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25% of US Apple Customers Own an Apple TV, Survey Suggests
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aTV is a surprisingly versatile box. But, like aWatch, it's a slow burn.
It's hard to explain to someone else exactly WHY it's worth getting because everyone has different ways they use their TV. And it's not clear (even though it's probably true) that because my TV content can be piped through aTV, so can yours.
Personally I don't think the answer is to make it cheaper -- Apple rarely goes cheaper, and that's rarely a game they can win. Rather, make it better.
aTV should be thought of as two things
- a device for feeding content to your TV
- an always-on home server
And should build on both of those.
What does this mean?
- it means that there should be more ways to get material into the aTV. In particular there should be a connection to cameras. This could be Continuity Camera (ie use your iPhone/iPad) for minor interactions, and dedicated cameras for longer term interactions. This opens up uses cases like "Family FaceTime" with everyone around the TV on Christmas Day or Thanksgiving.
It opens up camera-based games (eg body motion, like DDR). Think Wii or XBox.
It opens up display of security cameras (eg pop up display of someone pushing the doorbell)
- it means there should be a way to add (if you WANT) large amounts of storage to your aTV. So at least one USB-C port that you can connect a drive to. (Ideally you can connect a USB hub and multiple drives.) Now you can use your aTV for a few other things like home backup (eg what Time Capsule used to do) or as a shared drive for the entire network (what you used to be able to do with Airport Express) or as storage for apps like Plex or Infuse (manage a library of movies) or as storage for apps like Channels DVR (record live TV off a tuner on ethernet).
All this storage functionality CAN be done today in other ways (many of us either have a home server running backup/Plex/Infuse/Channels DVR) or use a NAS or have a drive connected to our WiFi router or whatever. But all these other solutions are more hassle. Channels DVR does its best to make things easy, but it's still two app installations (mac server and aTV), and two places where things go wrong; something like Plex or Infuse is even worse.
If Apple would allow aTV to take over these sorts of server duties (which mainly means allowing connected storage) they'd open up this sort of functionality to a lot more users because everything could (mostly) now be handled by a single app on a single box.
(Ideally that box would also handle mesh WiFi and support Z-Wave and Zigbee, so it could act also as a hub for various IoT technology --- but one step at a time...)
I had and still have in my cupboard the first gen Fire TV box which is still better then the Apple TV, I now use the shield TV and will get the new one for Christmas, complete with sensible useful remote control!!
Apple need to slash the price and storage of their box and sell it at a lot lower price tag or make a stick version. You do NOT need 64GB built in storage, but then again Apple is dead against expandable storage aren’t they..?
Apple need to slash the price and storage of their box and sell it at a lot lower price tag or make a stick version. You do NOT need 64GB built in storage, but then again Apple is dead against expandable storage aren’t they..?
If it really upsets you there are at least two cheap solutions:
(a) look on Amazon for an Apple TV remote cover. Installing a cover makes it very obvious which end is up and which end is down, and gives the remote much better hand feel.
(b) If you have an old IR remote for pretty much anything sitting around unused (or you can buy one on eBay), you can train the aTV to respond to an IR remote. Pretty much everything can be done by IR remote (the only thing that can't is you can't remap the home button). This means you can use a "button" remote to select and launch content, jump around, toggle closed captioning, all that sort of stuff.
Go to the Settings app on aTV and scroll down. Somewhere towards the end there is a section which allows you to train an IR remote.
(I would suggest that you expect to do this twice. The first time you're not sure what you're doing, so you kinda choose buttons for up/down/skip back etc randomly! Try them for a week or so, you'll realize you made some dumb choices, but you'll also be able to write down good choices then do the training again.)
Yeah, guess in this day and age it's unrealistic to expect one of the largest online services companies to have it's e-commerce site tied into its inventory system. 🙄
You forgot option (c) Come here and just complain about the Remote, that is the cheapest option of all
The way it was originally written was this: “Most TVs have a crappy UI, terrible OS maintenance, app support and near inexistent developer community. The Apple TV has all that.” Yes, that does claim that Apple TV has a crappy UI, etc. English grammar is hard.
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The A12x would be fine for 4K gaming for casual games, which is exactly what Apple is going for. It does not replace the purpose-built game consoles.
(1) Drop price to $____ because a Roku can be had for as little as $29.99.
Roku dominates the streaming device/platform market. Apple is last (refer to graphic below)
(3) An ecosystem that Apple is opening up to Roku, Amazon, and Samsung. I wouldn't be surprised to see an Apple TV+ app for Android smartphone users.
(4) I'm very happy with Roku UI. It is very simple and OS and apps get updated several times a year
(6) Isn't Apple working to get AirPlay on Roku devices?
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25% of clearly an overestimate.
Unless way less people are using iPhones in the US than estimated, we are likely looking at closer to 5%. And this is not factoring in the possibility of people with multiple Apple TV’s in the household.
I don’t think Apple needs to lower the price though. They are making TV+ available on as many devices as possible, while continuing to position the Apple TV as the premium option for users who want the best Apple experience.
Unless way less people are using iPhones in the US than estimated, we are likely looking at closer to 5%. And this is not factoring in the possibility of people with multiple Apple TV’s in the household.
I don’t think Apple needs to lower the price though. They are making TV+ available on as many devices as possible, while continuing to position the Apple TV as the premium option for users who want the best Apple experience.
Same here in Australia. It's in fact the only thing connected to the TV apart from the Switch.
I've had that Roku you're such a big fan of at the same time I had the AppleTV 4 and I was shocked by how clunky and unpolished the Roku was. It felt (while functional) very cheap. Even their website was terrible to use. You also very conveniently omitted the fact that the Roku is unable to act as a smart-home hub.
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And being an arse is easy... English is my third language, apologies for not reaching your expected standard. I'll go back to Cambridge University and tell them they made a huge mistake issuing my CPE certification.
The way I constructed my initial message was like so: first part of the paragraph to highlight what OP though was wrong with the AppleTV and the second part my counter-argument. While that structure might not fit your expected standard, and I admit it could have caused confusion, you seemed to have been the only one confused and I did go back and edit the text to save other readers that same potential confusion.
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- Those who only use it for that should probably NOT buy an AppleTV. I use it for far more than that, including games and smart-home hub. To me, these features justify the cost. I have not seen another device that integrates so well with the Apple ecosystem.
- Well, the expense is hard to calculate, and neither of us have real stats at hand. My thoughts are though that if the software runs fine on older hardware (and Apple is good at that) then that might just save the environment a little bit longer. I would expect Apple to move to the next chip within a year or two when indeed, the cost of the newer chip would be at least as low as the older one, if not cheaper. Please don't assume things about people. I used to be hugely against Apple until someone gave me a device to use for a while. Within a few months with my pride crushed I admitted that Apple was offering great UX and stability, something that I did not have on my previous devices.
- It's not asinine at all. Apple's first customer has been for many years now the existing customer, and then everyone else. You call them fanboys, I call them satisfied customers who are happy to stay within the ecosystem and adopt the new services and devices Apple offers. These satisfied customers will then often be the real advertising to potential new customers. That's how I see Apple's marketing strategy, anyway.
- You're very mistaken there. Again, please don't assume things about people. I deal with a number of smart TVs on a daily basis, and I own one. When I purchased mine two years ago, I went with LG and WebOS because reviews indicated a decent level update and support, and some developer community behind it. Reviews also suggested that the hardware I wanted had poor software, and vice-versa so finally ended up going for an LG model which I am happy with.
- Not sidetracked point at all. Just because you don't see the point of it, others might. All my smart-home devices support home-kit and work well within the Apple ecosystem. I'm sorry that's not your experience.
- It might look like cherry-picking but what do you expect people to do? Throw out the TV they bought last year and buy one that supports AirPlay? How is that good for anyone? Believe it or not, I very rarely use AirPlay. My NAS is connected to the AppleTV, and does a great job at it. There will definitely be a change coming, that's for sure, and I never debated that, but within the next 5 or so years AppleTV as a device will still have a space in the market, as people will not want to throw out their existing TVs.
The form over function remote is asking for complaints... and I’d argue they’re quite legitimate complaints.
So my only solution is to use a 3rd party cover to make up for Apples insistence on design over function? Plus I’m still having to use touch for navigating (doesn’t address the main complaint). And the other solution is to buy an older version of the remote off eBay?
Or perhaps I should just keep silent as you suggest.
Not quite, if you don't know you can use any remote by now I don't know what to say
Guess I can't argue with you.
Btw, when did I ever say anything about not knowing how to use the remote
Anyways, for others out there with an open mind I believe there are places were physical buttons are more convenient than touch. And I'd argue a remote would be one of them. Just like I hate touch for in car entertainment systems. So yeah, I'd maintain my complaint and also hope Apple may address it in the future.
Btw, when did I ever say anything about not knowing how to use the remote
Anyways, for others out there with an open mind I believe there are places were physical buttons are more convenient than touch. And I'd argue a remote would be one of them. Just like I hate touch for in car entertainment systems. So yeah, I'd maintain my complaint and also hope Apple may address it in the future.
Where did I say you didn’t know how to use the remote ? Also you prefer physical buttons, ok so do I sometimes like in a car but the difference is for the most part you are stuck with what you have in the car, with the Apple TV you have options and do not need Apple to fix anything
I hear you if AppleTV is just a streaming box it is doing just fine, but if it is a greater part of the ecosystem, and upgrade is in desperate need and should have been here 2 years ago.
1) AppleTV is now your home cloud processor. Cameras will pass data to it for facial recognition, audio recognition and other ML tasks so faster = better. I'd argue that an A14X would make sense.
2) AppleTV could compete with Xbox, Sony and Nintendo. With an A14X chip over clocked because of active cooling in a larger case with constant power this could crush 4k gaming.
3) Mac's with AppleSilicon will not be able to boot camp for windows gaming so how do you get more AAA games available for the platform........Get developers to produce for AppleTV.
4) Some of the third Party TV apps suck any speed boost will make AppleTV the go to device for streaming.
The price doesn't have to hit $69 but $99 would goose sales. Or a promotion where you get a discounted AppleTV when you purchase an iPhone.
Apple needs to leverage these lower volume products to help get developers ready for more main stream items. IMHO
That seems very plausible except for the facts. When asked what people use the echo for the tase majority say playing music.
