Apple today has announced that it has officially ended development of its AirPort line of products which includes AirPort Express, the AirPort Extreme, and the AirPort Time Capsule. Apple has not updated its AirPort products since 2012 (Express) and 2013 (Extreme and Time Capsule) and in late 2016.
The current AirPort engineers are being reassigned to other products. Apple with an aim to focus more on the products that generate the bulk of its revenue has reportedly started shutting down its AirPort unit in early 2016. The company has started selling third-party routers including Linksys Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System since January of 2018 following the news that Apple had shuttered the AirPort unit.
Apple’s AirPort offered unique benefits like built-in Time Machine backup support in the Time Capsule and AirPlay functionality for the AirPort Express and some of these features are not available through third-party. Apple will be providing service and parts for current generation AirPort Base Stations for the next five years. The company has shared support-documents to assist customers who are shifting to alternatives.
However, Apple will continue to sell the three AirPort products online and in its retail stores until available supplies are exhausted and no price drop is seen as of now.
Apple Spokesperson said:
We’re discontinuing the Apple AirPort base station products. They will be available through Apple.com, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last.