macOS 27 Drops Time Capsule Backup: Find Out What’s Next!

Upcoming Changes to Time Machine Backup Support on MacOS

Support for Time Capsule backups will soon be discontinued by macOS. In the recently unveiled macOS Tahoe 26, it’s no longer possible to set up a new backup. When attempting to add a disk, the system notifies users that it “can only be used if it contains existing Time Machine backups for this Mac.” Apple further clarified: “The next major release of macOS will no longer support Time Capsule disks for Time Machine backups.”

If you are currently using a Time Capsule to back up your Mac, it will still work with macOS Tahoe provided you do not reset the disk. However, with macOS 27, expected next year, this functionality will be completely removed. Similar observations were made by our colleagues at MacGeneration, who noted a similar announcement for NAS servers using the AFP protocol with macOS Tahoe, stating that “The next major release of macOS will no longer support AFP network disks for Time Machine backups.”

Apple discontinued its AirPort product line in 2018, which included three models: two routers named AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme, and a third model called Time Capsule. The Time Capsule was unique as it featured a built-in hard drive for automatic Mac backups. It was a convenient product that, surprisingly, Apple never replaced with an equivalent iCloud-based solution.