I've recently switched over to a MacBook Pro (500GB) and an iPad Pro (32GB). I also have Apple TV 4th Generation (32GB) and iPhone 7 (32GB). Is the AirPort Time Capsule a good purchase for total storage and ease of access across all devices or am I best sticking with my 50GB iCloud storage?
You need to understand what the TC does.. and what it does not do.
It was always a part of the apple lineup for laptops to do backups without needing extra drive plugged in.. ie it is going to backup over wireless automatically without people having to worry about DOING something.
TC is not nor has ever been a media server. It has no part in iOS line of products. From Apple's viewpoint your ipad and iphone do not have any connection to the TC hard drive whatsoever. That doesn't mean you cannot load an app to allow you storage of files.. it is simply that Apple designed it so that iOS either links to the computer.. and will backup via iTunes on your computer or to iCloud.
Ease of access across devices is totally iCloud.. there are no server extensions in the TC to do anything.
So the one and only "official" use I can see for a TC in your network is Time Machine backups from your MBP.
Otherwise it is merely a wireless router.. and an Airport Extreme or another brand will serve you just as well.
To add a bit to what LaPastenague has already covered......depending on what version of the Time Capsule you are looking at......one-half to two-thirds of the cost of the product is wrapped up in its function as a wireless router......which you may or may not need.
The one reason you might consider the Time Capsule worthwhile as a backup is if you have any concerns about maintaining control of your backups onsite rather than in a cloud. I could be mistaken but I recall that while Apple will not break the encryption on your phone, they have not been so protective of user data stored on their servers via i-cloud. There's a reason that storage has become virtually free in the corporate clouds and it's because you pay for it by giving up your right to privacy. I'm not saying it's a bad trade off but perhaps now would be a good time to be sure you know that a warrant will be required to search your files. A warrant that isn't served in secret to Apple.
My first online semi-paranoid comment. Hopefully I'm not completely off base.
Time Capsule - worth it?
