Apple TV Buyer's Guide?

Well, (for now at least) it would be useless, because we have no idea how long the product cycle will be.

kwood said:

Revisiting this topic again... the iPhone is in the buyers guide and its "days since update" is sitting at 0. The Apple TV has actually seen an update, whereas the iPhone was just released and there have been no updates save software. Using this justification the iPhone should be removed from the buyers guide.

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Yeah, but the difference is that the iPhone gets news stories all the time, whereas we haven't heard squat about Apple TV for a long time.

Doctor Q said:

My opinion is a variation on EricNau's. I think it would be useful to have, because that would be the appropriate place to point out that we don't know yet how often the Apple TV will be updated. In other words, no news is news.

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If the search term for Apple TV stories was setup I think a buyers guide could be created, and the Apple TV has already had the 160GB model added .

Also thinking about it buyers guides for software like iLife/iWork, Final Cut/Express, Filemaker, Logic/Express, iTunes, Safari, and possibly Adobe CSx and MS Office, might also be useful.

Found this thread while searching.... Any updates to adding the AppleTV to the buyer's guide?

kwood said:

That would also be helpful but maybe two separate buyer's guide one for hardware and the other for software.

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I know its a very late reply, but that would probably be a better solution than mixing them up, they'd get too cluttered in that case.

Hey Arn,

I'm bringing this thread back to life to bring some attention to it. I was hoping we could get something in the buyers guide on the TV.

In the meantime, if one of our lovely members could help me out with the following:

Question- The Apple refurb store currently has TVs in there listed as follows:
40GB, $199, orig $299
160GB, $279, orig $399

The currently new prices for the machines are $229 and $329. Are the new ones updated machines or just price drops?

Thanks!!

All Apple TVs are the same. The only "new" hardware introduced after it original release was the 160 gb version. Otherwise, it's all software updates. The new ones only ship with the current ATV OS on the recovery partition.

arn said:

This is a frequently asked question, and I've been meaning to write up something on it.

The problem with the Apple TV is it's not a lifecycle type device. In that the Apple TV is more of an appliance. It does what it does. Plays iTunes content and that's that.

There's no reason for it to get a faster processor. There's no reason to ugprade its graphics hardware etc... Any feature upgrades can be done via software.

The only possibility is really a full revamp to make it a DVR or something and I don't think that's predictable, at least not in the usual way.

I'll write something about it soonish.

arn

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Thanks. Maybe do something like date of intro, specs, date of upgrades, software update dates, etc.

I think it's ridiculous that the Apple TV isn't in the buyers guide. It doesn't matter that there isn't a regular product cycle, if you're about to buy one and want to know if now is a good time to do so or if waiting would be a good idea, it would still help this decision to know if a new model was just released or if it's been out for a while.

Perfect example, 160gb model has been out for a while now, stores a currently in low or out-of-stock which means there may be a refresh coming soon (Jan 27th). If it were on the buyers guide one could easily see how long it's been in current revision and find out from stores that it's out of stock and put 2 and 2 together.

Please add this product already, it probably would take 20min of work for the webmasters and help hundreds of people instantly.

It would be a practically useless guide. No rumors are circulating, it's only 'a hobby,' and there is no existing product cycle because all that's changed in four years is the addition of a laughably small HDD upgrade.

ntrigue said:

It would be a practically useless guide. No rumors are circulating, it's only 'a hobby,' and there is no existing product cycle because all that's changed in four years is the addition of a laughably small HDD upgrade.

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How can you make that argument, I just gave a very clear example of why it would be useful?

ntrigue said:

It would be a practically useless guide. No rumors are circulating, it's only 'a hobby,' and there is no existing product cycle because all that's changed in four years is the addition of a laughably small HDD upgrade.

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Where have you been? Rumors have been circulating about the Apple TV for months including a TV subscription service with CBS and Disney content and a touchscreen remote accessory. Then there were the PA Semi/ARM rumors this past summer about a hardware revision.

The Apple TV should be added the Mac Buyer’s Guide even if only to alert members when the last changes to its SKU were made (the original 2008 price drop, introduction date, hard drive bump, etc).

Good grief, the Apple Cinema Displays are listed in the Buyer’s Guide and most of them haven’t been touched since 2006 (and really nothing major since 2004’s move to aluminum to match the PowerMac G5).

I would like to see Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme Base Station added as well.

Exactly! I mean, what webmaster leg do you have to hump to have a few things added. I 2nd that the airports and time capsule should be added.

Apple TV hardware not perfect

arn said:

There's no reason for it to get a faster processor. There's no reason to ugprade its graphics hardware etc... Any feature upgrades can be done via software.

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How can you say that when there were significant hardware changes between the old Apple TV and the new black one, and the new black one still only does 720p video? I've had a 1080p TV for 4-5 years now, a BD player with HD video from Netflix and Amazon, and I refuse to get the Apple TV until it gets 1080p video. If Apple wants to open it up for apps, especially games that require hardware acceleration, that would be another good reason for an upgrade.

So while I'm waiting for the next Apple TV to come out, it'd be good to at least know when the last one was released and how long before that the previous updates were. That's what I come to your buying guides for (your predictions for future releases I take with a grain of salt, because they're just speculation).

bartszyszka said:

How can you say that...

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Nothing like resurrecting a zombie thread.

When Arnold posted that only 480p content was available and even after HD was released from Apple it was 720p, well within the specs of the original ATV. Don't you remember?

As the zombie thread is alive...What about the Airport Extreme Base Stations?
I have one of the old models, and I am looking to buy a new one, is there any rumors or expected update soon?
What has been their lifecycle?