Need advice on Airplay devices

[glottore]

Hello, this is my first time on these forums

I am getting airplay for my room but I'm not sure which airport express I should get, 1st generation or 2nd? I am only going to need to connect in my room, nowhere else, so the range doesn't need to be far. Is there any difference between the two? If there is please explain it to me, I'm not that technically savvy. Thank you

 

[chas_m]

Your question doesn't really make any sense. AirPlay is not something you "get" -- it's either on the equipment you have, or it isn't.

As the first-gen Airport Express is no longer sold by Apple, this makes the answer to your question a no-brainer.

Maybe some specific details on what pieces of equipment you are actually getting and what you intend to accomplish would allow us to offer some advice.

 

[glottore]

I'm getting speakers that I'm going to hook up to airport express so I can stream music from my Macbook but I don't know the advantages of getting the 2nd gen airport express as opposed to the 1st gen.

 

[chas_m]

For that purpose, there aren't any advantages or disadvantages. It works exactly the same way. I'd suggest the 2nd-gen because as a general rule, very old hardware meeting new software = issues. The 2nd-gen model has lots various major and minor advantages over the first gen, including support for faster 802.11 protocols which is obviously important when streaming music, but then we'd need to know more about how old the MacBook is for that to be relevant.

 

[glottore]

I have a mid-2013 model Macbook Air.

 

[nickyr]

there is absolutely no advantage in getting the first gen express.

1. Apple no longer make or sell them
2. You'll be relying on buying second hand and now very outdated technology
3. The second gen will work far better with your relatively up to date MBA