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macOS 27 Threatens Apple Time Capsules, But TimeCapsuleSMB Can Save Them
The upcoming arrival of macOS 27 directly threatens the operation of Apple Time Capsule devices, due to the definitive end of the AFP protocol. The good news is that an open source project called "TimeCapsuleSMB", created by a Microsoft engineer, is stepping in to help users extend the lifespan of these backup devices.
For the record, AirPort Time Capsule units are hybrid boxes sold by Apple from 2008 to 2018, combining a Wi-Fi router and network storage space (NAS-type). Running on NetBSD, these devices were designed to simplify wireless backups for Mac computers through the built-in macOS feature known as Time Machine. Although Apple has definitively discontinued this lineup, these devices are still used today by many users.
macOS 27 spells the end for legacy protocols
From their launch in 2008 until the AirPort lineup was discontinued in 2018, Apple Time Capsules established themselves as a relevant solution for backing up a Mac over the network. To do this, two obsolete file-sharing protocols are used:
- AFP (Apple Filing Protocol), the historical protocol used by Apple,
- SMB, in its SMB v1 version, whose use is discouraged because of vulnerabilities.
With the release of the next version of macOS, namely macOS 27, Apple will enforce stricter requirements for network connections, including TLS 1.2 at a minimum. As a result, the two protocols mentioned above will be incompatible, which will prevent backups to the Time Capsule.
This transition is not really a surprise, since Apple has already shown several signs pointing in this direction:
- Apple officially deprecated the AFP protocol starting with macOS 15.5,
- The current operating system, macOS 26.4, displays warnings to Time Capsule users,
- In the open source ecosystem, the Samba project completely removed SMB1 support in 2022.
TimeCapsuleSMB: the community solution
This is where James Chang, an engineer at Microsoft, comes in with his open source project called TimeCapsuleSMB. The goal of this tool is to make it possible to install a newer version of Samba on the Time Capsule, thereby ensuring compatibility with modern Macs. It also helps fill the gap left by the disappearance of AFP by relying instead on SMB, which is much more popular.
How is it possible to add this compatibility to Time Capsules? Under the hood, they run on NetBSD (version 4 for the first four generations, and version 6 for the fifth and final tower-style generation released in 2013). This open source base offers a degree of flexibility, since it is possible to install your own packages.
Thanks to TimeCapsuleSMB, which relies on a build of Samba 4.8 adapted for the box's ARM processor, this becomes possible. Finally, one important point should not be overlooked: this version includes the vfs_fruit module, which ensures Time Machine backups work properly.
If you look into Samba 4.8, you will see that this version has been available since March 13, 2018. That is far from the latest version of the package: the most recent version is 4.23.7, available since April 21, 2026. But it is important to understand that James Chang had to work within strict constraints linked to the Time Capsule's structure:
/mnt/Flash, which is persistent storage space but only has about 900 KB of free space./mnt/Memory, which is a 16 MB virtual disk (corresponding to RAM)
With so few resources, it is hard to do anything extravagant.
Finally, the behavior of TimeCapsuleSMB will not be the same depending on the Time Capsule generation used: "NetBSD 6 devices start automatically at boot. Older NetBSD 4 devices must be enabled manually after each reboot. If you do not run the 'activate' command after a reboot, Samba will not start automatically on an older Time Capsule.", we can read on the GitHub page for this project.
