Fourth-Generation 1080p Apple TV Gets a New 'Apple TV HD' Name

[bladerunner2000]

I can't believe they're still charging $150 for a non-4K ATV, that's absurd.

That's the Apple way. They still sell a 5 year old Mac Pro starting at $3,000.
[doublepost=1553546506][/doublepost]

I've had no problems with any of my 3 Apple TVs (3rd, 4th, or 5th gen).

Ok. So because you don't have problems does that mean nobody else does? Are you downplaying his issues? I don't understand the point of these comments.

 

[HJM.NL]

Apple fails to compete with amazon, google, Roku with anything in the “home”. Apple simply does not make any entry level devices in this segment.

I’ve been cautious with anything Apple since 2012 because you know that you’re paying at least 33% Appletax with lock-in.

Gone are the days you happily bought Apple stuff for knowing they bring you a good experience and worth the price. It’s definitely gone

 

[milkrocket]

I have been contemplating upgrading my 3rd Gen AppleTV since quite some time. Just gonna pick up a cheap FireStick instead

 

[Saipher]

Does the 4K still not support YouTube 4K?

The developer (YouTube) needs to updated its app to stream in 4K. It's not a problem with the 4K AT. I'm pretty sure you know that but you still like to mention the lack of YouTube 4K every time...

 

[69Mustang]

The simplicity of Apple's strategy used to be something to behold. Now?
Apple has decided it's okay to use one term to describe products and services: Apple TV app, Apple TV+, Apple TV4K, and the tragically rebranded Apple TV HD (isn't the 3rd gen ATV also 1080p? - Apple TV HD.v1) I'd wager if one of their competitors rebranded 3 year old product, there would be no end to the ridicule.

The new Apple TV HD is being...

"New" must mean something different now.

 

[BlandUsername]

Anyone who is playing games on their TV owns an Xbox One (X) or a PS4 (Pro). No one is using an Apple TV to play games. Apple TV is now "unofficially" a dead platform since it now longer will have anything unique to offer (access to Apple's ecosystem).

So much this, what allowed them to price gouge was the distinct inability to use anyone else's hardware to get to their catalog. Once this wall comes down, 5 years from now the the apple tv will be gone, just a fond memory of getting ripped for only a couple hundred bucks as opposed to the future 2500 dollar phone.

 

[rmoliv]

So ridiculous.

 

[apolloa]

At the end of the day the Apple devices offer offline storage which the loss leader dongles do not. For games this will be very important as their model allows you to download instead of stream them. So when the internet gets wonky you can still watch some of your content or play a game.

You can attach a dongle with a USB slot to the Fire TV I think? And add storage maybe?
I have the Shield TV with full support for anything from a thumb drive to full hard drives. More storage then Apple ever provides. But offline storage is good however unless it’s a mobile device you’ll rarely need it.

 

[sw1tcher]

Would have been nice if they'd taken the opportunity to drop the price, seeing as it's no longer going to be required for accessing Apple's services.

Drop the price? It just got updated to HD!

 

[turbineseaplane]

I actually really do love my Apple TV 4K.

It runs YouTubeTV wonderfully!

I even have a nice little folder for all of Apples little things entitled “crApps”

 

[Breaking Good]

At the end of the day the Apple devices offer offline storage which the loss leader dongles do not. For games this will be very important as their model allows you to download instead of stream them. So when the internet gets wonky you can still watch some of your content or play a game.

Can you please explain how to download and store content on an Apple TV? I would really like to know how to do this.

I'm not talking whatever excuse Apple currently has for games. I'm talking things like movies and TV shows.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Since the app is going cross-platform, what now is the purpose of AppleTV hardware?

I enjoy my aTV (now) HD, but it displays completely incorrect information regarding the next show to watch on my Amazon Prime Video account.

 

[slothinker]

The Apple product I would have been interested in was some TIVO-like device which could record streaming 4K content. That's something I'd gladly pay $499 for if it worked as good as cable DVRs. Maybe creating something like this is a technical impossibility ... although I'd like to get Steve Jobs view on that.

Anyway Apple's trend away from the unique and hard-to-compete-with hardware and towards easy-to-compete-with software continues and at their peril.


----->

Following the announcement of Apple's upcoming revamped TV app and new Apple TV+ subscription service for original content, Apple today updated the branding on its fourth-generation 2015 1080p Apple TV set-top box, renaming it "Apple TV HD."

The new Apple TV HD is being offered alongside the more expensive Apple TV 4K, which is the fifth-generation Apple TV released in 2017.

Apple has continued selling the 32GB $149 fourth-generation Apple TV alongside the 4K model for those who don't need 4K content. The Apple TV 4K is $30 more expensive, starting at $179 for 32GB of storage.

Both the Apple TV 4K and the rebranded Apple TV HD will provide access to the revamped TV app, which will house Apple's upcoming Apple TV+ subscription service for its original content and offer access to TV "Channels" right within the TV app.

With the redesigned TV app, you won't need to swap between different TV apps to access your favorite shows, as your subscriptions to services like HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade, and Noggin and will let you watch content from those services in the TV app. If you're not already a subscriber, you can even subscribe to those "Channels" in the TV app.

Apple TV Channels will be limited to a handful of cable channels at launch, though Apple plans to add more in the future. Hulu and Netflix will not be participating, so you will still need to open up the Hulu and Netflix apps to watch that content.

The updated TV app will be even better at recommending content to you that you might want to watch, and it will incorporate more than 150 streaming apps, including Amazon Prime, Hulu, and all of the Apple TV Channels for personalization and content recommendation purposes. As mentioned above, some of the content will be watchable right in the TV app, while other content will bring you to a third-party app.

The TV app will be home to Apple's TV+ service, which is launching this fall. TV+ will offer up access to all of Apple's original programming, and the company has more than 30 shows in the works.

Apple plans to introduce its revamped Apple TV app through an iOS and tvOS update coming this May. Apple also plans to bring the TV app to the Mac this fall.

Article Link: Fourth-Generation 1080p Apple TV Gets a New 'Apple TV HD' Name

Following the announcement of Apple's upcoming revamped TV app and new Apple TV+ subscription service for original content, Apple today updated the branding on its fourth-generation 2015 1080p Apple TV set-top box, renaming it "Apple TV HD."

The new Apple TV HD is being offered alongside the more expensive Apple TV 4K, which is the fifth-generation Apple TV released in 2017.

Apple has continued selling the 32GB $149 fourth-generation Apple TV alongside the 4K model for those who don't need 4K content. The Apple TV 4K is $30 more expensive, starting at $179 for 32GB of storage.

Both the Apple TV 4K and the rebranded Apple TV HD will provide access to the revamped TV app, which will house Apple's upcoming Apple TV+ subscription service for its original content and offer access to TV "Channels" right within the TV app.

With the redesigned TV app, you won't need to swap between different TV apps to access your favorite shows, as your subscriptions to services like HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade, and Noggin and will let you watch content from those services in the TV app. If you're not already a subscriber, you can even subscribe to those "Channels" in the TV app.

Apple TV Channels will be limited to a handful of cable channels at launch, though Apple plans to add more in the future. Hulu and Netflix will not be participating, so you will still need to open up the Hulu and Netflix apps to watch that content.

The updated TV app will be even better at recommending content to you that you might want to watch, and it will incorporate more than 150 streaming apps, including Amazon Prime, Hulu, and all of the Apple TV Channels for personalization and content recommendation purposes. As mentioned above, some of the content will be watchable right in the TV app, while other content will bring you to a third-party app.

The TV app will be home to Apple's TV+ service, which is launching this fall. TV+ will offer up access to all of Apple's original programming, and the company has more than 30 shows in the works.

Apple plans to introduce its revamped Apple TV app through an iOS and tvOS update coming this May. Apple also plans to bring the TV app to the Mac this fall.

Article Link: Fourth-Generation 1080p Apple TV Gets a New 'Apple TV HD' Name

 

[JetTester]

So, nothing new, just rebranding a 5 year old product? Is this even worth the time to write the article? Or to comment?

 

[ColdShadow]

I wonder how much longer they plan to sell this.

I can't recommend that anybody buy this instead of the 4K version, even if you don't have a 4K TV; for an extra $30 you get a much faster CPU and 4K support for if you upgrade your TV in the future.

These things can't be that expensive to make; Apple really should discontinue this model and lower the price of the 4K version to match. They're gonna make far more money on the content anyway.

They will sell them until simple minded folks buy them.
The 4k version should have been the standard at this point and with a price drop.
many similar boxes come free with subscription services and these are not expensive to make.
Asking for so much for the ancient HD version is frankly pure greed.

 

[atikalz]

I can't believe they're still charging $150 for a non-4K ATV, that's absurd.

They should give them away for max 50 USD, if they really want make money trough services. Why should i buy this box, if Prime and netflix is avalaible on every smartTV? They are so stupid, it hurts me as an apple heavy user.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I will say that Apple should really knock $25 of this thing if it wants to stay competitive and have a bigger gap with the 4K model. $125 seems like the most a consumer would pay for this product and a $25 price cut could stimulate sales ahead of the new Apple TV+ service.

 

[MoreRumors?]

I think my current ATV may be the last.

 

[GuruZac]

Apple should have discontinued this model and offered the ATV 4K at $99 and $129.

 

[ipedro]

It’s not the “TV app” anymore. As expected, the TV app has been rebranded “the tv app” or simply just “tv”. The boxes are branded “AppleTV HD” and “Apple TV 4K”. The app took over the name.

This has been obvious for months by the way it was labelled in the App Store but now it’s official.

 

[TheIntruder]

Whew. (That's the sound of ATV4 users breathing a sigh of relief; the rebrand means ongoing support for a while longer. Those who got them free from DTV Now probably exhaled twice from extra joy.)

The developer (YouTube) needs to updated its app to stream in 4K. It's not a problem with the 4K AT. I'm pretty sure you know that but you still like to mention the lack of YouTube 4K every time...

YT 4K video on ATV is a casualty in the VP9/HEVC turf battle.

 

[sdf]

my 4th generation has been much more reliable than my 5th gen 4k. The 4k one has been a glitchy POS.

No such problems here.

 

[xyz01]

It would be nice if they updated the hardware, the chip is already 4.5 years old.

What for?

The only noticeable HW upgrade I can think of, is 802.11ax - other than that, I can't think of anything the hardware can't handle. 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision is already there. Software improvements giving access to 96/24 hires audio from services supporting it would be great, of course - but that's probably more of a software limitation than hardware.

 

[sdf]

huh? what are you even talking about?

My guess is that it means "one grocery trip costs more than $100, you're complaining about $149 for a set top box you keep for years?"

(Not saying I agree, I just think I catch the meaning.)

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

Most bold, courageous and innovative move we've seen today.