Apple's latest AirPort Time Capsule expectedly similar to redesigned AirPort Extreme
Coming hours after Apple's AirPort Extreme received the teardown treatment, the same was done to the 802.11ac Wi-Fi router's HDD-packing sibling Time Capsule, with results expectedly showing no difference between the two aside from the hard drive and corresponding port.
After dismantling the AirPort Extreme earlier on Wednesday, iFixit released images of a torn down Time Capsule.
As expected, the empty space seen in the Extreme is filled by a hard drive, in this case a 2TB Seagate Barracuda. Other than the HDD and its accompanying mounting and cabling hardware, the Time Capsule is nearly identical to the Extreme.
There is one difference on the control board, however, in a port to connect with the HDD. This space was left empty on the AirPort Extreme version.
iFixit gives the AirPort time capsule the same 8 out of 10 score as the Extreme, noting the two products are almost identical.
25 Comments
So that means you can buy a cheaper Airport Extreme Basestation and add an Hard Drive yourself?
Of course it's similar. The only real difference between the two is one has a hard drive and backs up data and the other one doesn't. I wouldn't expect them to do much else that what they are doing. About the only thing I could see Apple doing is selling a hard drive kit with the various other clips and attachments to upgrade from a Extreme to a Time Capsule and also requiring a firmware upgrade. But doing it that way would more confusing to the average Joe Blow, it would increase support costs, especially since a lot of people might not be able to install the drive and firmware properly, thus requiring more after sale support. The way they are doing makes sense. There are reasons to buy both products, but functionally they do the same exact thing only one backs up data and the other doesn't. I'm wondering when they are going to offer a SSD version. God, do I hate hard drives.
I'm sure there is a little more to it than just a clip to attach the hard drive cable. I'm sure there is a controller chip that's on the board that's hidden in the picture. I doubt that Apple is going to put a hard drive controller chip in a product that doesn't have a hard drive.
"Coming hours after Apple's AirPort Extreme received the teardown treatment,"
Wasn't that obvious 'hours ago'?
Hell, I worked it out when I saw WWDC 2013.
"Coming hours after Apple's AirPort Extreme received the teardown treatment,"
Wasn't that obvious 'hours ago'?
Hell, I worked it out when I saw WWDC 2013.
Sounds like a eureka moment. Hours after having taken apart the two devices, like a bolt out the blue, the researcher suddenly realized that the detailed write up of each were exactly the same with only 2 sentences separating them. Then and only then did he realize the magnitude of the discovery! Stay tuned for next week when the new 11" MacBook Air with 256GB of flash storage is compared to the 512GB model; you won't believe what they found!