Ah , the humble wireless router : a staple fibre of the net age , something we ’ve all got tuck away in our house somewhere ( or regretful , out in full vista ) . They ’re a pain , a affair that sometimes just needs to be boot for no apparent reasonableness , whose error can be bewilder , and whose troubleshooting and direction can make even the most technical school - discernment among us grit their teeth in frustration .
It did n’t have to be this way . Once upon a clock time , Apple was in the business of making wireless router . The AirPort rail line debut in 1999 , at the same case where Apple introduce the iBook , the first consumer computer to offer build - in wireless networking . Over the course of study of nearly more than a decade , Apple made a successiveness of the devices , until it finallydiscontinuedthe line in 2018 .
And now , more than ever , it ’s starting to feel like that might have been a fault . Is it too late ? Could an AirPort resurgence save us from the pain of make do with inferior routers ? Or are we consigned to a futurity of annoyance and irritation ?
Dawn of wireless
One of the things that made the AirPort line great was that it fall at the heyday of Apple ’s vaunted approach to technological easiness . In an geological era where most the great unwashed were just starting to get online and where Wi - Fi was in its infancy , Apple ’s AirPort was an easy and fast way for consumers to get up and unravel , without have to know much about networking at all .
I had an AirPort Extreme in my abode for around a decade as the sole wireless router , and in that fourth dimension , I almost never had military issue with my connection . Thanks to its app - based management system , I did n’t have to distribute with janky WWW interface ( though it did have its weaknesses , like a very slow reboot that seemed to be required with even the most minor of changes ) . And the AirPort Extreme pack a fate of top executive and features into a twist design with Apple ’s earmark elegance , a boxful that did n’t offend if it sat below your TV .
While much of the AirPort line was certainly expensive for the fourth dimension , the prices are hardly farcical by the standards of today ’s wireless router , which can often ladder to $ 150 or more for a top - of - the - stock mannequin . And the dependableness that arrive along with the AirPort was well worth the price , given the “ set it and forget it ” nature .
Apple ’s AirPort Utility allow for an interface that ’s friendly to apply than many web - ground tools that currently are used by routers .
orchard apple tree
AirPort, terminal
Alas , Apple ’s ingress into the wireless router market was n’t designate to last . As with other marketplace in which the society once competed , like printer and exhibit , routers had become commoditized , with toll more and more driven down and lots of option from companies that seemed to view web as their primary business . On the other side , internet service provider increasingly pushed their own router , cluster with their service , and often combined with a modem , and many consumers took that way of life of least underground .
The last AirPort the society raise , the AirPort Time Capsule , have the Wi - Fi 5 ( previously known as 802.11ac ) monetary standard that ’s still largely in use of goods and services today and came out in 2013 — a full five eld before the ship’s company formally pulled the plug on the blood .
These Day , you could still find used AirPorts and Time Capsules drift around , even on Amazon , and I ’ve been mightily allure every clip I have an issue with my current router . But hope springs unceasing that Apple might rethink its conclusion to allow for the grocery and see the vantage to build a new AirPort that match and even excel what it antecedently extend .
The AirPort Time Capsule stand up magniloquent even during its demise in 2018 .
Why not fi?
One reason for Apple to parachute back into the grocery store is control : wireless technology has become an even more cardinal part of Apple ’s ecosystem . After all , most of its devices rely on a Wi - Fi connexion , and Apple is a company that really like control the whole experience , from soup to ball . An increase number of smart home gadgets also are now building in support for Thread , a feature that Apple itself has incorporated into its HomePod miniskirt and in style Apple TV .
One major teddy that happen not long after Apple left the wireless router marketplace was the advent of consumer - oriented wireless web system . These use multiple memory access detail to blanket a big area with a unlined Wi - Fi connection — guess products like Eero , Ubiquiti , and AmpliFi . These products command a high price tag end , but they ’re also mean to be childlike and no - fuss — precisely the variety of market that Apple often excels in .
Moreover , there are opportunity for Apple to distinguish itself from its competitors by allow a privacy - focused equipment that helps users keep off tag on any of their equipment , perhaps by building in a system similar to the iCloud Private Relay lineament it debuted in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey .
Surely Apple could design a more appealing multi - gig router than this .
Gordon Mah Ung
There ’s also a fortune to one - up the state of the art on design . So many popular wireless routers calculate as though they ’ve been created by Batman , with knifelike angulate edges and antennas pointing every which manner . Mesh organization tend to be a petty more esthetically pleasing , which has a operational advantage as well : you wo n’t seek to conceal them in places that may not be beneficial to distribute a wireless signaling throughout your dwelling house .
The farseeing and short of it is that there remain opportunity in this space , and it ’s one that , on a technical , design , and privacy front seems to — if you ’ll excuse the expression — mesh well with on the dot the tech that Apple does best . While I do n’t hold great hopes that the fellowship will re - enter the commercial enterprise , I can but dream . Now , if you ’ll excuse me , I need to go restart my router again .
