Predictions about Apple Wi-Fi products

[sfx2000]

As of 5/27/16 - after a pretty rare firmware update push for the AC and 11n models...

Airports have been pulled off retail shelves according to many reports - and most online stores are showing out of stock.

This is typical of Apple's inventory channel management when a new model is getting ready to ship..

With WWDC around the corner - I'm expecting an update on these devices... the AC models are Wave1 AC1900 class, and the Expess as a 11n device with 100base-T is especially out of date..

Current Gen Extremes are Broadcom based, the Express is QCA based, so it's a bit of a crapshoot as to what next gen airports are - my gut tells me QCA for both the Extreme and the Express - at least as far as Radio's are concerned (Apple has mixed vendors in the past with Router side vs. Radio side).

I wouldn't expect new form factors - Airports tend to evolve slowly...

The SW bundle might get some updates - HomeKit integration would be expected, and perhaps more iCloud support (Airports lack there) and software app update caching - the caching support has been with OS Server.app for some time.

Never know with Apple though.

 

[sfx2000]

Conservative guess based on market trends and chipsets - if same form factor...

Apple likely needs to move, as chipset vendors have sunset many of the current chips they're using.

Extreme AC - Broadcom SoC (current) with QCA 3*3:3 MU support on the Wifi Side - current antenna config is pretty complex, so if current FF, expect 3-stream..

Express - move from 11n to 11ac - 2*2:2 AC867 SU, perhaps with GiGE support - this is a no-brainer...

 

[thiggins]

Or maybe they just get out of the business. Can't be much of a money maker for them.

 

[sfx2000]

Or maybe they just get out of the business. Can't be much of a money maker for them.

Airports have never been a big business for them relative to their other product lines - but they do roll in a fair amount of features to support their ecosystem..

 

[sfx2000]

As of 5/27/16 - after a pretty rare firmware update push for the AC and 11n models...

The fact that Apple pushed out an update suggests that there is new product in development as they haven't touched that code in a very long time..

 

[RMerlin]

The fact that Apple pushed out an update suggests that there is new product in development as they haven't touched that code in a very long time..

Could also be related to the June 2nd deadline approaching.

 

[sfx2000]

Could also be related to the June 2nd deadline approaching.

Maybe - but they've never really been a concern for 3rd party firmware - e.g. they run NetBSD, not Linux, and they lock down the bootloader and STA drivers - it's about as closed source as you can get - the BSD license let's them get away with it - and production airports won't load a modified firmware image in any event.

If I recall correctly - the broadcom units use CFE, and the 11n devices use uboot (marvell on the 11n extremes, and atheros on the 11n 2012 model)

 

[sfx2000]

Or maybe they just get out of the business. Can't be much of a money maker for them.

@thiggins - it's pretty well known that Airport's seem to have an AC-Extreme-ly critical eye on the main site...

FWIW though - when Apple jumps into the pool, they make big waves - and they dogfood the heck out of it.

When they did 11ac on the client side - they released the Extreme AC, and it was pretty much done - some security updates and a couple of app updates for their ecosystem, but for an AC1900 class device, they pretty much did it in one hump.

MU - If Extreme-AC NextGen (and perhaps Express NextGen) is MU - then you know MU is real, as they will release both clients and AP's that support it full on... this is how they work.

So watch what they do - they're the only vendor that is vertically oriented across these two spaces...

Again - all signs point towards a new product release - and we're due for an update on the Mac side as part of the regular product refresh..

We're going into WWDC - which is a time where Apple drops new products...

 

[JohnnySL]

@sfx2000: how about the rumour to integrate homekit, siri, and a speaker into the thing, just like Google and Amazon did?

 

[sfx2000]

@sfx2000: how about the rumour to integrate homekit, siri, and a speaker into the thing, just like Google and Amazon did?

Heard some rumors down that path - but I think Siri/Homekit/Speaker kind of stuff doesn't belong on a Router/AP, but something more like an extension of the AppleTV..

Many more people have AppleTV's than Airports - so it would make sense to put the focus there for those particular features/API's...

 

[bodean]

Guess we didn't see an Airport Extreme announcement. Guess the 6th generation lives on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sfx2000]

Yep - no HW announcements what so ever... probably no news until Oct timeframe then I guess...