Apple quietly discontinues AirPort Utility, the last remnant of Apple's Wi-Fi era

It was bound to happen soon.

In the release notes of Apple's iOS 27 Beta 2, Apple confirmed that AirPort Utility, the app for managing Apple's now-discontinued AirPort routers (which also could connect to printers for AirPrint and speakers for AirPlay), will be discontinued and removed from the App Store in the latest update. Apple says:

AirPort Utility will no longer be available for new downloads from the App Store. If you previously downloaded the app, you can still re-download it. When using AirPort Utility on iOS 27 and later, functionality is not guaranteed.

It is important to note Apple's stipulation that while it will be available to redownload the app, the functionality is not supported or maintained. The support for the software is obviously over, but how long until the app is unusable? Plus, what could the software rely on that iOS 27 will cut out support for?

It is not clear what Apple will do with the software, and how many people it actually still affects. The AirPort line was discontinued almost 8 years ago, and most users of the routers had or now have moved to a different solution for their Wi-Fi, or AirPlay speakers (which now are replaced somewhat by HomePod and HomePod mini) and AirPrint.

The AirPort routers were very ahead of their time for much of their lifespan, and the usefulness was extended by Apple long after their popularity had started to decline. Apple essentially pioneered mesh networking, the system of routers where multiple Wi-Fi routers work together and talk to each other to get much more consistent coverage, decades before anyone else had entered the space.

This top spot of mesh networking extended from the late 1990s into the mid-2010s. Their "reign" ended right around 2015-2016 from other companies like Google and eero (which started around this time) finally paying attention to mesh networking. However, previous to this, Apple had essentially moved away from AirPort routers around 2013, with their last updates to the devices.

Around 2013, Wi-Fi providers started including all-in-one router/modem devices in their subscription bundles, so the need for separate hardware was fading. In addition to this, devices like the AirPort Time Capsule, which would back up users files and photos to a hard drive in your home, were not as profitable in the eyes of Apple as something like an iCloud subscription, which is ongoing. Apple's business model, around 2013 to 2016, was shifting away from physical hardware into software and services that are much easier to profit off of.

Then, around November of 2016, Apple disbanded the AirPort team and reassigned them to other teams within Apple. It was not until 2 years later in 2018 that Apple officially discontinued the remaining AirPort routers.

For the past 8 years or so, Apple has maintained support for the AirPort Utility app on iOS, allowing remaining users of the routers to continue to use and manage their devices. Now, it is clear that Apple is finally ready to move on from AirPort routers, over a decade after the last update for them.

Apple discontinuing the AirPort Utility app on iOS is sad and continues to signal Apple's new focus on software and services, as opposed to hardware. We will have to wait and see what Apple does soon.