I don't know if to get an ATV3 or ATV4 as its my first TV Is there much of a difference between ATV3 and ATV4?
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Difference [between ATV3 and ATV4]
- Thread starter gw0gvq
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Unless really tight on money I would get the Apple TV 4. The App Store is a huge difference. So much more possibilities with the App Store. The Apple TV 3 is a little like having an iPhone and no App Store. You only get what Apple chooses to give you.
Apple 3 supports the use of the remote app on your iPhone and Watch.
The 4 does not if you can believe it...terrible.
The 4 does not if you can believe it...terrible.
It depends what you want to use the Apple TV for. If all your movies, tv shows and music are bought from iTunes you might as well save some money and just get the atv3. If however you have movies and tv eps from other sources stored on a nas or internal or usb hard drives that you would like to be able to watch on tv then the atv4 is the way to go because you have access to a App Store with heaps of great media player apps available. The atv3 doesn't let you play video files unless they are in iTunes.
ATV4 doesn't support bluetooth keyboards or the Apple Remote App from your iphone. You might not think that is a big deal until you try to search for things using the text search and the new apple remote. Frankly, it feels like a bit of a downgrade for us from the ATV3.
And there are some big apps you can get on other devices that are not available on the new app store yet. Amazon prime, Vudu, M-go, etc. We don't have digital movies stored on our NAS that are outside of iTunes, but we do have ultraviolet copies of movies we have bought on disc that are in Vudu and some M-go movies we bought. I don't know that there is an ultraviolet app yet for the new ATV4.
All in all, I would wait a while on an ATV4. It will get there eventually, but you could probably save yourself some $$ and buy an ATV3 and wait for the ATV5.
Edit: Cnet did a nice comparison of apps available between the old AppleTV and the new one for major apps across all the devices. http://www.cnet.com/news/what-you-can-watch-on-the-new-apple-tv-vs-roku-vs-fire-tv-vs-chromecast/
And there are some big apps you can get on other devices that are not available on the new app store yet. Amazon prime, Vudu, M-go, etc. We don't have digital movies stored on our NAS that are outside of iTunes, but we do have ultraviolet copies of movies we have bought on disc that are in Vudu and some M-go movies we bought. I don't know that there is an ultraviolet app yet for the new ATV4.
All in all, I would wait a while on an ATV4. It will get there eventually, but you could probably save yourself some $$ and buy an ATV3 and wait for the ATV5.
Edit: Cnet did a nice comparison of apps available between the old AppleTV and the new one for major apps across all the devices. http://www.cnet.com/news/what-you-can-watch-on-the-new-apple-tv-vs-roku-vs-fire-tv-vs-chromecast/
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If I were buying a new one, I'd definitely go for the ATV4 just for the App Store. But I have two ATV3s that are working fine for us and won't be replacing them any time soon... until there are some apps that drive me to it. Amazon is one that might do that sooner rather than later; although we have Tivo Roamios and Minis throughout the house that also provide the Amazon app; and I can just use my iPhone Amazon app with Airplay to the ATV3 also. Decisions, decisions.
The 4 has a future while the 3 really does not. What that future may be, we don't know.
I personally think the ATV3 is better in many ways. If you had one already, I would say stick with that for a while. But the ATV4 is the future so for a first time buy, get that.
I was really excited about the ATV4, but after using it, I find myself getting a little frustrated with the bugs, the new video apps UI, and the remote.
I think a lot of the stuff will be fixed eventually, but until then, I prefer to use my ATV3. If I could get the games on the ATV3 UI I would love it.
For some people on the forum, mentioning the ATV4 flaws is a really touchy subject for some reason, but I will name a few.
The bugs, including random restarts, and some audio problems.
The remote, I think it was poorly designed, meaning button placement. Also it is easy to accidentally press the wrong button, or swipe the touch pad and RW or FW a movie you are watching.
You can use a IR remote with the remote learning feature on both the ATV3 and ATV4. But the buttons are inconsistent on the ATV4. Example, the select buttons doesn't play/pause on all video apps. And sometimes the pause and play buttons, if you program the advance IR remote buttons, they do not always work on certain apps.
The video apps, especially Netflix sucks. It visually looks nicer, but the organization is strange. How can you pick a genre now?
Hulu on the ATV4 is actually set up a little better than the ATV3 version, so thats good.
People like to point out the faster hardware on the ATV4 when compared to the ATV3, but I haven't noticed the ATV3 ever being slow. Hulu on the ATV4, while having a better interface, the initial start up takes 3 times as long.
I was really excited about the ATV4, but after using it, I find myself getting a little frustrated with the bugs, the new video apps UI, and the remote.
I think a lot of the stuff will be fixed eventually, but until then, I prefer to use my ATV3. If I could get the games on the ATV3 UI I would love it.
For some people on the forum, mentioning the ATV4 flaws is a really touchy subject for some reason, but I will name a few.
The bugs, including random restarts, and some audio problems.
The remote, I think it was poorly designed, meaning button placement. Also it is easy to accidentally press the wrong button, or swipe the touch pad and RW or FW a movie you are watching.
You can use a IR remote with the remote learning feature on both the ATV3 and ATV4. But the buttons are inconsistent on the ATV4. Example, the select buttons doesn't play/pause on all video apps. And sometimes the pause and play buttons, if you program the advance IR remote buttons, they do not always work on certain apps.
The video apps, especially Netflix sucks. It visually looks nicer, but the organization is strange. How can you pick a genre now?
Hulu on the ATV4 is actually set up a little better than the ATV3 version, so thats good.
People like to point out the faster hardware on the ATV4 when compared to the ATV3, but I haven't noticed the ATV3 ever being slow. Hulu on the ATV4, while having a better interface, the initial start up takes 3 times as long.
The 4 has some advantages -- mostly better speed and the app store (Siri is also nice although unnecessary for me) -- but I agree with at least some others here that the 3 seems to me like the overall better device. Unlike the old remote, the new one with the 4 can't handle continuous scroll. Worse, the fast scrolling options do not work with universal remotes (they did on the 3). Audio playback works well on the 3, but not properly on the 4 (the many audio issues could be addressed with a digital pass-through option currently missing from the 4). And the 3 had an optical out, which many of us greatly miss on the 4. I recognize that my priorities may not be shared by everyone, but I couldn't recommend the 4 over the 3 (assuming the price were equal) without some software improvements to the 4.