Apple Discontinues Third-Generation Apple TV

[hick9]

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 totally agree.. and to add to your point, The AppleTV 4 is much more open than any other version. You can just download apps like Plex or Infuse as an example. Between these two apps you can play just about any format from any device. Infuse can see your files just about any location you have them. I have a drive on my Airport Extreme which I use so I don't even need my Mac on to watch my own content.

 

[rp2011]

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.

How so?
The problem is that there are too many people who have bought a Chromecast, then a Roku or Apple TV and bad mouth them to everyone they know.
That 3rd gen Apple TV I had to give away and doubt the person I gave it to ever used it either.
I bought a Roku so I could use my Amazon Prime Video subscription and hate the damn thing. It's a hot mess.
I sincerely doubt Roku will be in business in two years unless someone buys them out.

 

[albusseverus]

I'll continue to use my Apple TV 3 until it passes on. Does everything I need it to.

Me, too. This is a disaster. I have no need for anything Gen4 does. I buy a Gen3 for every television I come in contact with. Bring on the Refurbs!!

iTunes gets more useless every year, doesn't even back up iPhone apps anymore (yes I know about app thinning, but if I have it set to download when I buy on any device, can iTunes please download the full app and restore apps to devices as required). Pretty soon it probably won't stream my library around the house.

This idea of streaming from Apple every time I sneeze must come from the same place that wants my Documents and Downloads on Apple's servers. Madness from people who have more internet connection than brains.

 

[nostresshere]

The only think I use my Apple TV is for Airplay. My Roku does everything else I need AND - AND - AND I can access the 300+ movies I have on an external hardrive.

 

[mandrake2016]

Tried browsing these comments on my decked out 1st gen rMBP. Crashed half way down page 1.

 

[2010mini]

Apple TV needs content. Amazon and others are killing it, period. The box is just tech specs, the real benefit is content. Fix the content!

What content doesn't the Apple TV have?
[doublepost=1475638098][/doublepost]

The only think I use my Apple TV is for Airplay. My Roku does everything else I need AND - AND - AND I can access the 300+ movies I have on an external hardrive.

You do know the Apple TV 4 can access NAS drive right?

 

[Soni Sanjay]

Apple lied.

Still rocking my ATV 3.

 

[mrgraff]

OK, the move makes sense, but I'll be very upset if any of the content or channels on my ATV3 stops working and tells me I have to upgrade.

 

[2010mini]

OK, the move makes sense, but I'll be very upset if any of the content or channels on my ATV3 stops working and tells me I have to upgrade.

The content providers control those channels. If they decide to stop supporting the 3rd gen, you will have no choice. Apple can't make devs support older hardware/software

 

[mandrake2016]

What content doesn't the Apple TV have?
[doublepost=1475638098][/doublepost]

You do know the Apple TV 4 can access NAS drive right?

What content doesn't the Apple TV have?
[doublepost=1475638098][/doublepost]

You do know the Apple TV 4 can access NAS drive right?

Didn't have Plex till the latest overpriced unit.

Is married to the terribly obsolete iTunes... seriously, I dread browsing the Apple anything store on iTunes, it takes about 10x as long as browsing any other service via HTML5 in any browser and with great variety of search options.

And why is it that I can remote control my Roku 10x quicker via a Chrome plugin remote and therefore Macbook keyboard controls, but I have no way to control any Apple TV via any far more expensive Mac?

Apple has never **** the bed as hard as they have with ATV. Epic fail getting worse by the quarter.

 

[macduke]

I questioned why I even bought the ATV 4 when it's so locked down and side-loading kodi once a week just to watch other files types.

Apple isn't being very customer service friendly, your customers obviously want to download files and watch them.

They're gonna start to jump ship, which I'll be doing.

As a technical person, I understand where you're coming from. But 90% of people likely have no idea what you just said. Of that remaining 10%, 5% don't know how to do what you just said, and roughly 4% (myself included) know how to but honestly don't feel like messing with it. That leaves about 1% of people who would do this out of the millions of people with Apple TVs.

To be completely frank, most of those people have probably set up a Linux or Windows box in a closet somewhere to stream their patched together media library. These people are enthusiasts, and enjoy the thrill of rolling their own system. They won't be hampered by this closed box with a 10/100 Ethernet connection. They're the type of people who attend their local Maker Club, own a 3D printer and/or CNC, and tinker with Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards. They embody DIY. These people are important to our society, but Apple gives absolutely zero craps about pleasing them and never will.

Apple will, however, put a great deal of effort into designing a user experience that is as easy and frictionless as possible. That does not involve browsing different file types in a bunch of folders over a local area network. No disrespect whatsoever, as I said I have an appreciation for such things as I used to build my own PCs back in the day and programming is a big part of my job, but I really do whole heartedly recommend that you jump ship to something that better suits your needs.

 

[/V\acpower]

The chromecast 2 does everything I need.

I bought a chromecast 2 this summer because in theory it does 90% of what I need.

However, i'm now seriously considering an Apple TV because actually using the chromecast is full of small irritants, like having to constantly resync my phone app each time I want to pause or rewind a bit. Worse, often the sync doesn't seem to work until I actually kill the app on iOS and relaunch it. (I can't count the time I had to kill abd relaunch the Netflix or Plex app...)

You just want to pause the damn thing and it take you like 20 seconds if not more.

Sometime it works, sometime it doesn't.

Chromecast is the bare minimum of funtionnality and I feel it every day.

 

[allenvanhellen]

I questioned why I even bought the ATV 4 when it's so locked down and side-loading kodi once a week just to watch other files types.

Apple isn't being very customer service friendly, your customers obviously want to download files and watch them.

They're gonna start to jump ship, which I'll be doing.

I have no such problems using VLC. When I have to download something -- only when a legal way in which the rights holders would get compensation for my viewing isn't available -- I find the file in a group online and copy its link to VLC via the app or the Apple TV remote app on my iPhone. If I get it via torrent or another means, I just AirPlay it. You can also stream and copy files from your computer to the VLC app on the Apple TV.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Still have mine still works fine.

 

[ErikGrim]

I bought a chromecast 2 this summer because in theory it does 90% of what I need.

However, i'm now seriously considering an Apple TV because actually using the chromecast is full of small irritants, like having to constantly resync my phone app each time I want to pause or rewind a bit. Worse, often the sync doesn't seem to work until I actually kill the app on iOS and relaunch it. (I can't count the time I had to kill abd relaunch the Netflix or Plex app...)

You just want to pause the damn thing and it take you like 20 seconds if not more.

Sometime it works, sometime it doesn't.

Chromecast is the bare minimum of funtionnality and I feel it every day.

The Chromecast is the only product I have ever returned. What a POS.

 

[Altis]

I'll continue to use my Apple TV 3 until it passes on. Does everything I need it to.

Wait for the next TvOS release.

 

[aced411]

I questioned why I even bought the ATV 4 when it's so locked down and side-loading kodi once a week just to watch other files types.

Apple isn't being very customer service friendly, your customers obviously want to download files and watch them.

They're gonna start to jump ship, which I'll be doing.

I question why you bought it too.

 

[Basic75]

Yeah, single-core A5 in 2016 was just a big no-no.

Enough for receiving AirPlay and playing Netflix and Youtube, one could also say enough as long as no custom apps are involved. Still, I might upgrade rrom 3rd to a 5th generation, looking forward to what it can do!

 

[ActionableMango]

Why would I buy an Apple TV when I can get a small chromecast dongle at a fraction of the price that delivers the content I need?

Sometimes I think Apple should just pack it in with this and other useless items

Look, if all you want is a wireless receiver for your Android device, then that's great. But don't pretend that the Chromecast the same thing as an ATV at a fraction of the cost, or that the ATV is "useless".

The Apple TV does quite a bit more:

• Is a computer that can run actual applications and has a rich app store
• Universal search to find that show among all your apps and compare pricing
• Wired ethernet for reliable streaming
• Includes a remote control with:
  • Siri
  • Physical buttons
  • Touchpad
  • TV volume controls
  • Gyro sensors
• Hardware MP4 decoding
• Home automation hub for Homekit
• Includes 32 or 64GB of storage
• iTunes support
• Airplay support (both inbound and outbound)
• Bluetooth support for:
  • Additional remotes
  • Game controllers
  • Headphones
  • Speakers
  • Keyboard

 

[MH01]

Sidestepping the obvious piracy angle here, what are you playing on your Kodi that Plex can't play?

A downloaded file does not equal piracy. That aside, plex has many issues on ATV4 and you need a service running somewhere on a box. Many people keep thier files just on a standard HD.

Plex is so poor, I had to get infuse.

The point here is that the competition supports file support out of the Box, apple does not.

 

[JackieInCo]

I'm still using my ATV2 and will until it dies. I see no reason to buy the current ATV when the 2 does everything I need.

 

[X5-599]

I'm taking this opportunity to ask: Am I the only one who feels the entire UI of the new AppleTV is not as smooth as is should be?
When I compare it to any of my other iOS devices I feel the AppleTV UI is really, really lagging. And not just the system UI. Netflix for example. Scrolling through their app is just not as smooth as it was on the old AppleTV.

 

[TallManNY]

Of course Apple should discontinue the A3. But it should also come out with a new Apple TV with better CPU. I'd buy a new Apple TV for my bedroom, but I don't want to pay full price for a year old piece of tech. I'd like to move to my two TV watching locations having access to Apps. But buying two same generation devices seems foolish. If Apple just put a new processor in and changed nothing, I'd feel better about buying a new Apple TV.

 

[Mike MA]

How original. Another MacBook comment to add to the thread.

Apple TV 5 in the Spring.

Even add the 2010 Macbook Airs, same form factor, only some spec bumps. Face it...

Besides, I would appreciate some speed improvements for the Apple TV 4, when it comes to gaming.

 

[Avenged110]

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.

That would be great. I would be happy with an 8 or 16 GB 4th gen with the old remote. I can't stand the new remote, so I'd have to get an old one anyway, and all my streaming is local so onboard storage is useless for me (aside from a buffer).