Apple TV Review by Walt Mossberg

[MacRumors]

Walt Mossberg writes in the Wall Street Journal a first review of the just-shipping Apple TV.

Apple TV is tiny, just about eight inches square and an inch high, far smaller than a typical DVD player or cable or satellite box, even though it packs in a 40-gigabyte hard disk, an Intel processor and a modified version of the Mac operating system.

Mossberg had 10 days with the Apple TV and notes that while it has some notable limitations, "it worked great, and we can easily recommend it for people who are yearning for a simple way to show on their big TVs all that stuff trapped on their computers."

His testing involved "standard" Wi-Fi connecting to three Windows machines and three Apple Macs. Even with "standard" (g) Wi-Fi, they experienced no buffering/stuttering on streaming content. The main limitation was felt to be the inability to stream much content from the internet. According to Mossberg, beyond streaming movie trailers, the Apple TV can also preview short clips of songs, TV shows and movies directly from the iTunes Store. Despite this "preview" capability, the Apple TV can not (yet?) purchase this content through Apple TV.

The Apple TV can be set to automatically synchronize with a designated computer, mirroring content onto the 40GB Apple TV hard drive. Meanwhile, up to five additional computers can be used as streaming sources for the Apple TV.

Other limitations include the inability to adjust volume from Apple's simple remote, and only support for televisions capable of taking Component or HDMI inputs. Mossberg also addresses one question on the minds of some customers: despite having a USB port, it can not be used to add additional external hard drives to expand storage.

In the end, he describes it as a "very well-designed product that easily brings the computer and the TV together".

[Jon'sLightBulbs]

Wow. Talk about minimizing huge limitations.

Basically limited to watching itunes content. Can you imagine how neat this machine would have been had they implemented Slingbox functionality?

[laidbackliam]

thats awesome.

i'd like an apple tv, yet lack both finances and the tv

[Grimace]

it's going to need a lot of good reviews to get beyond the lack of 1080p support and streaming of only iTMS material....

[Pants Dragon]

I love how the main criticism of a device made for people with nice TVs is that it only works with nice TVs.

[savar]

Good to hear a favorable review. I can't wait to see what people here think about it.

I was assuming this would be of no interest to me since I have a G network at home, but if it can buffer adequately maybe this will replace the old G4 I have in the living room!

[mlochm]

2nd or 3rd revision and this thing might have the features to bring the computer to the living room. The current offering won't cut it, imo.

[iMikeT]

I wonder what all the anti-tv people are going to say.

[mjonson]

i would have loved to have seen slingbox like functionality oh well.

[pip11]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

Walt Mossbert writes in the Wall Street Journal a first review of the just-shipping Apple TV.

Mossbert! That's hilarious! There are always old-looking guys with beards in Dilbert, and I just realized that they're inspired by the biggest 'Bert of them all.

[darwen]

Originally Posted by iMikeT

I wonder what all the anti-tv people are going to say.

why wonder? they are already talking....

[garzaroger]

Originally Posted by Jon'sLightBulbs

Wow. Talk about minimizing huge limitations.

Basically limited to watching itunes content. Can you imagine how neat this machine would have been had they implemented Slingbox functionality?

What¡¡¡ can´t adjust the volume????
So what´s the point of a minimalist sexy remote if you still need you ugly TV remote on the other hand???

[gonnabuyamac]

the tv seems like a good idea, i'm just not fully convinced that it's worth it yet. i'd have to buy a new t.v., which is no big deal, i'm just trying to convince my wife. but, if i get a new HDTV, i really don't want to watch movies on it that aren't that great in terms of resolution - especially when i could just go out and get dvd's for the same price with better picture quality.

i think that after a few revisions and improvements to movie quality, upping the amount of playable content, and possibly adding features like being able view other desktop items (say Keynote presentations?), i would be all for buying one.

[nagromme]

It's a great product for a LIMITED audience.

That's not slamming it in any way: 30" displays aren't for everyone either! AppleTV is not for me, or for most people, but it's a great option for a small group. I'm sure it will sell enough to pay for it's own R&D, but I don't expect it to have big success at first.

I would guess that AppleTV, in its current form, is intended as a small but vital strategic step, rather than as an immediate top-seller with broad appeal. Where the rest of the steps may lead, only Apple knows for sure!

High-def content on iTunes, video rental options on iTunes, and a MUCH broader selection of iTunes content (rivaling even Netflix?), could one day make AppleTV a much more appealing product. Those changes won't happen overnight.

Or Apple could add entirely new functions--like DVR and games and better support for other video formats--but it really seems like AppleTV is meant to be about iTunes purchases. So I see it as a gesture to the industry and to content owners--a gesture Apple must make in order to keep moving forward toward something better. (Remember, iTunes for music started out small too.)

Meanwhile, if you're one of the few who finds $299 of value in what AppleTV does NOW, then more power to you

[twoodcc]

not a bad review. clearly 1080p would be better....but it's a start i guess

[tdwlehman]

Originally Posted by Grimace

it's going to need a lot of good reviews to get beyond the lack of 1080p support and streaming of only iTMS material....

Is that really the case? I was under the impression that any media in your iTunes library could be streamed, regardless of whether it was purchased from iTMS or not. I have ripped many television shows from DVDs and added them to my iTunes library; if I can't access those, then I have very little reason to purchase an AppleTV and will continue to use an s-video cable hooked to my laptop to view content on my TV.

[neven]

To address a minor, if important, point:

"no High-def content on iTunes..."

Sure there is. Plenty. Guess what it is? Video podcasts. Price? Free.

Just like audio podcasts are a great way to add plenty of cheap, versatile content to your iTunes and iPod, I predict that video podcasts will be big. I know people who have separate "podcast iPods" just for those.

Here's an idea for the future: for-pay video podcasts of TV shows, so you don't have to go and download each episode (or wait for the whole season).

[neven]

Originally Posted by tdwlehman

I was under the impression that any media in your iTunes library could be streamed, regardless of whether it was purchased from iTMS or not.

Any videos in the iTunes library will play, provided that they are encoded in a way standard QT (i.e. without plugins) can decode. Apple's official line is, AppleTV will play anything a video iPod will. This includes properly encoded videos from any source. As long as your videos aren't referenced DivX or something like that, you're good.

[tk421]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

According to Mossberg, beyond streaming movie trailers, the Apple TV can also preview short clips of songs, TV shows and movies directly from the iTunes Store. Despite this "preview" capability, the Apple TV can not (yet?) purchase this content through Apple TV.

That's the first I've heard of that. Hope this is a sign of things to come. It would be great to make purchases right from the Apple TV. That would seem ideal for rentals, but will Apple ever allow that?

[benbow]

Soon the fog of uncertainty will lift and Mac Rumors postings will reveal the limits of Apple TV.

If there is OSX embedded inside as Mossberg claims then we should be able to run non iTunes programs including games. Plug in a USB mouse and keyboard or some still secret wireless remote that provides user control.

Just wondering?

[neven]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

Other limitations include the inability to adjust volume from Apple's simple remote

Can somebody paste the relevant paragraph from the original article? I find this hard to believe. The remote has volume up/down buttons. Why wouldn't this work?

[simX]

Originally Posted by garzaroger

What¡¡¡ can´t adjust the volume????
So what´s the point of a minimalist sexy remote if you still need you ugly TV remote on the other hand???

This isn't exactly surprising, as there's probably no standard way to change the TV volume via some input cable, and doing it directly via the remote would mean you would have to program your Apple remote like you would do a universal remote -- i.e.: a pain in the butt.

[skellener]

AppleTV will NEVER have DVR functionality. Get over it. It is what it is. Sure they may introduce new features as the device matures, but recording television will NEVER be one of them. Apple wants to be your source of content. They want to kill cable and satellite and DVD. Downloading content from iTunes is their business model. Period.

[IJ Reilly]

Originally Posted by simX

This isn't exactly surprising, as there's probably no standard way to change the TV volume via some input cable, and doing it directly via the remote would mean you would have to program your Apple remote like you would do a universal remote -- i.e.: a pain in the butt.

No, but the output from the Apple TV could be adjusted. But Apple apparently elected to go with line-out audio, just like a DVD player, VCR, etc. Nobody expects their DVD player to have a separate volume control. Why should the Apple TV have one?

[arn]

Originally Posted by neven

Can somebody paste the relevant paragraph from the original article? I find this hard to believe. The remote has volume up/down buttons. Why wouldn't this work?

"Also, the tiny, simple Apple remote control can't control the volume on either Apple TV or your TV set or audio receiver, so you have to keep reaching for the TV or audio receiver remote."

This is not a big deal for home-theatre folk. Those people will program their Apple remote into their universal remote and throw the Apple remote away.

arn