Apple TV3 as a 1080p Airplay device

[Joelburman]

Hi,
I have a 4K tv and looking for a option to airplay the TV from my iPhone 8 and MacBook Pro (late 2013). I'd be fine for now with a 1080p option like Apple TV3 but how is it running nowadays?

Don't really feel like shelling out for a later version at the moment since there are many rumours about a new version.

 

[brucewayne]

Other than a few updates (likely security related) and the addition of Amazon Prime a few years ago Apple hasn't done much with it. We have a few kicking around on TVs we do not use very often and seems to be solid for basic use.

It doesn't support Airplay 2 (and likely never will since it wasn't updated like the old Airport express base stations) so you never know when Apple may decide to cut it off - at 8 years old if it isn't deprecated now it soon will be.

If you can find an ATV4 (a non-4k 32gb version) around the same price it would be a more useable device for a 2nd tv (airplay 2, app store, bluetooth headphone support etc) once you eventually replace it with the new ATV when it comes out.

I just Airplay'd from my MBP and iPad to the ATV3 in my daughters room and seems to work fine.

Hope that helps.

 

[BJMRamage]

Thanks to quarantine and working from home I have ventured to the basement a few times for meetings and used my old 3Gen AppleTV to airplay and it was fine. My tv only supported 720 so the quality was limited but sure if 1080 was an option it would be fine too. Also, I kinda liked the FWD and RWD options that I forgot about. Though the remote was "weird" to me after being used to the Siri Remote.

if you can snag one on the really cheap, might be a fine option. but if there are similarly-priced 4th gen units, that is a better option for future-proofing, should you want that.

 

[Joelburman]

Thanks for you guys input. Where I'm at (Sweden) the 4th gen non 4K variant is twice the price than a used ATV3 and if I'm gonna shell out that kind of price its only 50 bucks more for the 4K version so I might as well go with that then. My needs really are air playing stuff to the TV hence why I'm interested in an ATV3 to keep me going until/if there is a new revision.

 

[BJMRamage]

^^ In that case, I'd go with the ATV-3rd Gen. it will work for you and not cost you too much.

 

[waw74]

even with the 4K aTV, you still airplay at 1080

 

[Joelburman]

even with the 4K aTV, you still airplay at 1080

Really? Thanks for the info that's kind of lame... I thought Airplay 2 was 4K

 

[zepfhyr]

I regularly use my 3rd gen Apple TV with a projector for outdoor movie nights. Sometimes, those are streamed directly from iTunes, but other times I AirPlay them from another device. It always works flawlessly for me. It even got support for the new Apple TV+ content in a recent update.