macOS 27 Ends Support for Apple Time Capsule

Apple is removing Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) support in macOS 27 Golden Gate, effectively ending Time Machine backup compatibility for all vintage Time Capsule models, as noted by MacRumors.

Apple first designed AFP way back in 1988 as part of the AppleTalk networking suite for early Macintosh computers. For decades, it was the default way Macs talked to network drives.

Apple began moving away from the aging technology over a decade ago. The company switched to Server Message Block (SMB) as its primary protocol with OS X 10.9 Mavericks in 2013, and it stopped allowing Macs to act as AFP servers with macOS 11 Big Sur in 2020.

After warning users in macOS 26 Tahoe that the end was near, Apple completely scrubbed the AFP client from macOS 27 Golden Gate. Because every single Time Capsule model relies on AFP and the ancient SMBv1 protocol from 1987 to handle network backups, they can no longer talk to Time Machine in their stock form.

Apple originally launched the Time Capsule at the Macworld Expo in January 2008. The device was a clever two-in-one product, combining a full Wi-Fi router with a network-attached storage (NAS) hard drive. It was built specifically to let Mac users back up their entire machines seamlessly over Wi-Fi using the then-new Time Machine software. Apple stopped updating the AirPort and Time Capsule lines in 2013.

It is important to note that macOS 27 Golden Gate is completely dropping support for older Intel-based Macs. It will only run on Apple silicon machines. This means if you use an older Intel Mac stuck on macOS 26 Tahoe or earlier, your Time Capsule will keep working exactly as it does today.