Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Discontinues Third-Generation Apple TV
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Im kinda over my apple tv 4. Its a poorer media player than the 3. Crashes a lot, bad design decisions.
I tend to prefer my 3's because they are media players and not a gaming/iphone/blah blah device.
Issues
Swapping out the media player when you leave the app. Eg if you are watching something then stop it to do something else when you come back you have navigate back to the movie. It even teases you by showing you a cached image of where it was before for a few seconds before resetting back to the front screen.
If you are watching something on your own computer then stop half way through it doesn't show up on the recently watched list until you have finished it (which is a pain because you have go find it again).
Voice control which i loved doesn't work with your local media except if its on the screen. Seriously thats how it works. You can't pick something starting with z if its off the screen unless you scroll down to z then it works.
This is among other problems (mostly niggly issues)
I tend to prefer my 3's because they are media players and not a gaming/iphone/blah blah device.
Issues
Swapping out the media player when you leave the app. Eg if you are watching something then stop it to do something else when you come back you have navigate back to the movie. It even teases you by showing you a cached image of where it was before for a few seconds before resetting back to the front screen.
If you are watching something on your own computer then stop half way through it doesn't show up on the recently watched list until you have finished it (which is a pain because you have go find it again).
Voice control which i loved doesn't work with your local media except if its on the screen. Seriously thats how it works. You can't pick something starting with z if its off the screen unless you scroll down to z then it works.
This is among other problems (mostly niggly issues)
I disagree. They need a cheaper option for those that just want to use it for AirPlay, and now that option is no longer available.
Same. No reason to upgrade (for me, at least). Gen 3 still very capable for my needs.
How original. Another MacBook comment to add to the thread.
Apple TV 5 in the Spring.
Shame. It is a great AirPlay mirroring device for the classroom, and I use this function in my teaching every day.
I have the 4th gen Apple TV as well, but due to the dearth of apps and the lack of Siri support in my region, I haven't found it much better than the older Apple TV for the price.
I have the 4th gen Apple TV as well, but due to the dearth of apps and the lack of Siri support in my region, I haven't found it much better than the older Apple TV for the price.
I still used my ATV2 regularly until just recently when we cut the cord and switched to Playstation Vue. We had to buy Fire Sticks. The ATV is still a better device. Hopefully they will continue adding channels/apps as they can because it's still a strong device.
In honor of the greatest thread in the MacRumors forum, this means the new Apple TV is almost certainly coming
It's a sin that these products were still on the market in the first place. Apple was shamelessly taking money from the uniformed when for $35.00 anyone could get the best streaming device on the market in the Google Chromecast.
One day Apple will offer a valid streaming device, they slept on Apple TV when it mattered and let it wither away when they actually had a novel device. But for now, everyone should just cede the market to Chromecast.
Even Roku slept on the only product they make by letting it also wither away with their hokey and dated UI and garbage remotes.
The new Rokus are great if they were meant for a 2009 marketplace when you would actually be happy with it.
But yeah, finally someone found the time to clear that garbage from the online store.
One day Apple will offer a valid streaming device, they slept on Apple TV when it mattered and let it wither away when they actually had a novel device. But for now, everyone should just cede the market to Chromecast.
Even Roku slept on the only product they make by letting it also wither away with their hokey and dated UI and garbage remotes.
The new Rokus are great if they were meant for a 2009 marketplace when you would actually be happy with it.
But yeah, finally someone found the time to clear that garbage from the online store.
Apple has discontinued the third-generation Apple TV, removing it from its online store. Additionally, links to the Apple TV 3 now reroute to the fourth-generation Apple TV.
Here's hoping a next-generation 4K Apple TV is coming, with 3840x2160@60fps, HDMI 2.0 w/ HDR.
Or Home Sharing. I use it almost exclusively for those two functions, interestingly, both local.
Last I checked those gen 2s are worth a lot of money (because they can be jailbroken). I sold my old one a few years ago for over $100 IIRC. Don't give it away just yet.
EDIT: Never mind. Apparently they aren't worth as much as they used to be. You still might be able to sell it for $30-40, though.
I appreciate your viewpoint, but I couldn't disagree more. Vast majority of consumers want to watch Apple content, download apps such as Netflix and Hulu and generally enjoy the good life within the walled garden. Very few people want to side-load anything. I never even considered it for a minute. Love the Apple TV. It's the best stream box out there.
I got two FireTV 4K units for $85 each on sale and moved one of my older FireTV Sticks to the exercise room. Side load Kodi once and forget about it (actually back it up with ADBLink and all your setup info is then duplicated for your with just a change to the Airplay device name for each room. It's a shame Apple continues to shroud Airplay in legal limbo (i.e. Kodi used to have video airplay support but Apple destroyed that). But seeing I abandoned mobile iOS devices as well, Airplay means less than it used to (still use it from iTunes to sync full house audio and to send sleep sounds to my bedroom from an older iPod Touch without having to keep the Mac running and that's about it. Guests can play their own music in the guest room via Airplay as well on the guest room speaker system).
But the fact of the matter is that media playback devices should be device and computer system independent. This is where Fairplay destroys iTunes movie and tv show options. You're better off buying Bluray and compressing them yourself so they are system independent. I don't want to be tied to AppleTV or FireTV or even a Kodi media player. I want to use whatever the best option is at the time. I still have an AppleTV Gen2 used solely for music (without a tv needing to be connected), but the AppleTV Gen 4 is overpriced and doesn't support 4K when devices like the FireTV do for under $100.
But the fact of the matter is that media playback devices should be device and computer system independent. This is where Fairplay destroys iTunes movie and tv show options. You're better off buying Bluray and compressing them yourself so they are system independent. I don't want to be tied to AppleTV or FireTV or even a Kodi media player. I want to use whatever the best option is at the time. I still have an AppleTV Gen2 used solely for music (without a tv needing to be connected), but the AppleTV Gen 4 is overpriced and doesn't support 4K when devices like the FireTV do for under $100.
The 3rd gen is great for these features. I could see Apple hitting a low price point for the 4th gen paired with the old style remote now that there is decent remote app.
About time. I was puzzled why they kept selling the 3rd gen. It was already way past its prime.
Yeah. I'm pretty mad that the Apple TV and iTunes no longer displays subtitles on my ripped files. Even though earlier versions of the OS did. I bought Infuse 4... it was $10 but is supposed to play pretty much anything. It claims mkv support. I haven't checked it out in full yet. But it would be a good alternative to Kodi, it seems. I just wish they'd let kodi on the App Store and be done with it.
What are you on about? The Chromecast is good for what it does but the higher end Rokus and Apple TV have it beat in every way but price.
I've been using Infuse Pro for my DVBLink recordings and I've been very happy with it. Haven't thrown much else at it.
