When I plug it in, airport utility says "This version of Airport Utility requires this Airport Extreme use firmware 7.3.1 or later." BUT, it doesn't give me an option to update the firmware?! HELP!? I've tried it on my two iMacs. An older iMac at the office Retina, built in 2015, running Monterey 12.6.8 and a new iMac at home, that's totally up today.
An A1143 could be either a 1st or 2nd generation 802.11n AirPort Extreme base station. A 1st gen would be Order#: MA073LL/A; the 2nd would be: MB053LL/A. Both of these are considered "obsolete" by Apple Support and basically not repairable should they fail.
Neither of these are simultaneous dual-band models ... meaning they operate on either the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands, but not on both simultaneously.
As far as firmware updates, both can be upgraded to: 7.8.1. They both came originally with: 7.2.1.
Ref:
Update the firmware on your AirPort base station - Apple Support
An A1143 could be either a 1st or 2nd generation 802.11n AirPort Extreme base station. A 1st gen would be Order#: MA073LL/A; the 2nd would be: MB053LL/A. Both of these are considered "obsolete" by Apple Support and basically not repairable should they fail.
Neither of these are simultaneous dual-band models ... meaning they operate on either the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands, but not on both simultaneously.
As far as firmware updates, both can be upgraded to: 7.8.1. They both came originally with: 7.2.1.
Ref:
Update the firmware on your AirPort base station - Apple Support
I understand except I can't update the firmware on either of my two iMacs. I simply get a message telling me: "This version of Airport Utility requires this Airport Extreme use firmware 7.3.1 or later." Airport utility doesn't give me ANY option to upgrade the firmware and doesn't let me proceed.
Kind of a Catch 22.
The ancient AirPort Extreme that you have......(It was discontinued 15 years ago and is long Obsolete according to Apple)......requires a much older version of AirPort Utility to be able to update the firmware to the point where AirPort Utility on your Macs can be used to administer the AirPort Extreme.
We are talking about a Mac running a 10+ year old operating system like Leopard or Snow Leopard here.
Ironically, if you have a PC, it might be worth a try to download AirPort Utility 5.6.1 for Windows to see if that might be able to run a firmware update. But....this version of AirPort Utility was designed to run on Windows 7, so things are going to be "iffy" at best.
Download AirPort Utility 5.6.1 for WindowsApple SupportOfficial Apple Support › ...
i have a "new" but older airport extreme. Model A1143.
