New Apple TV First Impressions: Not a 'Revolution,' But Siri and tvOS Shine

[RDeckard]

Don't you geeks clamoring for 4K video realize that you're NOT the norm right now?

It's been said many times that

• 4K content is lacking
• most 4K video you get over streaming services is highly compressed
• many households don't have internet speeds fast enough to ensure a good experience (if the ATV supported 4K do you have any idea how many people would bitch that "this stupid ATV just buffers... and buffers... and buffers...? Hint: a LOT)
• most household services have data caps that would be busted with a lot of 4K streaming
• almost 60% of US adults have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF 4K

Sure, that % will change over time, but this is like those Android phones touting NFC capabilities a few years ago - when very few retailers could even accept NFC payments.

4K = NFC in 2010 (and NFC still isn't even mainstream right now!)

It makes no sense for Apple to offer that feature when the content, broadband, and broadband businesses aren't ready for it.

 

[Juicy Box]

I don't know about that. Pros tend to favor QUALITY even over convenience. Blu Ray kills iTunes store media in the 2 aspects that should matter most: picture and audio quality. Streaming is definitely more convenient and may win the wallets of the bulk of consumers much like MP3 and then AAC seems to have won the masses over CDs (while also doing so by sacrificing quality). Yet you still have people who will buy and rip the CDs so they can pick their own quality settings. And you still have people that will buy and rip Blu Ray for the same reason. If one wants best possible quality, streaming is not there yet. If you don't care that much about quality or are a "good enough" kind of consumer, streaming is very appealing.

Bluray will probably not go anywhere anytime soon, but streaming pretty much put bluray into a niche category for A/V pros.

Maybe you mis-read, I said bluray not streaming would be for A/V pros. For the non-pro A/V people, I think most would take convenience over quality.

 

[playaproved]

I'm just trying to figure out if the 32GB is only for apps, or if other things can be stored locally. I don't see myself using 32GB worth of apps on an AppleTV and wouldn't mind saving $50.

 

[Sonmi451]

Don't you geeks clamoring for 4K video realize that you're NOT the norm right now?

It's been said many times that

• 4K content is lacking
• most 4K video you get over streaming services is highly compressed
• many households don't have internet speeds fast enough to ensure a good experience (if the ATV supported 4K do you have any idea how many people would bitch that "this stupid ATV just buffers... and buffers... and buffers...? Hint: a LOT)
• most household services have data caps that would be busted with a lot of 4K streaming
• almost 60% of US adults have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF 4K

Sure, that % will change over time, but this is like those Android phones touting NFC capabilities a few years ago - when very few retailers could even accept NFC payments.

4K = NFC in 2010 (and NFC still isn't even mainstream right now!)

It makes no sense for Apple to offer that feature when the content, broadband, and broadband businesses aren't ready for it.

Do you work for Comcast or Time Warner? Then stop trumpeting their excuses.

 

[thecombatwombat]

I'm pretty sure (Eddie?) mentioned during the demo that it supports HDMI-CEC. He mentioned being able to use the remote to control your TV and A/V receiver volume, as well as switching inputs.

But, yeah, I'm a Harmony user, too, and also don't want to revert to multiple remotes.

Awesome, thanks. I haven't watched the keynote, but I've scoured every summary, and even the specs page a bit, and couldn't find any mention. I really want a future where all of my devices do HDMI-CEC. My current Apple TV is the only one I use now that doesn't.

 

[Juicy Box]

I'm just trying to figure out if the 32GB is only for apps, or if other things can be stored locally. I don't see myself using 32GB worth of apps on an AppleTV and wouldn't mind saving $50.

I am going to get the $199 version. After constantly having to delete stuff on my 16GB iPhone to make space when I want to record a video, I don't want to worry about space on my most used device.

32GB might be good for most people, but I don't wanna risk it for only an extra $50.

 

[groovetech]

Sometimes Apple tries to reinvent something that needs a bit of work like for instance mobile phones. The results of their work have created the best mobile phones ever. At other times they try to reinvent something that already works just fine. Their results are occasionally bad like with the crappy, useless Apple Mouse models that have tortured users for years.

For television I'm just fine with cable and a remote. Remotes could be a little better but turning the set on, hitting "4" and "3" for channel 43 is just fine. I want a TV turner that is neutral, not one trying to sell me more Apple downloads.

I cut the cable a few years ago never looked back. Been using an Apple TV for about 3 years now. Combo of netflix, Hulu, and iTunes. My experience has been that the Apple TV seems pretty neutral to me. The only difference is that you choose a show or a movie, not a channel. Which really makes more sense anyway, doesn't it? Everyone has their preference, but it's kind of funny to think about how arbitrary 'channels' really are.

 

[Juicy Box]

• almost 60% of US adults have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF 4K

I did not think this is true at first, but then I thought about it.

I am sure my parents have no idea what 4K is, my wife probably doesn't, and many friends and family, the ones not into tech, probably does not know about it.

I honestly don't know anyone that has purchased a 4K TV. Although there is a good chance that someone I know has one, but I haven't heard about it.

That said, I would have loved for Apple to include it on the ATV4, although I am not surprised they did not.

 

[Jon Rowlison]

My big problem (and this goes for cable cutting as well) is just finding the networks we browse to today on cable TV. We need to wait for separate apps for each network or cross our fingers that specific shows become available to purchase on Hulu Plus or whatever? That's a monster hassle and a lot of finger crossing...

There is an Xfinity app today for iPad/iPhone (we have Comcast here in St Paul, MN) so that I can watch shows on my iPad since I pay for the cable service. If they extend that app to the AppleTV then at least there's a crappy work-around... but I'd love to get to the place where networks are 'apps.' Until that happens, I'm also hunting all the apps to see which shows have new episodes all the time, since I'm no longer recording them on a DVR from my CableCard Media Center at that point.

 

[dampfnudel]

Don't you geeks clamoring for 4K video realize that you're NOT the norm right now?

It's been said many times that

• 4K content is lacking
• most 4K video you get over streaming services is highly compressed
• many households don't have internet speeds fast enough to ensure a good experience (if the ATV supported 4K do you have any idea how many people would bitch that "this stupid ATV just buffers... and buffers... and buffers...? Hint: a LOT)
• most household services have data caps that would be busted with a lot of 4K streaming
• almost 60% of US adults have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF 4K

Sure, that % will change over time, but this is like those Android phones touting NFC capabilities a few years ago - when very few retailers could even accept NFC payments.

4K = NFC in 2010 (and NFC still isn't even mainstream right now!)

It makes no sense for Apple to offer that feature when the content, broadband, and broadband businesses aren't ready for it.

I'm not surprised that 60% of US adults don't know what 4K is, at least based on the few people I mentioned it to. The general consensus seems to be that 4K is still a couple of years, maybe more, from really gaining traction in the market.

 

[Juicy Box]

Lost optical audio, I don't even know if my soundbar can use HDMI, WTF Apple?

I didn't think of this. That totally sucks. My sound bar does not have HDMI, so I might have to change some stuff around a bit. Maybe my TV has a optical out.

The optical out has been on ATV1, 2, and 3. I wished it would have stayed.

 

[mrhick01]

Really? No reviews note lack of 4K support? I have a 4K TV with HDMI 2.0. I get by on 1080p but am looking forward to 4K bluray. Apple's lack of 4K means I have a lot less desire to upgrade my existing Appletv.

The hardware is more than 4K capable. A software and/or a firmware update will do the trick when the time is right. Not enough adopters as of yet.

 

[isopepper]

Nuts to hi res screen savers of cities. Can it still show photo stream for the screen saver? Wouldn't put it past apple to "design" that out, but it's the best thing on my dying ATV2.

 

[rikscha]

I'm pretty sure (Eddie?) mentioned during the demo that it supports HDMI-CEC. He mentioned being able to use the remote to control your TV and A/V receiver volume, as well as switching inputs.

But, yeah, I'm a Harmony user, too, and also don't want to revert to multiple remotes.

Can someone confirm this? I can't watch the video right now. This would be great because I hate the idea of having suddenly multiple remotes again.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Maybe you mis-read, I said bluray not streaming would be for A/V pros. For the non-pro A/V people, I think most would take convenience over quality.

I did misread. I'm sorry. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[jimthorn]

What happened to the my computer icon. How will someone watch movies or tv shows that weren't bought through iTunes but are part of their media collection?

This is my big question. I use the current gen AppleTV all the time to access all my tv shows and movies via iTunes on an old Mac Mini server. It works perfectly even with a massive collection of files. This new AppleTV looks like a huge improvement, but if it lost that functionality, it would be a dealbreaker for me.

 

[rikscha]

This is my big question. I use the current gen AppleTV all the time to access all my tv shows and movies via iTunes on an old Mac Mini server. It works perfectly even with a massive collection of files. This new AppleTV looks like a huge improvement, but if it lost that functionality, it would be a dealbreaker for me.

It might be gone but I already received an email today from Infuse saying they will bring their app to apple
TV. This is awesome! This allows you to stream any movie files from any network device incl NAS drives.

 

[Darth.Titan]

View attachment 580162

Thanks for spotting that. My only concern was that the new Apple TV might have lost that functionality.

 

[APlotdevice]

Lost optical audio, I don't even know if my soundbar can use HDMI, WTF Apple?

Have you checked to see whether your TV has an optical output?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

4K = NFC in 2010 (and NFC still isn't even mainstream right now!) It makes no sense for Apple to offer that feature when the content, broadband, and broadband businesses aren't ready for it.

Apple formally endorsed 4K video recording TODAY. Apparently Apple themselves think we're ready for it in new iPhones. iMovie in new iDevices can edit 4K video. Apple proudly highlighted that today too. Obviously giving us hardware and software that can record and edit 4K is very much endorsing the ability to play it as 4K video. Retina iMacs can display 4K at 4K for some time now. iTunes can store those 4K videos tens of millions of us will soon be shooting & editing with iPhones. In short, an entire Apple hardware chain- except this one piece- is 4K ready. Connecting this last dot would have facilitated the link between iTunes and anyone's 4K TV.

Instead, tens of millions of new iPhone buyers are not going to have an easy "just works" way to play the 4K video they shoot on their new 4K iPhones on their 4K TVs.

I get arguing against 4K since Apple left it out of this ONE thing but they've pretty much embraced it in their most important product, some of their most touted software products, etc. I don't see you griping at Apple for embracing it in so many other parts of their hardware & software mix... just us geeks who wish they would have gone ahead and given us this last link in the A/V chain.

You hate it or think it's too early? No problem. Nothing would have been forced on you. A 4K TV would play your 1080p or 720p files to their fullest. You would never have to embrace 4K, nor buy a new TV or anything else... much as it was back when "720p was good enough" supported by many of the very same reasons you posted. That lasted right up until Apple rolled out a 1080p TV3 and then all those people who had previously railed against 1080p (and those of us who wanted THAT last link in the Apple chain to be filled) didn't seem to fault Apple for embracing 1080p either. Funny how that works.

 

[navier]

Needs 4k. And yes, I have a 4k TV at home.

Before that, it needs to play 24fps first.

 

[navier]

The touch pad could be interesting but some of us simply do not like using voice controls. I have zero interest in talking to my tv.

Me too. I also find the Siri button way too prominent in the Remote... it should really be a press-and-hold menu-button (for example)

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Before that, it needs to play 24fps first.

There may be a bit of hope on this wish. Apple's spec pages show it will support a fps rate other than 30: 1080p 60fps. Since they continue to sell the existing model too, that means, there will be support for both 30fps and 60fps. And if it has the hardware for variable fps rates, maybe they went ahead and included 24fps too. I lean to the pessimistic on that but it's possible. Let's hope that's a nice surprise for those of us that would care.

In my own case, I am quite excited about the 60fps upgrade for 1080p video. That should be something for those of us with a fair amount of video we've shot that way.

 

[btrach144]

Why? Does Apple supply 4K content right now? The answer is no.

Um well by selling a phone that records 4k video, technically Apple is empowering everyone with 4k content. So yes. Also, other people are providing 4k content. Apple could join the party or even *gasp* lead the market with 4k content.

Small thinking you are doing.

 

[btrach144]

While it would have been nice to have, I didn't think it would have 4K.

4K content and the amount of 4K users is still low. Compare 4K content now to 1080p content when the ATV2 was launched. 1080p was everywhere then, and Apple still did 720p.

It would be different if iTunes had 4K content, and my guess is that when that does happen, ATV5 or 6 will have 4K.

Why can't Apple work with providers to give out 4k content? If Apple is such an innovator, then they could help out the world by ensuring there is a reasonability priced 4k box and lots of 4k content. I think Jimmy is sitting on his thumb at this point...