Apple Announces AppleTV Take 2 + Price Drop

MacRumors · Jan 15, 2008, 01:35 PM

Now there's no computer required - you can now rent movies directly on the Apple TV in your choice of DVD quality or HD + dolby 5.1 surround sound. Podcasts are available in audio and video format, as well as photos from Flikr and .Mac and sync with iTunes. AppleTV allows you to preview movies from the interface, and see what other users who have rented that movie have rented. Photo screensavers can be retrieved from .Mac web galleries. Music can be purchased from the iTunes Store from within the AppleTV.

The update is available as a free software update that should be available in two weeks for current AppleTV owners. Entry price for the AppleTV also drops from $299 to $229.

HD rentals are $4.99, with 100 titles available today.

Quote:

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CWallace · Jan 15, 2008, 01:35 PM

Solid update that is enough to convince me to buy one.

twoodcc · Jan 15, 2008, 01:44 PM

i do like this update. maybe i'll buy one someday

SthrnCmfrtr · Jan 15, 2008, 01:47 PM

Refurbs for $199 now.

BobVB · Jan 15, 2008, 01:48 PM

How are they doing the DD5.1 in the HD movies and will Handbrake be able to do the same thing? An AppleTV is going to be used for digitizing my DVD collection and DD5.1 capability is mandatory.

ShavenYak · Jan 15, 2008, 01:52 PM

It still can't do 1080p or lossless surround sound, so my next disposable $250 is still earmarked for a Blu-Ray player. Maybe the next hardware update to the little box will be the one that gets me to splurge. Until then, I'd just as soon hook up the HDMI and optical cable to my MacBook. It does 1080p and Dolby Digital (thanks to Perian).

I hope Apple is planning on adding the iTunes store interface and on-screen movie rental functionality to FrontRow. That would be a big oversight if they don't.

HiRez · Jan 15, 2008, 01:53 PM

When they say HD, is it 1080 or 720? I wonder how good the compression will be. If it's good I may finally buy into this scheme.

Still think the 24 hour limit is terrible, 30 hours would be much more useful. It's fine for people who don't work, have no kids or other interruptions in their life. But it's not enough for a lot of people.

CWallace · Jan 15, 2008, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobVB

How are they doing the DD5.1 in the HD movies and will Handbrake be able to do the same thing?

I am guessing it is just an update in the audio codec to enable it (assuming it was always there in the content).

And I fully expect Handbrake and VisualHub will update to support it, as well.

Evangelion · Jan 15, 2008, 01:56 PM

Price hasn't dropped in the Finnish store

. I hope it will drop soon. It would be a travesty if they dropped the US price, while keeping the Euro-prices steady at 299e and 399e! With these exchange-rates, it should be about 199e and 299e in Europe!

slu · Jan 15, 2008, 01:58 PM

This is great news. My biggest gripe with AppleTV has been lack of decent movie content (read: not enough studio support), lack of a rental option and the inability to buy/rent from the couch. Now that all of these have been addressed, I am going to buy one! HD content is just a big plus for me as I think the DVD quality looks fine on my HDTV.

IMO, this is a GREAT update and is exactly what this device needs. And it's good that this will apply to current AppleTV owners as well.

Now to wait for all the DVR wishers to complain!

nubero · Jan 15, 2008, 01:58 PM

I can't shake the feeling that Apple looses touch with their clients more and more...
Playing the same music in three rooms in synch is a great feature but why only in the AirPort Express? This so keeps me from buying an Apple TV...

And btw: What's going on with all that talk about digital downloads of Music and Movies recently? If you buy the CD you get the highest quality Audio and the long-life backup for free...
Don't even get me startet about HD Movie downloads.

SthrnCmfrtr · Jan 15, 2008, 01:59 PM

Is the AppleTV interface going to change to match its appearance at, say, http://www.apple.com/appletv/features.html#movies ?

If so, yuck.

Rocketman · Jan 15, 2008, 02:01 PM

So here's what I don't get. You have airport extreme with wifi, gigabit ethernet, and external USB disc plug. You have Apple TV with internal drive, video and audio out, and wifi. You have Time Capsule with wifi, internal drive and who knows what else. Much of the differentiation of the devices is software toggles.

Why not make one device? Call it Apple TV Plus and simply combine all those features into one. The only concern I can see is having two devices competing for a limited stream. That could be reduced by having the ability to "chain" any existing devices you already have so they are physically plugged or virtually plugged to Apple TV Plus. Also that device could have an ethernet cable to your primary internet connection. Sort of a multi-homing device.

As it is now to get all the functionality Apple wants to sell you a little at a time you have to spend around $600. Am all in one could be profitable at $400 and would fill the landfills with oddball devices less quickly.

Heck, add a "stack" option where you have a populatable unit for optical drive, spare HD, dock, other I/O options. The "new cube".

Rocketman

ShavenYak · Jan 15, 2008, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobVB

How are they doing the DD5.1 in the HD movies and will Handbrake be able to do the same thing? An AppleTV is going to be used for digitizing my DVD collection and DD5.1 capability is mandatory.

I'd assume they're adding real AC3 (Dolby Digital) support to Quicktime. Handbrake can already rip the AC3 track into an AVI container, and if you have Perian and QT Pro you can open an .avi file with AC3 audio and "Save As" a Quicktime .mov which can then be imported into iTunes. It then can play in FrontRow, but it won't work on a stock AppleTV. Perhaps once the AppleTV updates are done it will.

If that is the case, I'm sure Handbrake will get updated to allow it to rip the AC3 straight into a .mov or .mp4 file.

Evangelion · Jan 15, 2008, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nubero

And btw: What's going on with all that talk about digital downloads of Music and Movies recently? If you buy the CD you get the highest quality Audio and the long-life backup for free...
Don't even get me startet about HD Movie downloads.

Let's see.... I could spend about 20e to buy a CD that has maybe 2-3 songs I like, or I could spend about 2-3e and buy just the songs I like, and they would be delivered to my computer in few seconds.

Now, this is a difficult choice... not!

mandoman · Jan 15, 2008, 02:02 PM

Price drop, stand-alone operation, movie rentals, hd content + 5.1 surround = enough
to get me to buy one finally...

goroboto · Jan 15, 2008, 02:02 PM

Am I reading this right? The movie will have been in Blockbuster and on Netflix for an entire MONTH before I can access it w/ an Apple TV?

notjustjay · Jan 15, 2008, 02:03 PM

I'm really glad to see that this is a free downloadable update and not a new device, or worse, something you have to pay for (say..... $20

)

I don't have an Apple TV, but with this and the new price drop, it is now within the realm of consideration. I want a flat panel TV to watch DVDs and rabbit ears to pick up local HD signals, without a subscription to cable or satellite. The Apple TV may be just the thing to fill in the gap.

Now, the only thing I need to do is find a way to hide it completely (it looks slim enough, maybe I can actually tuck it in behind the TV?) and program a universal remote with the Apple remote buttons.

odedia · Jan 15, 2008, 02:03 PM

Wow, is that girl from the guided tour on apple.com how or what??

And she finishes her presentation with "go to an apple store, maybe I'll see you there!"

Nice marketing, Apple!

SthrnCmfrtr · Jan 15, 2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketman

As it is now to get all the functionality Apple wants to sell you a little at a time you have to spend around $600

You just answered your own question.

Quote:

Heck, add a "stack" option where you have a populatable unit for optical drive, spare HD, dock, other I/O options. The "new cube".

I agree.

CWallace · Jan 15, 2008, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketman

So here's what I don't get. You have airport extreme with wifi, gigabit ethernet, and external USB disc plug. You have Apple TV with internal drive, video and audio out, and wifi. You have Time Capsule with wifi, internal drive and who knows what else. Much of the differentiation of the devices is software toggles.

Why not make one device? Call it Apple TV Plus and simply combine all those features into one.

Many people likely already have one or two of these components, so paying more for redundancy could be a turn-off. People would rather spend $200 for the final piece they need then $400 and duplicate the $400 they already had.

That being said, offering the base parts at $200 each as well as the "package deal" in one unit for $400-450 would be nice. I don't have any of the three, and plan to get two (

tv and Time Capsule), so getting an Airport Express as part of the deal to replace my Linksys router would be a bonus.

blackbones · Jan 15, 2008, 02:12 PM

No chance that the "share" optical drive that is available on the new macbook air will make its way to the apple tv i'm guessing...

HiRez · Jan 15, 2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketman

So here's what I don't get. You have airport extreme with wifi, gigabit ethernet, and external USB disc plug. You have Apple TV with internal drive, video and audio out, and wifi. You have Time Capsule with wifi, internal drive and who knows what else. Much of the differentiation of the devices is software toggles.

Why not make one device? Call it Apple TV Plus and simply combine all those features into one. The only concern I can see is having two devices competing for a limited stream. That could be reduced by having the ability to "chain" any existing devices you already have so they are physically plugged or virtually plugged to Apple TV Plus. Also that device could have an ethernet cable to your primary internet connection. Sort of a multi-homing device.

As it is now to get all the functionality Apple wants to sell you a little at a time you have to spend around $600. Am all in one could be profitable at $400 and would fill the landfills with oddball devices less quickly.

I agree, it would be nice to integrate a lot of these overlapping features. And they probably will, and suck another $300-$500 out of us while doing so, for the same stuff we already bought in one box instead of 4. Not including AirTunes with the Airport Extreme base station is a terrible oversight.

nubero · 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evangelion

Let's see.... I could spend about 20e to buy a CD that has maybe 2-3 songs I like, or I could spend about 2-3e and buy just the songs I like, and they would be delivered to my computer in few seconds.

Now, this is a difficult choice... not!

I like about 90% of the tracks on my 500+ CDs, thank you (I don't do Britney and Shakira).

I see your point though. It is nice to be able to select just a few specific songs or just one for that matter. I even did it myself.

My point is that I don't get how anyone can talk about a replacement of Optical Media when talking about downloads...

sjjordan · Jan 15, 2008, 02:13 PM

Watched the guided tour...

"HD is available for just $1 more."

Translation:

Only HD-New releases are $4.99
Non-new releases are $3.99

Definitely worth it

Jan 15, 2008, 01:44 PM	#3
twoodcc macrumors 603 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Right side of wrong	i do like this update. maybe i'll buy one someday __________________ tville pump Smarter than the average bear

Jan 15, 2008, 01:48 PM	#5
BobVB macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2002	Last Question: How are they doing the DD5.1 in the HD movies and will Handbrake be able to do the same thing? An AppleTV is going to be used for digitizing my DVD collection and DD5.1 capability is mandatory.

Jan 15, 2008, 01:53 PM	#7
HiRez macrumors 68020 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA	When they say HD, is it 1080 or 720? I wonder how good the compression will be. If it's good I may finally buy into this scheme. Still think the 24 hour limit is terrible, 30 hours would be much more useful. It's fine for people who don't work, have no kids or other interruptions in their life. But it's not enough for a lot of people. __________________ Go outside, the graphics are amazing!

Jan 15, 2008, 01:56 PM	#9
Evangelion macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jan 2005	Price hasn't dropped in the Finnish store . I hope it will drop soon. It would be a travesty if they dropped the US price, while keeping the Euro-prices steady at 299e and 399e! With these exchange-rates, it should be about 199e and 299e in Europe! __________________ Anyone who thinks that Obama is a "Marxist" is so clueless that it's scary. Consider getting some education.

Jan 15, 2008, 01:58 PM	#10
slu macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Buffalo	This is great news. My biggest gripe with AppleTV has been lack of decent movie content (read: not enough studio support), lack of a rental option and the inability to buy/rent from the couch. Now that all of these have been addressed, I am going to buy one! HD content is just a big plus for me as I think the DVD quality looks fine on my HDTV. IMO, this is a GREAT update and is exactly what this device needs. And it's good that this will apply to current AppleTV owners as well. Now to wait for all the DVR wishers to complain! __________________ Rev A. iMac G5 / iPod classic 160 GB / Macbook 2.4 C2D / 3G iPhone

Jan 15, 2008, 01:35 PM	#2
CWallace macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Seattle, WA	Solid update that is enough to convince me to buy one.

Jan 15, 2008, 01:47 PM	#4
SthrnCmfrtr macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Las Vegas, NV	Refurbs for $199 now.

Jan 15, 2008, 01:52 PM	#6
ShavenYak macrumors member Join Date: Jan 2005	It still can't do 1080p or lossless surround sound, so my next disposable $250 is still earmarked for a Blu-Ray player. Maybe the next hardware update to the little box will be the one that gets me to splurge. Until then, I'd just as soon hook up the HDMI and optical cable to my MacBook. It does 1080p and Dolby Digital (thanks to Perian). I hope Apple is planning on adding the iTunes store interface and on-screen movie rental functionality to FrontRow. That would be a big oversight if they don't.

Jan 15, 2008, 01:58 PM	#11
nubero macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Zurich	AirTunes anyone? I can't shake the feeling that Apple looses touch with their clients more and more... Playing the same music in three rooms in synch is a great feature but why only in the AirPort Express? This so keeps me from buying an Apple TV... And btw: What's going on with all that talk about digital downloads of Music and Movies recently? If you buy the CD you get the highest quality Audio and the long-life backup for free... Don't even get me startet about HD Movie downloads.

Jan 15, 2008, 01:59 PM	#12
SthrnCmfrtr macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Las Vegas, NV	Is the AppleTV interface going to change to match its appearance at, say, http://www.apple.com/appletv/features.html#movies ? If so, yuck. Attached Thumbnails

Jan 15, 2008, 02:01 PM	#13
Rocketman macrumors 68020 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Claremont, CA	So here's what I don't get. You have airport extreme with wifi, gigabit ethernet, and external USB disc plug. You have Apple TV with internal drive, video and audio out, and wifi. You have Time Capsule with wifi, internal drive and who knows what else. Much of the differentiation of the devices is software toggles. Why not make one device? Call it Apple TV Plus and simply combine all those features into one. The only concern I can see is having two devices competing for a limited stream. That could be reduced by having the ability to "chain" any existing devices you already have so they are physically plugged or virtually plugged to Apple TV Plus. Also that device could have an ethernet cable to your primary internet connection. Sort of a multi-homing device. As it is now to get all the functionality Apple wants to sell you a little at a time you have to spend around $600. Am all in one could be profitable at $400 and would fill the landfills with oddball devices less quickly. Heck, add a "stack" option where you have a populatable unit for optical drive, spare HD, dock, other I/O options. The "new cube". Rocketman __________________ Think Different-ly! Looking for an iPhone dev with way too much time on her hands for BASIC programs I have.

Jan 15, 2008, 02:02 PM	#16
mandoman macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2005	Price drop, stand-alone operation, movie rentals, hd content + 5.1 surround = enough to get me to buy one finally...

Jan 15, 2008, 02:02 PM	#17
goroboto macrumors newbie Join Date: Dec 2007	30 Days after DVD release? Am I reading this right? The movie will have been in Blockbuster and on Netflix for an entire MONTH before I can access it w/ an Apple TV?

Jan 15, 2008, 02:03 PM	#18
notjustjay macrumors 68030 Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Canada, eh?	I'm really glad to see that this is a free downloadable update and not a new device, or worse, something you have to pay for (say..... $20 ) I don't have an Apple TV, but with this and the new price drop, it is now within the realm of consideration. I want a flat panel TV to watch DVDs and rabbit ears to pick up local HD signals, without a subscription to cable or satellite. The Apple TV may be just the thing to fill in the gap. Now, the only thing I need to do is find a way to hide it completely (it looks slim enough, maybe I can actually tuck it in behind the TV?) and program a universal remote with the Apple remote buttons. __________________ MRoogle

Jan 15, 2008, 02:03 PM	#19
odedia macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2005	Wow, is that girl from the guided tour on apple.com how or what?? And she finishes her presentation with "go to an apple store, maybe I'll see you there!" Nice marketing, Apple!

Jan 15, 2008, 02:12 PM	#22
blackbones macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Philadelphia	No chance that the "share" optical drive that is available on the new macbook air will make its way to the apple tv i'm guessing...

Jan 15, 2008, 02:13 PM	#25
sjjordan macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: in your attic	Watched the guided tour... "HD is available for just $1 more." Translation: Only HD-New releases are $4.99 Non-new releases are $3.99 Definitely worth it __________________ How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterwards

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