It's very sad that Apple have chased customers away with super premium pricing. Apple TV is a good example of this, great device but very overpriced for what it is.
For what it is…to you.
Not only does it have the best and fastest interface for my use, it also functions as a flawless always-on home hub for HomeKit and my matter devices. It also functions as a threads border router flawlessly for me.
The Nvidia Shield is probably the best. It costs more than Apple TV but is likely quite superior. I've never used one.
If you ever decide to switch to a Shield, I’d look into it closely. A few Apple Ecosystem nerds swore by the Shield over the AppleTV (mostly for the wide range of formats it could handle) but are switching back after NVideo started pushing annoying software and requirements.
The article photo looks strongly reminiscent of an Amazon Echo Show 8 (albeit with the 'arm' to the monitor portion) with more speaker emphasis.
I take it you aren’t familiar with the
G4 iMac? Because that’s what it really looks like.
I think the more tech we get into our lives, the more we start to become aware of the cost of giving technology so much of our attention.
As such, it is often a healthy reaction to start wanting less tech in one’s life
It’s certainly a healthy thing to ask yourself if a technology saps or buys you time. I tend to use Apple devices
because they buy me time. When I want to fiddle with nerdy things, I don’t fiddle with my phone/computer/TV setup. They work, consistently, and quickly. I’m hoping the Apple Intelligence fits into a similar vein, because if not, I won’t use it.
Hoping the new AppleTV is just a cheaper version of the current one with streamlined features. Streaming content is barely 4K UHD + Atmos, and anything beyond that is not even remotely close to what most TV hardware or bandwidth can display. Honestly, it’ll probably be a match to the current iPhone chipset that can handle AI. Not sure what AppleTV AI would even do, but hey, they need to keep that price justifiable.
I’m sure there is a big market for a cheaper one. But as someone that rips his own content with as much quality as possible, the AppleTV chokes on files that my 5 year old iMac plays with ease. As soon as they release an AppleTV capable of faster decoding of more file types, they have my money.
(Yes, the Nvidia shield exists, but I’m not liking what I’ve seen from them the last year).
having just bought a new one, I'm not sure what Apple TV is missing that that can't be addressed on the software side
maybe cheaper?
My wish list: More formats, faster decoding. Otherwise I keep mine hardwired, so I don’t care about newer wireless standards, but some may.
I would LOVE to see AAPL go back to making Airport routers. Given how dependent the entire ecosystem is on WiFi, AAPL really should focus on getting us reliable high speed WiFi.
I used to think that, then I stopped buying bargain wifi routers. The field is huge, with some making some pretty decent UI interfaces and being super reliable. The downside is you gotta pay as much as Apple would sell one for.
You also need a $1000 iPhone to play music on your $300 speaker where Siri laughs at you anytime you make a basic request. Non wonder they are a tough sell.
What? No, you don’t need a phone, let alone a $1000 one.
you can get a pretty good sounding pair of speakers for $600
much better sounding than those apple things
that's why they don't take off
I have expensive speakers in my living room, e.g. my Music room. However I can not get speakers to sound remotely good in my kitchen. One full sized HomePod with its room sensing/correction is enough to jam to music while making dinner and cleaning up, and sounds better than two $500 speakers
in my space. Now, I didn’t try adding a $1000 modern receiver to the mix (which can do room correction), but now you’re up to $2000 and having to find a place to store the receiver.
For dedicated space that you can modify to suit the speakers, yes, go dedicated speakers and a good amp all day long. For wonky spaces where you want tunes, I highly suggest a full sized HomePod. If I had time to go back to my garage projects, I’d probably pick up one or two for that space, as it’s another acoustic nightmare.