Reviews for Time Capsule - 2TB

I've been through external hard drives and USB flash drives, but they just weren't doing it for me. I did not want a hard drive connected next to my computer all the Time for automatic Time Machine backups. If I just wanted to drag and drop my files to a USB flash drive (or hard drive), I would have to do it after every iTunes song I download or after every picture I upload.

It just felt highly impractical, so I decided to go with Time Capsule for the above reasons. Setup is very quick. It recognized my previous Airport Extreme configuration and passwords, so I really did not have to set up anything. Initial backup took about 45 minutes for about 20GB. After that, it's seamless. I really don't use Time Machine, because I primarily wanted a device that backs up for me in an easy-to-use way. Although having Time Machine is great for those times where you need to recover something you lost.

Time Capsule also has a great design. I love the silver Apple logo.

I have not noticed any jump in range or performance with this new 2TB Time Capsule compared to my last-generation Airport Extreme. The range may be slightly better, but if it is, it isn't that noticeable.

You cannot beat this setup for backing up.

As with all Apple products, 5/5

Review is for the 1TB model.

I raved and raved about how awesome this product was...until it just died. Checked Apple Forums to discover the problem was very common. Less than three years old with plenty of space remaining on the hard drive. Now cannot access any of my backed up documents.

VERY DISAPPOINTING FOR AN APPLE PRODUCT! Just unacceptable for an external backup drive.

It was nice while it worked. However, my Time Capsule stopped working after about 18 months. Apple refused to replace it or fix it.

This morning, my Time Capsule (where I keep all of my music files) stopped working. No noise no explosion, no talking message, the TC just stopped. That was after only 2 years. I had 380 GB of commercial music that I produced, wiped out! Wait, it gets worse.....THAT WAS THE SECOND TIME! Almost like clockwork, I had a first generation which crapped out after 26 months, and this morning, a 500GB 3rd generation TC bit the dust; which was replaced under warranty. My mother always told me "First Time, shame on them" , "Second time, shame on ME!". Do I roll the dice with a 100 dollar coupon that Apple was nice enough to email me? Or 2 years from now I write another paragraph about how it failed and I'm a moron? Somebody please give me your opinion? Please?

So right after the warranty is up, the drive quits, won't backup the computer, can't access files anymore, etc. I thought I was the only one, but after reading the reviews below, I think this is one of Apple's mistakes....Now I have a $300 wireless adapter and no workable drive. Don't buy it.

Money well spent...I have had my Time Capsule 500GB since early introduction and I LOVE it. It has worked flawlessly and effortlessly in the background since purchased. I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro Retina and after 2 weeks with the new computer it had some kind of an issue and it dumped all the files I had worked on for the last 2 weeks, including fonts I had installed, emails and some other stored data. I was so simple to retrieve the information I needed from my Time Capsule. I plan to purchase a new, 2TB Time Capsule this week and give my old one to my son. Thanks Apple!

Worked well until it died. Did not make it 2 years. Unable to recover data now.

This was a great product until the power supply stopped working all together. Expect it to last a year or two.

I cannot speak to longevity/service life of this device at this time since it is brand new. What I can say is that I was extremely impressed with how easy the setup was. I was able to extend my wireless coverage by asking it to mimic my current Airport Extreme. I could have chosen to do it via wireless or via cat5... i chose cat5, but it looks like wireless would have been just as easy. I now have better wireless coverage, as well as 4 switch ports in the bedroom for wired devices. I have set it up to serve up my USB printer as well. Again... very easy. Lastly, both my Macs are now backing up to the device, which was by far the easiest backup solution I have ever seen. I have been in IT for 15 years and setup and managed Backup Exec servers. I have never seen anything as easy as this.

The only reason why this device does not have 5 stars, and this is more of a general gripe with Apple than issue with this product...
I bought the 2TB version because I could not justify a 66% cost increase for 50% more storage. 3 TB drives are NOT $200 more expensive than 2TB drives. Apple really screws us on these types of upgrades; be it RAM, solid state capacity, or HD capacity. This happens across all their product lines, and it is my only complaint with Apple.

I'm a professional photographer with three Macs in my studio and a pc. Before I purchased the Time Capsule I was using an Airport Extreme dual-band. Since my place is two stories, I was also using an Airport Express to expand my network downstairs, basically because my old Airport Extreme did NOT send signal through both floors. The 4th Gen Time Capsule absolutely covers both floors and I no longer need the Airport Express. That's pretty impressive in itself. I currently have the 4th Gen Time Capsule connected to two quad-core iMacs with Cat6 gigabit cables, and the connection is fast! Super fast. Basically as fast as USB 2, not quite as fast as Firewire 800. The 2TB hard drive inside the Time Capsule allows me to share huge galleries between all the computers in my studio. It's certainly a lot more convenient than moving external hard drives around between computers. With my old Airport Extreme I tried hooking up a 2TB hard drive to the USB port on the back, but the transfer rate was abysmal. The transfer rate from the 4th Gen Time Capsule is soooo much faster and has really solved all our problems.

I want to take a minute to talk about value. First, think about how much a good dual-band wireless router costs. You can get an average router for $50, a decent one for $100, and a super fast router for $150. The range and speed of the 4th Gen Time Capsule are both comparable to the fastest routers sold by Netgear or Linksys, which by themselves would cost you $150. Now think about how much a 2TB external hard drive costs. You can get one on sale for like $70-90 sometimes, but you often see them for $150. So to reproduce what you get with the 4th Gen Time Capsule, you would have to spend anywhere from $200-$300. Now, how much is the Time Capsule - $300. As you can see, the Time Capsule is an incredible value! But it also gives you some advantages that you can't get if you buy alternative products. For example, the Time Capsule is an all-in-one product so it saves space and looks good sitting on your desk out of the way. Even better, the Time Capsule syncs as a Time Machine with ALL the Macs in your house. Last night my MacBook Pro's Time Machine synced wirelessly with Time Capsule in about 90 minutes, sending a little over 50GB. That's pretty quick for wireless. Over a Cat6 gigabit cable Time Machine basically runs as fast as a USB2 hard drive. The final advantage the Time Capsule gives you is a network hard drive available to all the computers in your home/studio. One hard drive to rule them all. And don't forget, because it's an Apple product, the Time Capsule is incredibly easy to setup. So it's an incredible value: a dual-band router, an external hard drive, a Time Machine for all your Macs, network storage for all your Macs, all-in-one form factor, and easy to setup.