Because I want to eliminate hardware and cords, I'm thinking about replacing my Belkin N750 DB router and LaCie external HD with one of the new Apple Time Capsules. And that got me thinking…

The next Mini design overhaul could use the same form factor as the new Time Capsule/Airport Extreme. It would be a natural. The enclosure would probably have to grow by an inch on each dimension to accommodate the video and sound cards and related ports, and maybe the same cooling scheme (on a smaller scale) as what's in the new Mac Pro.

Maybe not for 2014, but I could see it happen for 2015. I'd hit it!

I would point out that the Apple Time Capsule doesn't have the best reputation overall, though the latest ones are supposedly much better. I myself am on my second one. The first one the drive simply refused to be accessed - making it little more than an overpriced router. At the time, the Apple forums were filled with people having issues with TCs.

I love the features and the easy setup. But for the price, you can get a really good router, a 2TB HD, and another router to use as a repeater somewhere else in your house, and still have enough left over to buy a coffee at Starbucks.

You missed my point. I'm trying to eliminate hardware and cables. I have an excellent router (and don't need a repeater or relay), and a dandy external drive. And FYI, both together cost only slightly less than the 3TB Time Capsule (and my current external is only 1TB). So if the new version is improved, it's a better deal, plus I can sell the LaCie and the Belkin on CL and make a few bucks back.

Besides, around here Starbucks is outnumbered three to one by Panera.

I get your point... What I'm saying is that this is your data we're talking about. I hate cables as much as you do, but I wanted to caution you that Apple's Time Capsules don't exactly have even a good reputation, let alone a great one, for reliability.

On the internet blogs, generally the only news you hear is bad, you know that.

In my real world, and my customer's applications, I see it entirely different. Like Dave mentioned about losing two HDs recently in older equipment, it's not the TC, it's the HD inside. My guess is they have the same failure rate as other external HDs. The HD is not hard to replace either.

Like any other hardware, luck of the draw.

I also love the range of the TC and base station signals.

That's a big issue for me. My Belkin can punch through the walls of a fortress, so if the TC has similar signal strength, I'm on it. The new Modem I got from time warner has an integrated wireless router, but the signal isn't strong enough to reach upstairs to my daughter's room, so for now, I have to keep the bridge.

As far as backups are concerned, I currently have two partitions on my LaCie d2 Quadra (1TB). The bigger partition is for automated daily TM backups of my User folder (documents, projects, library, etc.). The smaller partition is a CCC-scheduled weekly backup of my entire internal drive. I'm looking at the 3TB Time Capsule and daily full TM backups with a monthly manual CCC clone of my drive to a USB 3.0 Passport.

That said, If I make that move, I'll give it a 30-day shakedown cruise before I consider unloading the LaCie and the Belkin.