Apple has apparently disbanded its internal wireless router development team, assigning engineers to other, more lucrative projects within the company, and bringing to an end the development of Apple-branded routers, a new report has revealed.
All iPhone 4 models, the 2010 13-inch MacBook Air, third-generation AirPort Extreme, and mid-2009 AirPort Time Capsule will be added to Apple's vintage and discontinued list, as of Oct. 31.
Although the products are still available online, Apple no longer appears to be selling the AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule in its U.S. retail stores, according to a Friday report and checks by AppleInsider.
Apple's new tower-shaped AirPort Extreme is simple to take apart, and utilizes the same design layout as the company's new Time Capsule, including space for a 3.5-inch hard drive.
Apple's iPods, iPads, Apple TV and wireless base stations are all on sale this Friday, with savings of up to $45 on the iPad 2, $40 on the iPod touch and $49 on Time Capsules.
Apple on Thursday released a pair of firmware updates to address an unexpected shutdown issue with MacBook Pro notebooks and to provide fixes for its AirPort and Time Capsule wireless base stations.
Apple will soon begin shipping a new version of its AirPort Express portable 802.11n base station, capping a recent series of refreshes to the company's line of WiFi routers ahead of this fall's iCloud launch.
Detailed testing has revealed dramatic improvements in the performance of Apple's latest Airport Extreme and Time Capsule wireless base stations.
The new AirPort Extreme was quietly released by Apple this week with no mention of new features, but it actually has increased power output for increased Wi-Fi signal strength and range.
On the heels of Tuesday's Time Capsule update, Apple has quietly updated its Airport Extreme wireless base station without advertising any new features.
A new filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has revealed an updated AirPort Extreme wireless base station from Apple is forthcoming.
A new unverified report claims Apple's next-generation Mac Pro will feature a custom CPU and have a rack-mountable "server" version.
Users of Apple's latest Airport Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule hardware, released in October 2009, have reported instability and significant reductions in speed when using the routers at the 5GHz wireless band.
Though it was given a software upgrade to version 3.0 in October, Apple TV sales have remained relatively flat over the past 12 months. Similarly, sales of AirPort base stations have struggled to gain momentum due to higher-than-average price points, resulting in minor share declines.
Both the AirPort Extreme wireless networking tool and Time Capsule backup appliance were given speed and performance upgrades by Apple on Tuesday.
Apple on Tuesday morning took its online stores offline and appears to be in the process of introducing the remainder of its Mac product line up for the 2009 holiday shopping season.
Apple on Tuesday released Final Cut Pro 6.0.6 to address playback issues on certain Mac Pro and Xserve systems. Separately, the company also issued a bug fix update for Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Express Base Stations that include 802.11n support.
Late Thursday evening, Apple released firmware updates for the 2009 Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme that resolves issues on the new devices. A parallel update also adds Back to My Mac drive sharing support to the prior generation of the wireless base stations.
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Neil Hughes
Ashley Wright
Roger Fingas
AppleInsider Staff
Josh Ong
Sam Oliver
Katie Marsal
Neil Hughes and Kasper Jade
Kasper Jade
Slash Lane
