Apple TV Is Now Almost 20 Years Old

[JohnC1959]

The glaring omission on current AppleTVs as „homehubs”:

Just let external drives be plugged in to the AppleTV and used as a TimeMachine backup and SMB network storage, a la the discontinued AirPort Extremes / Time Capsules.

On the same topic, just put Time Machine on iPhones and iPads, all the components are already there, they just need to be enabled to work automatically and have a clear and easy interface in Settings.

Neither will happen, and only because Apple wants to sell iCloud storage subscriptions. :-(

Personally I prefer to use a stand alone NAS and then if one wants they can have multiple Apple TV devices accessing that. I like such specialization because it lets me choose the best device for each purpose and upgrade what I need when I need it.

 

[JulianStaples]

Yep, it's important to remember just how different the 1st gen Apple TV is from the later models. 1GHz Pentium M, 256MB RAM, and an IDE hard drive - mine is in a drawer but was running 10.5 as of a couple years ago (honestly, I think it was much more stable on 10.4, but maybe that's just my unit). Other than performance, my main recollection is how concerningly warm it gets.

Yes. Of all the weird OS tinkering on old Apple stuff I've done, that was the one that felt less like I was giving the device a new lease of life and more like I was torturing the poor thing. 😅 🫣

 

[boswald]

I think Apple should bring back the all-silver look. Or at least have an option for white/silver like the Magic Mouse. I bet that would look great.

 

[Happy_John]

Personally I prefer to use a stand alone NAS and then if one wants they can have multiple Apple TV devices accessing that. I like such specialization because it lets me choose the best device for each purpose and upgrade what I need when I need it.

That’s not really my point though.

My point is all the hardware is already there, and in fact all the functionality is also ready there in the TVOS code.

Everything g is there to allow this, it’s just that is not not enabled.

If people want to have a separate NAS, or keep your files on a Mac to stream to the AppleTV,

fine, but there’s no technical reason why you couldn’t have an external drive connected to the AppleTV and use it for TM backups, storing your full photo library, and any other data or content you wanted.

It’s deliberately borked, it’s not a technical limitation.

 

[k1121j]

Not dissing anyone who owns this hardware & asking because of interest of future purchase. Apple TV gets an A+ from me for content.

Why would I buy this hardware when Roku Ultra is half the cost & has the Apple TV app. & all my other streaming apps. I am subscribed to already?

All the other apps that I don’t use for streaming aren’t on there no HomeKit access, won’t use my HomePods also the Apple TV allowed my tv itself to use the HomePods.

 

[ignatius345]

Apple TV is one of my favorite product lines

Bang for the buck it’s maybe the best value I’ve gotten out of an Apple product.

Every time I get a peek at the nightmare interface of my Samsung TV, or have to use a random Roku or Chromecast or whatever, it just reconfirms how worth it the $129 was.

 

[ignatius345]

My question is why does anyone need this device? My “smart TV” seems to be able to access all of the AppleTV content.

1. it works better
2. reliable updates with new features
3. no ads on the home screen
4. better privacy
5. seamless connection to other Apple products
6. you can unplug it and connect it to any other TV and all your stuff is right there*
7. acts as an Apple Home hub, if you need that

* I do this every time I visit family and use the spare TV. I stowed an HDMI and power cord there, so all I need to pack is the ATV itself and the remote. SUCH a better alternative than showing up there, using the TV’s crusty interface and probably having to run updates and log into services repeatedly.

 

[Black Belt]

How many times will you publish the same article…new AppleTV coming soon.

 

[Black Belt]

Bang for the buck it’s maybe the best value I’ve gotten out of an Apple product.

Every time I get a peek at the nightmare interface of my Samsung TV, or have to use a random Roku or Chromecast or whatever, it just reconfirms how worth it the $129 was.

I have used my AppleTv everyday since I started with them years ago. I use it nearly as much as my iPhone. I don’t have any cable or satellite service. I just have a Plex server and a couple subscriptions in the family.

Love the clean, quick interface. I have an LG and a Sony both high end smart tvs and the apps are a convoluted mess on both with ads thrown in.

Looking forward to an even faster and smarter AppleTV with Thread and Matter to serve as a Homehub and explode my smart home to the future - with Apple’s protections built in.

 

[GuruZac]

Have the most recent ATV 4K. The remote is a massive improvement on the past couple gens. Would love for Apple to add an M4 processor or M series of some kind.

 

[artifex]

My question is why does anyone need this device? My “smart TV” seems to be able to access all of the AppleTV content.

What do you plan to do when your TV no longer supports the latest updated apps?
For example, one of mine won't support multiple user profiles in Hulu, but it's definitely something Hulu itself supports on newer TVs. If I actually still want to use Hulu, should I throw out the TV and buy another? Or do without that feature?

And I'm pretty sure none of the older Samsung TVs in the house have an app available for the Criterion Channel at all.

 

[Icehawk]

My question is why does anyone need this device? My “smart TV” seems to be able to access all of the AppleTV content.

My smart tv by samsung stopped getting updates a year after I got it and maybe 2 years into the models life and all the apps have since slowly stopped getting updates.

Yet the original appletv 4k my parents have still gets updates, still runs like its brand new, and does everything better than every smart tv I've come across. Oh. And it gets new apps which these random TV OSs don't.

 

[Churchman]

This is a real Q:

What benefit is there in the Apple TV?

I don’t understand it.

I watch movies and tv shows over the web and I view them on my phone, pad, Mac or TV without issue.

I read a mass of content but I don’t listen to music or podcasts and I don’t play video games. I view photos on my phone, mac, pad or TV.

I don’t have my appliances connected to any central hub and I don’t foresee buying smart appliances or a home hub.

So what is it that Apple TV can do for me that I don’t already do quite quickly and easily?

And it doesn’t have AI so I can tell it to:
(1) find and play the newest ep of Top Chef and America’s Culinary Cup back to back…
(2) Then chase those two eps with season 1 of “J-Foodie / K-Foodie”, with translations….
(3) And send all those shows to my iPad and also to my wife’s phone so she can watch on her flight to Tokyo.

If A-TV had AI, then I could see benefits. But without AI, A-TV just… I don’t get it.

 

[JohnC1959]

This is a real Q:

What benefit is there in the Apple TV?

I don’t understand it.

I watch movies and tv shows over the web and I view them on my phone, pad, Mac or TV without issue.

I read a mass of content but I don’t listen to music or podcasts and I don’t play video games. I view photos on my phone, mac, pad or TV.

I don’t have my appliances connected to any central hub and I don’t foresee buying smart appliances or a home hub.

So what is it that Apple TV can do for me that I don’t already do quite quickly and easily?

And it doesn’t have AI so I can tell it to:
(1) find and play the newest ep of Top Chef and America’s Culinary Cup back to back…
(2) Then chase those two eps with season 1 of “J-Foodie / K-Foodie”, with translations….
(3) And send all those shows to my iPad and also to my wife’s phone so she can watch on her flight to Tokyo.

If A-TV had AI, then I could see benefits. But without AI, A-TV just… I don’t get it.

It may not help you much at all. You didn't say just how you stream on your TV -- perhaps using an app that came on your smart TV or air playing from a device? For me, I didn't like the apps in the smart TVs and I wanted a common interface across all my varying TVs (one of which isn't smart) and ideally wanted it to be an interface familiar to me as an Apple Mac and phone user. I have one on each TV. I recently replaced my Xfinity TV boxes with these so I just have their internet plan.

Since there isn't AI on it yet you can do more simple searches using voice such as find shows by title or actor across various streaming services you have installed.

I suspect making it extra easy to watch specifically on a TV (rather than mostly on a laptop) tends to be more important if you have multiple people in your home that like watching together.

 

[WarHeadz]

LMAO you count 720p to 4k as something Apple did to improve it? Every. Single. Build in smart TV can do what ATV does and better. None of things you listed matter one bit to end consumer. It’s just a device to click an app to watch video, which already being replaced by built in smart tv app. No one cares for ATV anymore except the die hard sheeples.

What a crock of BS. Built in smart tv software is absolute trash. I refuse to use it. ATV is a far superior experience and works better with your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It's so buttery smooth. And they're cheap enough that you can put them on all your tv's.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Bang for the buck it’s maybe the best value I’ve gotten out of an Apple product.

Every time I get a peek at the nightmare interface of my Samsung TV, or have to use a random Roku or Chromecast or whatever, it just reconfirms how worth it the $129 was.

Outside of bang for the buck hardware wise, the software and interface/UI is in first place by light years. And, that UI runs great on the fast hardware. It’s such a win-win product

 

[Abazigal]

LOL smooth interface??? Literally just turn on any smart tv and a list of icons show up to be selected. What else is needed??? Privacy? Wow it knows I click Netflix 3 times a day, big deal.

How about analysing your beliefs and emotions and then showing you ads based on that?

LG TVs’ integrated ads get more personal with tech that analyzes viewer emotions

LG licenses tech for interpreting TV users' feelings and convictions.

arstechnica.com

I am already using Apple TVs for the integration with the apple ecosystem. Any added privacy benefits is icing on the top. 🙂

 

[kiranmk2]

The Apple TV is probably our most used Apple device and 90% of our TV watching happens through it now.

I've got a 2020 LG OLED and even within the first year, when it was the current model and so was receiving the most frequent updates & patches, the smart TV features were so slow compared to the Apple TV 4K. I used the built-in smart TV apps for a few months before I got a 2021 Apple TV 4K 2nd gen and they didn't seem so bad...but switching back to Apple TV, showed just how annoying it was waiting for YouTube to spend 5-6 seconds loading the content details or switching between apps. Since then, LG have "enhanced" WebOS with the (now common) spyware that analyses the images you are watching to sell the data to advertisers. I believe LG now commits to providing WebOS updates for 5-6 years for new TVs, but just imagine how slow WebOS 28 is going to be on a TV. that originally came with WebOS 23...In the meantime my 2021 Apple TV 4K still feels fast and smooth.

Loking forward to the new model and I'm really hoping that Apple does more with it than just dropping in a newer chip and letting it power AI requests for HomePods, as I think there is much more opportunity for it to do more things.

 

[eifelbube]

My question is why does anyone need this device? My “smart TV” seems to be able to access all of the AppleTV content.

I do not want my TV set to be connected to the Internet. It is of the smart type but I prefer it to be “dumb as straw” as we say in German.

 

[ImAlwaysRight]

I have an original AppleTV with hard drive that I took apart and upgraded to a larger internal 2.5-inch drive. I have a bunch of kids movies on it, took it in our minivan with video screen for long drives. I'm going to have to whip that thing out for nostalgia's sake!

 

[diblasio]

So today marks 19 years since it was introduced yet the headline boldly proclaims its “almost 20 years”. That’s a bit of a stretch, come on MR. Obviously I have a different definition of almost in this context.

TIL 19 years is not almost 20 years. Man yall will argue about literally anything!

 

[ralphthemagi]

LMAO you count 720p to 4k as something Apple did to improve it? Every. Single. Build in smart TV can do what ATV does and better. None of things you listed matter one bit to end consumer. It’s just a device to click an app to watch video, which already being replaced by built in smart tv app. No one cares for ATV anymore except the die hard sheeples.

It doesn't have ads the way other Smart TVs do. They sync across multiple TVs. It can easily be controlled with an Apple Watch or Phone. Works quite well with two HomePods in stereo mode, which is how I run them.

If it wasn't Apple TV, I'd probably use a PS5 or Xbox Series S. Really, I would use just about anything other than the trash built into Samsung and LG TVs. It's horrible. Ads everywhere and somehow the interfaces are laggy. It's not that Apple TV is really that great. It's fine. It's more that the UI built into every Smart TV I've ever used is either trash or becomes trash over time. I think it's actually amazing how bad the software built into TVs is. My preference when buying any TV is actually to buy a commercial display so I can avoid that trash entirely. I would rather have nothing than a Smart TV. Google/Android TV can be just fine, but it really depends on the manufacturer.

 

[Churchman]

It may not help you much at all. You didn't say just how you stream on your TV -- perhaps using an app that came on your smart TV or air playing from a device? For me, I didn't like the apps in the smart TVs and I wanted a common interface across all my varying TVs (one of which isn't smart) and ideally wanted it to be an interface familiar to me as an Apple Mac and phone user. I have one on each TV. I recently replaced my Xfinity TV boxes with these so I just have their internet plan.

Since there isn't AI on it yet you can do more simple searches using voice such as find shows by title or actor across various streaming services you have installed.

I suspect making it extra easy to watch specifically on a TV (rather than mostly on a laptop) tends to be more important if you have multiple people in your home that like watching together.

Ok. This is a use-case I can see. It does not apply to me but I get what you have said.

Thanks!

 

[mk313]

My question is why does anyone need this device? My “smart TV” seems to be able to access all of the AppleTV content.

Obviously no one 'needs' one, but realistically, none of us 'needs' anything that apple sells. Almost every product Apple sells has an alternative that can be had cheaper. But for those that buy it, it's usually one of a couple of things:
1. The integration works better (things like AirPods being recognized by all your devices and not having to repair them to other devices when you switch), or being able to sync your photos.
2. Apple's style. Apple certainly has their own look & feel and for a lot of people that is worth something.
3. Security. While not bulletproof, Apple does a lot of things right when it comes to your personal information. Specific to TV's, I remember reading that a lot of smart TV's were not secure (this was several years ago, so things could absolutely have changed by now. I don't need a new TV so I haven't been keeping up).

 

[mdcmdcmdc]

TIL 19 years is not almost 20 years. Man yall will argue about literally anything!

I guess 95% of the way there doesn’t qualify as “almost” to some people.

(My issue wasn’t with the “almost 20 years old” headline, but with the nothingburger of an article.)