Time Machine and Time Capsule replacement
⚠️ work in progress ⚠️
Apple ended their AirPort Wi-Fi product line in 2018, announced Time Machine server support using SMB, and has more recently ended support for Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) storage access in macOS 26.
In aggregate, this means AirPort Time Capsule no longer works for Time Machine.
But Time Machine still works fine to both local and remote storage.
If you want to replace your Time Capsule with more modern remote storage, there are many fine choices. Available hardware alternatives include: Ubiquiti UNAS various, Synology NAS, UGREEN NAS, TrueNAS, ZimaOS, a Mac running macOS 11 or later and with sufficient local storage, and various other options (also) supporting Time Machine server exist.
Whatever NAS you pick needs Time Machine server support: Apple-provided info
Available NAS options range from open-source options using hardware you may already have, to the NAS storage-focused boxes for home or business, to more capable NAS storage servers with storage and various other useful capabilities added.
Toward the less-expensive end — and here ignoring memory and HDD prices lately — is an RPi or x86-64 box running TrueNAS or ZimaOS. You’ll learn more about how that all works by building your own.
Toward the storage-focused end, Ubiquiti offers the UNAS 2 two-bay, for instance. This provides storage and storage-focused services.
Toward the higher range providing network-connected services well beyond storage, Synology has dozens of add-on network services available for their NAS boxes, and many (most?) are free. (list)
Want to learn more?
To get an overview of recent third-party NAS and available NAS options, the NAS Compares website and YouTube are a good resource.
Some of the previous discussions, and articles:
- Time Machine not backing up to network - Apple Community
- time machine backup to multiple macs on o… - Apple Community
- Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support
- etc.
Timeline
Start of AFP deprecation circa 2013: https://www.apple.com/media/us/osx/2013/docs/OSX_Mavericks_Core_Technology_Overview.pdf
AFP deprecated 2017, including incompatibility with APFS file system:
https://9to5mac.com/2016/06/13/apple-file-system-apfs/
The Time Machine server spec was published in 2018, if not earlier:
Time Machine Over SMB Specification
Wi-Fi network options
If your Time Capsule was (also) used for routing and gateway tasks, many options exist, including Ubiqiti, Zyxel, Synology, eero, and other fine choices.
Very few available networking options combine storage, gateway, and Wi-Fi functions in one box, though Synology does have a few options.
The beginning of the end of AFP with macOS 10.9 Mavericks: