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Apple Says New Apple TV 4K is Tremendous Value at $179, Not Designed to Compete Directly With Xbox or PlayStation

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In addition to reviews lifting for the new Apple TV 4K, Apple marketing executive Tim Twerdahl spoke with CNN Underscored's Jacob Krol about the latest generation of the streaming box, which launches this Friday.

apple-tv-4k-arcade.jpg

Priced at $179 with 32GB of storage or $199 with 64GB of storage, Twerdahl said the new Apple 4K offers "tremendous" value.

"We think there's a tremendous amount of value in this $179. When we talk about the best way to watch TV, I sort of think about it at three levels," Twerdahl said. Those three levels, according to Twerdahl, are hardware specs that deliver the best experience possible, having content that people want, and seamless integration with other Apple products.

Twerdahl said Apple's focus with gaming has been on Apple Arcade, which he also said delivers a tremendous value, but he admitted that the new Apple TV 4K is not designed to compete directly with consoles like the Xbox or PlayStation.

"Our focus on gaming has been more recently on arcade stuff, because we think that that's a great value for customers, there's a tremendous amount of content in there," said Twerdahl. "And we've done a lot to make that experience fantastic. Most notably, probably support for all these different game controllers."

"It's probably not designed to compete directly with the Xboxes and PlayStations of the world," added Twerdahl. "They bring something to the market that I think is unique and great for really hardcore gamers."

Apple Arcade is Apple's subscription-based gaming service, providing access to a catalog of over 100 games without ads or in-app purchases across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, with pricing set at $4.99 per month. The recent tvOS 14.5 update added support for the latest PS5 and Xbox Series X game controllers on the Apple TV.

The new Apple TV 4K has been available to order since April 30, with most orders beginning to arrive this Friday, May 21.

Article Link: Apple Says New Apple TV 4K is Tremendous Value at $179, Not Designed to Compete Directly With Xbox or PlayStation
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/20/apple-says-new-apple-tv-is-tremendous-value/
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Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and AirPlay comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
 
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I actually agree with him.
Even though I think $179 is just a bit steep, and I think them selling the old 2015 model for $149 still is a complete rip off, I do think that it is the best streaming box out there.
It definitely has the smoothest and easiest to use user interface, it supports all my iTunes purchases over the years, it has a decent remote, and it definitely supports the most formats.
Not to mention, you can’t beat that ecosystem integration.
 
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Good.

As someone who owns a Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, ATV 4K v1 and soon the ATV 4K v2, I can say the ATV is in a completely different category from the dedicated consoles. The graphical fidelity and scope of games is just not comparable.

Apple tried to pitch the ATV as a game console killer but the lack of a bundled controller and limited storage made that a nonstarter (most modern AAA games would fill up the entire 32 or even 64 GB of storage).

Plus there's a chicken-or-egg problem with developers not wanting to develop for a "console" with no users and users not wanting to buy a "console" with no developer support.

Thankfully, the ATV can do more than games so it's not another Pippin!
 
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GeoStructural said:
Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and Air Play comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
Click to expand...
Homekit integration. For example Homekit Secure Video
 
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Maybe that finally puts to rest on whether Apple TV should/could/would have been a AAA gaming machine :)
 
GeoStructural said:
Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and AirPlay comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
Click to expand...

By not connecting your TV to WiFi you can also save yourself from having everything you view tracked and sold to advertisers. I think companies like Vizio go a step further and actually record anything displayed on screen so they can track stuff that isn’t from a built-in app. And if you’re using a Samsung or LG, you’ll see no ads in the menus when there’s no network connected.
 
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GeoStructural said:
Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and AirPlay comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
Click to expand...
  • Faster, smoother interface due to a much faster CPU
  • Tight integration with Apple services and devices
  • You can use iPhone as a remote in a pinch
  • Availability of some games, including most Apple Arcade games
  • Wider selection of apps (NBC, ABC, Crunchyroll, Plex, CBS News, you name it)
  • Now, the usability and convenience of the remote is far better than you'll find on any TV remore
  • Cast audio to HomePod stereo pair via AirPlay
  • AirPlay screen mirroring has significantly less lag and significantly fewer compression artifacts on Apple TV versus a smart TV
 
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GeoStructural said:
Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and Air Play comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
Click to expand...
It’s a similar argument to why use AirPods over the wired earbuds that come with your phone.
Yes, the wired earbuds play the exact same music that the AirPods do, have basically the exact same audio quality that the AirPods do, and are much cheaper than the AirPods are.
But the AirPods are fun to use, super portable, have automatic switching, don’t have a huge wire dangling from them, all the advantages just start to add up.
The Apple TV has a fun and smooth user interface, it gets frequent updates, it’s extremely compatible with other Apple devices… *being able to type in text fields using my iPhone keyboard is a must have feature for me*, The remote, especially the new remote, is a lot of fun to use, it has a lot of cool apps to download, it usually gets streaming services long before regular smart TVs do, it has Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Fitness+ built right in if thats your thing, it’s HomeKit compatible, and if you travel a lot and you like to keep your movies with you no matter where you go and be able to watch them on any TV, you can just carry around the Apple TV and the remote in your bag.
From my experience, and the experience of other people I know, the user interface built in on smart TVs and other cheaper streaming options are usually clunky, they come with cheap plastic remotes covered in buttons, they don’t get updated very frequently, you’re lucky if you get Apple TV or AirPlay support, and they’re not extremely high-quality.
 
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GeoStructural said:
Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and AirPlay comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
Click to expand...
The actual software on the AppleTV offers full Dolby Vision and Atmos playback for all supported apps. Where the television version I’ve found often does not. The apps interface is more “alive” for its GUI compared to its television version As well. I’ve noticed this with a lot of apps. Not just AppleTV. Now whether any of that is important to you or anyone? (assuming you’re not interested in the casual gaming offerings it can do)
 
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Is it nice? Yes. A tremendous value? Absolutely not. With most Tv's supporting airplay now and every major streaming service the only point of an apple TV is to have specific features like arcade and fitness+....(oh wait now you can stream that to tvs via airplay now).......so yeah. For 179 they should bundle a game controller and 3 months of arcade and do that gaming bundle. At most this should be $149 otherwise.
 
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Did Apple really suggest the ATV was meant to directly compete with Xbox or PlayStation? Can’t say I remember that if they did and I really hope no one ever seriously thought the ATV and PlayStation were in the same category.
 
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GeoStructural said:
Honest question: What advantages does Apple TV bring to a Smart TV?

My TV already has a smart hub that does more than I can use, it can record shows and AirPlay comes built into it, so I can seamlessly mirror my iPhone or iPad screen, or even use it as a monitor wirelessly. I do not even have a set top box, the TV can already handle the TV-input from the provider.
Click to expand...
I recently purchased a new Sony smart TV that runs Android. It supports HomeKit and AirPlay 2, and has the Apple TV app, Disney+, Netflix, etc preinstalled. When I bought the TV, I honesty thought that I would replace my Apple TV with it. After using it for a few days though, I went back to using my Apple TV 4K.

The interface on the Apple TV is just smoother, faster, and nicer to use than the Android TV. I am one of the few who actually enjoy using the Siri remote with the touchpad, and find it way easier and faster to use than the traditional remote that came with my TV.

My kids enjoy playing some of the games from Apple Arcade on the Apple TV, like Sneaky Sasquatch or Sponge Bob.

Also, I've been using Apple Fitness lately. If you AirPlay that to a TV, you don't get your stats on the screen, which I like to see.

That's why I use it, but I totally understand that for many people out there, a smart TV does the job just fine on it's own.
 
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Let me guess – the games on Apple TV when used with a 4K television will be upscaled from 1080p pixels?
 
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