New Airport Extreme, iOS-friendly Time Capsules imminent?

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Information on Apple's new Airport Extreme 802.11n, dual-band routers has just hit the FCC, according to Engadget, who speculate:

it'll also arrive with support for the new three-stream standard for 450Mbps over both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac has a source that claims Time Capsules could be bumped up to 2TB and 3TB models, and both the Time Capsules and Airport Extreme could drop in price as well.

The big news for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users is the continuing rumors that Time Capsule could serve as a local cache for iCloud, or at the very least [download and cache [iOS 5](/ios] (and OS X Lion) software updates](/2011/06/02/apple-time-capsules-cache-ios-software-updates).

The new Airport Extreme and Time Capsules could hit any day now. Anyone planning on jumping on them?

[Engadget, 9to5Mac]

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

11 Comments
  • I just hope they update the one I bought a little over a year ago...
  • Would be great if AirPort Extreme could communicate with my NAS to store those updates. I do not need Time Capsule
  • No need. I only see the iOS caching a benefit for small IT shops or establishments that need to "push" out updates for several iOS devices. For a home scenario, it's not a big deal to update a couple of devices. Plus, with iOS 5's incremental update feature, I don't see the big deal in caching that info on a Time Capsule.
  • No but I might get a new appletv when they come out for that wireless video mirroring.
  • The Time Capsule is so ridiculous expensive !!!
  • Any idea yet if it allows port forwarding? Can you open ports to internal web servers, voip phone servers, etc. etc ??
  • The previous Airport Extremes already had port forwarding.
  • Hm, OK. Guess I missed it. How about QOS for VoIP phone calls or games or whatever?
  • It'd be nice if apple includes a http-based configuration page so it can be configured via iPhone/iPad. Or an Airport Utility app would work too. If they do, I'll get one.
  • iOS 5 supposedly has that feature built into settings.http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/ios-5-includes-airport-and-time-caps...
  • Awesome! iOS 5 is turning out to be great!