Reminder: macOS 27 Ends Time Machine Backups to Time Capsule - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Reminder: macOS 27 Ends Time Machine Backups to Time Capsule

by

time capsuleIf you're upgrading to macOS Golden Gate and you have an AirPort Time Capsule, Time Machine won't be able to back up to it. macOS 27 removes support for AFP, the legacy file-sharing protocol that Time Capsule relies on for Time Machine backups. Said backups now exclusively use the SMB protocol, which Apple's discontinued Time Capsule hardware does not support in the form required by macOS 27.

Apple warned users about the change back in June 2025 when macOS Tahoe began displaying a warning that Time Capsule backups would no longer work in the next macOS. Users still backing up to one will need an alternative, such as an external drive or a modern NAS.

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 104 comments

Top Rated Comments

mikethebigo Avatar
mikethebigo
4 hours ago at 03:44 am
Would really like if they released a modern version of this.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Z
zecal
3 hours ago at 03:48 am
There might be a solution though
"The community response is a GitHub project called TimeCapsuleSMB ('https://github.com/jamesyc/TimeCapsuleSMB'), created by James Chang, an engineer at Microsoft. Rather than replacing Apple's firmware, it installs a modern Samba build directly onto the Time Capsule. The device runs a Samba 4.24.3 server, advertises itself over Bonjour, and accepts authenticated SMB3 connections, so users can connect via a standard SMB URL in Finder rather than relying on Apple's legacy stack."
Macrumors https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/17/macos-27-golden-gate-kills-time-capsule-support/
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChantyBinx Avatar
ChantyBinx
4 hours ago at 03:46 am
That's so sad. I wish there was a current solution from Apple for this too.

Time Machine was one of the coolest Leopard features to me, the kind that convinced me to get a Mac.

Sad it's been neglected. When they discontinued that in 2013 they should have opened up a way to set it up with a NAS much easier. Hell, I'd even pay for more iCloud space if it supported it for backing up my Mac.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Happy_John Avatar
Happy_John
2 hours ago at 05:12 am

I always liked the concept of automatic (background) file archive with Time Machine (similar to File History on Windows) to either a local NAS or a "cloud" storage solution.

With MacOS27 deprecation of the Time Machine archive solution, I just did some initial search and found a reference to ChronoSync and FreeFileSync. I know nothing about these two solutions, but maybe they could provide an alternative to Time Machine (the backup process, not the Time Machine device).
But Apple haven't depreciated the Time Machine archive solution.

They've finally depreciated AFP. Time Machine will still happily work with a destination that supports SMB. So any consumer NAS, an older Mac ( 2012 - 2014 Mac minis are great for this), or you can continue to use your existing Time Capsule if you enable it to use SMB rather than AFP ( see earlier in the thread for links to how this can be done).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
wanha
2 hours ago at 05:30 am
In a parallel universe, Steve Jobs is still alive and Apple's routers not only exist but are the spine of a smart home that actually works.

In other words, getting rid of the router business was - imo - a strategic misstep by Cook, most likely driven by spreadsheet analysis (not enough sales to justify the ongoing investment)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Happy_John Avatar
Happy_John
2 hours ago at 04:48 am

Would really like if they released a modern version of this.
To be honest, the Airport team (or a chunk of it) did release a modern version of this, but they were then working for Ubiquiti, not Apple, at that point.

Ubiquity's UniFi range is pretty much exactly what the Airport range would have developed into if it hadn't been depreciated by Apple. No wonder, as it's mostly the same development team.

The closest to the last gen "tower" Time Capsule is the Unas2: https://eu.store.ui.com/eu/en/products/unas-2

(NOTE - it doesn't have wifi, and is not a router, unlike the TC - it need to be plugged via ethernet into a router).



Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments