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The author of that article shows both a profound misunderstanding of how many consumers actually purchase WiFi routers and very likely is incorrect that Apple is "shutting down" anything. It would be very different if there were LAYOFFS announced, instead the reassignment of the engineers toward things like AppleTV very likely means that Apple will be expanding the functionality so that devices will work in a "mesh" system as is the case with google's costly WiFi -- https://store.google.com/config/google_wifi
I have used several router brands and models through the years, and none have been as reliable as the Apple routers. These go by the model name "Airport Express," and so on. Buy they are expensive depending on which model you buy.
The article is not at all clear as to what is really happening. The fact is that current Apple Airport Extreme devices are pretty much priced at PARITY for similar high-end AC1300 MIMO beam forming access points. That standard has been slow for others to adopt but now there are MANY of these available from all the traditional networking firms. Apple was WAY WAY ahead in making both the routers and devices that could benefit from such technology.
Going forward there is very likely going to be a battle for the new high end of MESH based routers from Eero, Orbi, Luma, Amplifi and Google. It might not make sense for Apple to compete with these offerings BUT SO FAR none of these products are being offered for sale the online or physical Apple Store nor Apple has NOT slashed the price of its Airport devices so I would not rule the possibility of Apple doing something like ADDING MESH functionality into the AppleTV and expanding the reach of "smart home" type devices...
I have used several router brands and models through the years, and none have been as reliable as the Apple routers. These go by the model name "Airport Express," and so on. Buy they are expensive depending on which model you buy.
To the best of my knowledge (and I could be wrong) - Apple never sold routers. They sell access point/hotspots. But this is more a pet peeve of someone who used to be a network engineer.
That said - I'm a bit surprised that they would make this move. While 5% doesn't seem like much - one of Apple's success keys is by keeping folks within their ecosystem. And this move essentially removes one of those controls that sort of keep people (especially those that are less tech savvy) on Apple products.
I'll just be over here eating my own words.... ;-).
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