In yesterday’s Keynote presentation at WWDC 2013, Apple announced a few new products and a bunch of new features for both iOS and OS X. Two products that I feel weren’t given their fair share of the limelight were the new base stations — the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule.
Apple is keeping consistent with the naming convention of AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, but that is about it. The new base stations have a radically new design. Apple’s engineers wanted to increase the performance and as such, put the antennae at the top of the tower.
Now, the base station stands 6.6” tall with a 4“x4” footprint, giving you more space on your desk for more TPS reports. Not only did they move the antennae, but they added more of them! With a total of six antennae — three for the 2.4GHz band and the remaining three for 5GHz — you will certainly notice the boost in speed.
The changes to the shape have certainly had an impact on speed and efficiency. The new AirPorts are now up to three times faster utilizing the newest 802.11ac technology. This new protocol can theoretically reach data rates of up to 1.3Gbps. However, there is no need to worry if you don’t have any devices that are using 802.11ac — Apple has ensured their backwards compatibility to work with 802.11a/b/g/n as well.
They also support simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac. That means no matter which frequency you are on (2.4GHz or 5GHz) your device will automatically connect to whichever band will give you the fastest speeds. The last performance upgrade is some crazy thing called “Beamforming”. Most base stations emit a constant signal that decreases in strength as you get further away. Beamforming creates a tractor beam (not really but it sounds cool) between your device and the base station, but instead of pulling you in it just gives you the strongest, clearest and fastest signal possible.
Most other features have remained the same. Just like before connecting is as easy as ever. Using either your Mac or compatible iOS device you can set up your home network in three easy steps. Once you have the whole kit-n-caboodle up and running, you can manage the network once again from either your Mac or iOS device. If you opt for the iOS version you will want to download the AirPort Utility App found here..
If you choose the Time Capsule over the Extreme, you will once again be left with the decision between 2TB or 3TB; easy right? And regardless of which model you go with, you still have the ability to print without wires with Apple’s AirPrint technology.
My one gripe is with the ports in the back. Sadly, the AirPort Extreme still has a USB 2 port and not a USB 3. I suppose the engineers at Apple figure the bottleneck will be your network speed and not the USB’s speed but come on, Apple — you’ve already got the tech there, so just use it! Besides that, I simply love this revamp to the AirPort line. I know that I will be getting an Extreme as soon as I can.