I was told that Apple no longer offers time machine but I still am reading articles about time machine being used for backup. I have a MacBook Pro 2015.

quijotenh wrote:

I have a MacBook Pro 2015 and my time machine is no longer working. The light is constant Amber on it. I called Apple for help and I was told that Apple no longer offers Time Machine but every thing that I’m running into says I need to use Time Machine. I’m confused can somebody please explain to be why Time Machine is still being discussed in 2021 when I was told it no longer exists? Thank you!

—Back up your Mac with Time Machine: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

TimeMachine is most certainly available on every OS since it's inception; it's never been dropped.

Check your system preferences and you'll seen a greenish TM icon. If it's not there, your system is flawed.

Sorry about the image size, I'm not really shouting.

The Time Capsule was sold as a Wi-Fi Router that also can do Time Machine backups with a drive internally or connected. Many makers of Routers support a backup drive connected to the Router, but not all are compatible.

There is a small possibility of buying a new Router, connecting a drive to it, and discovering it NOT capable of working with Time Machine.

A Router you buy today Amy have additional capabilities and may support some faster speeds using more modern Wi-Fi protocols. It is not clear older devices can immediately benefit, but eventually they will.

You're simply confusing different products and features that have similar names. If you want to backup, and use a current Apple protocol, you use TimeMachine. Most likely the tech was responding to your questions and just not inserting his own opinions, biases and preferences.

Many devices that are not Apple brand work flawlessly with Macs. Just one example: Apple no longer makes stand alone monitors, the Mac Mini has no monitor; therefore if you want a new monitor, you have to use a non Apple brand.

You're way overthinking this, it's just not this difficult. Get a brand name external drive (SSD or HDD; your choice), connect it with the proper cable and backup your data. The whole idea is to protect your data, and TimeMachine is the Apple way if you want to use Apple's app. The more you talk and not act the longer your data is at risk.

For quijotenh: Notice the dates and times:

This is a s screen shot of my TM Panel. TM is alive and well and this very day I used it to migrate data to a new external SSD.

Sorry, don't have any. Hard wired is just too simple and effective to consider backing up any other way.

I do use Carbon Copy Cloner, but that's wired too.

Also, if you are backing up just one Mac, a directly-connected Time Machine drive will seem much less obtrusive, because it will be done in no time.

You will never 'catch it in the act' of making a backup (except the first), it will always be the backup that just gets done (quietly in the background), and is there when you need it.

You may be confusing the Time Machine app with the Time Capsule. The AirPort Time Capsule is a wireless router which was sold by Apple Inc., featuring network-attached storage and a residential gateway router. Apple no longer produces the AirPort Time Capsule and now does not support it.

Time Machine is an app that creates backup files of your Mac on an external storage drive. This can be any storage drive.

If you have the AirPort Time Capsule and were backing up files to it with the use of the Time Machine app, then it should still work as long as it is connected to your Mac over the Wi-Fi Network. The light on your AirPort Time Capsule should be GREEN when it is connected to the Internet. It is AMBER when there is no Internet connection.

My recommendation is to reboot the AirPort Time Capsule and see whether that resolves the issue.

Axel F.