’m sure they looked at the math and the engineering resources and decided that there were enough good products out there that Apple didn’t need to have its own.
I know a lot of people with Mesh routers installed in the last year or two who are extremely happy. Mine is a lot better than the Aiprort in on major way, it can handle the way 60+ devices in my house which the airopiort simpoky couldn’t do *computers, printers, lights, smart hubs, speakers, televisions, game consoles, set top boxes, cameras, etc).
I wish Apple would make a device like Google’s Chromecast Audio. Of course, I’m sure Apple’s response would be to buy a HomePod. And now that I think about it, part of this decision may have been due to (upcoming?) AirPlay 2 incompatibilities and a desire to sell HomePods.
Or the same people who thought getting into the hiphop music radio station business or reality TV shows was more important than let’s say a serious Mac Pro, or ironing out bugs in HS or updating the Mac mini, or actually innovating macOS.
I agree entirely with you. It was a short-sighted decision driven by the same obnoxious people who have replaced passion at Apple with pure lust for market share and dividends.
Yeah, and it’s a good deal. A good, single-point, consumer-grade router runs about $150 these days. (Wirecutter’s current pick is $168.) An Eero will cost about double that. And a router will last, what, 3 or 4 years, realistically? So over four years I’ll spend $144 on my router, and if something goes wrong with it, my ISP will replace it at no extra charge.
It’s also a great, commercial-grade router that’s probably better than anything I could buy. I get signal all the way out to my shop, which is about 200 yards away. It also almost never needs to be rebooted. I explained my rationale back in “How to Ensure High-speed Internet Access When Buying a New Home” (18 May 2017).
If my ISP rented crappy hardware for high prices (like when Comcast charged us $10 per month for an outdated, slow modem), then I’d absolutely buy a router. But in my case renting makes sense.
All routers are built to the same 802.11 standards and all are user configurable, though some more easily than others. There are probably millions of Apple users out there using third part routers they purchased themselves or where supplied by their ISP and although some have run into difficulties working with them, all such problems are solvable today and Apple backing out of that market will do nothing to change all that.
This is exactly where opinions differ. To the old Apple the relevant issue was not “if a problem was fundamentally solvable”, but rather, “is that solution accessible to everyday users”. The AP Extreme gave people a very reliable base station that required all of a few seconds to configure. Sure you can buy a great router somewhere and then you can configure it for as long as you want (or as much as you know how). But the reality today is that most people have crappy routers and reliability of their wifi networks often sucks. Who cares if those folks in principle could do better if only they had bought router xyz and read through three books on the topic? What the old Apple did was bring great performance to people with no clue. What the new Apple is now saying is screw those folks. Let them subscribe to our hiphop radio station instead.
(I realize the gist of your post was that any 802.11-compliant base station should work just fine with Macs and that’s of course correct. I just chose to focus on the aspect of “Why should Apple do…”)
Looks like I’d better go out and stock up on AirPort Express & AirPort Extreme units before they disappear.
Another sign that, under Tim Cook, Apple doesn’t give a darn about “the rest of us” anymore. The only WiFi units that I found were as easy to setup & use with Macs were the Buffalo units; of course they stopped making them years ago. All the others are PC-centric as far as I found, with only Windows software included. Of course they do allow Mac users rudimentary access via a web browser, but that isn’t as easy as AirPort Utility. BTDT.
The same igit who’s been making a mess at Apple for the last 7 years: TC! He screwed up the software side by letting a HARDWARE guy take it over (now how it looks is more important than that it works) and has been depreciating Mac computers more & more, except when he tries to pull the wool over user’s eyes as with the Mac Pro & iMac Pro. Both way over priced and not worth the money.
Besides being easier to use, Apple’s routers actually were pleasing to the eye. All the other router companies just keep adding more and more stick antennae so they are down right ugly with a capital UGH!
Admittedly I have already purchased the latest Extreme when Apple announced the end of development, but before I would stock up on additional Apple models I would take a serious look at the current offering of mesh routers. Everybody that has tried ones raves about coverage and speed and they don’t have a bunch of ugly stick antennas.
Dave Hamilton has been periodically swapping out a number of mesh products and reported updated facts concerning each here: How to Choose the Best Mesh Wireless System For Your Home.
He hasn’t included a “speed” section because, for the most part, they’re all fast enough for what most users need, but said maybe that will change in a future update?
A colleague of mine recently posted this advise:
“MOST users do NOT need a full mesh network. They need a mesh router, to which additional mesh routers or mesh points can be added to expand coverage or accommodate changing needs. I have installed single Ubiquiti UniFi mesh routers with no mesh points, which typically provide more than adequate evenly dispersed coverage in a single story 2000 - 3000 square foot premises. Multi-story structures, non-rectangular premises or coverage required in open spaces such as patios or decks my well require one or more additional mesh routers or mesh points, but it’s not likely that most users will. If they ever do, they can simply add additional devices.”
I looked at the mesh systems but it seemed to me that they are mainly for multi-story buildings. I currently live in a 2400 sqft ranch home and my router is in the middle of it in the living room. My computers are approximately 35 feet and 50 feet to the East respectively with a 5" interior wall (sheet rock & 2"x4")in between. My bedroom is to the West about 5 feet from the router again with a same construction interior wall. We are in the midst of downsizing to a smaller house in the next 12 months so I doubt I’ll need anything other than AirPort units.
However, I’ll keep looking at what non-Apple routers are available and if I need to get one, then I’ll go for the LEAST butt-ugly one! If that is impossible to find, then I’ll build something to hide what ever I get.
If that is impossible to find, then I’ll build something to hide what ever I get.