Not really. Many channels are missing from smart TVs. Most support Netflix, Hulu, and HGO GO, but little else. Some do Amazon. Ones like PBS, FX, USA Network, etc are missing in action. You need ATV, Chrome-cast or something else for those.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Next-Generation Apple TV Said to Launch in October for $149 or $199
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Not really. Many channels are missing from smart TVs. Most support Netflix, Hulu, and HGO GO, but little else. Some do Amazon. Ones like PBS, FX, USA Network, etc are missing in action. You need ATV, Chrome-cast or something else for those.
How can anyone that has used a Smart TV actually come here and advocate for them? They are pretty much universally awful
Probably the same way they do it with successfully selling more expensive iPhones against cheaper Android (and Nokia) devices: Polished design, more usable UI for many, highly integrated software and hardware and services, and a full product ecosystem including a huge App store with millions of developers trying to create the next big hit, etc.
BTW, some people will will buy multiples of the above products. I can sometimes get better deals comparison shopping between the Amazon (Fire TV) and iTunes (ATV 2) stores. So I use both, and will add an ATV 4 upgrade when it becomes available.
Disagree. I have two of them and both work well. They are limited as some earlier posts pointed out, but do what they do well. For me using Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon directly on the TV is faster than from ATV or other sources.
It seems to vary by TV maker. The "smart" component of my Vizio TVs are pretty pathetic compared to dedicated devices like the Roku or even connected Blu-Ray players like Sony and Samsung.
Even if the internal streamer of these TVs were adequate, I'd still need something like the Roku to pick up channels not available in the TV's channel store.
True, other channels need an additional device. Samsung and Panasonic both have good Smart TV units with high quality streaming display. Not sure about other brands.
I plan on picking one up and using the replaced ATV3 as an airplay audio endpoint. ATVs are useful forever.
I didn't catch that. I do not think there are any cable com pines that do full HD. Comcast and FiOS are both 1080i. And some of the channels are not in HD at all.
Although I have not used any smart tv products that were made in the past 2 years, my experience with them would be more than enough to buy this or another streaming box.
The UI in STVs seemed to be slow, not user friendly, and outdated. Speaking of being outdated, the apps do not see updates as often or as long as the ATV.
One example from a samsung. When Netflix came out with "profiles", the Apple TV was updated with it almost immediately. The samsung Smart TV has not seen a Netflix update in years.
My parents use the Samsung before I got them an Apple TV. I constantly got phone calls from them about problems with it. I have never received a phone call about Netflix on the Apple TV yet. And I no longer get shows like Quincy MD on my profile recently watched. So another plus.
Nah, I design for and build bridges and buildings - that's the scary part as they're over your head and what you drive over. My favorite line to designers was along the lines of "You can DO that!"I've been at at most senior tech roles in companies for more than a decade, and worked in four small to very large startups in 28 years.... Yes, I am an adrenaline junkie.
So, hey! I've seen my share of crap too (and produced some of my own too ;-) .Nothing brings on the crazy more than piles of money poured unto a interesting but ill defined idea using brand new tech/science. If you're doing all this in crazyland that was Silicon Valley in the late 1990s, you get bonus points and an insanity defense you can use later on...
Anyway, the intersection of tech and business is almost more art than anything. Everything you think you know, invariably turns up wrong in some inexplicable way...
Apple by now is way out of that "awkward" phase, so they'll be all right.
As to Apple and their current "phase", gawd, I hope they're on to growing up a bit too. I'd rather have their checking account in place of mine!
Cheers!
That might be true now, but most TVs are 4K and prices have come down to a negligible difference. Some brands of 4K models are cheaper than 1080p models.
The shift will happen sooner than you think. 4K is the new standard.
Give it a bit and the smart features of your TV will get worse over time, until the manufacturer doesn't update or support them anymore. You'll either buy another TV or you'll be using a box or some other device.
I am not saying it won't happen, actually I am saying the opposite. But, I do not think Apple will include 4K on their Apple TV4 since the demand, and content supply isn't there yet.
I hope I am wrong, but when everyone had 1080p a few years ago when Apple TV2 came out, Apple put 720p in that.
I just want a native plex client and I'm good. $149 is okay if it can do casual livingroom gaming as well
Rasplex on rpi.
The remote could be s full blown mfi iOS game pad hybrid thingy. The os will likely be a full but app reduced iOS with 4k support
I have no idea if they will have 4k or not. However, I have heard rumors that the 6s will have 4k video recording (who knows if they are true), so that would give us even more content and another reason to want a 4k TV and 4k AppleTV.
It isn't unusual for Apple to lag behind in the home theater market, so I am not convinced it will be 4k, either. However, if it is $199, I am going to need some very compelling reasons to get a non-4k AppleTV.
Thanks Misaki.
Don't people run into the same issue then? i.e. if you cancel the TV part, and use Apple's offering for TV, then you don't really pay that much less to the cable co.
Expensive as it can be, it still just seems if you want tv, broadband and phone, the cheapest option is still to bundle them all with the same company.
If they don't it's most likely going to be for technical reasons. The A8s are 4K capable, but if they can't guarantee a steady full framerate in all situations I doubt they will.
We have in the past, although ages ago when the didn't have Sky 1 and retentions were getting hammered.
It always sounds a lot, but anytime I look at it, it never seems so bad for what we get.
The two phone lines are about £36.
So about £60 for 152 meg broadband, the top tv package (excluding premium channels), and unlimited calls on the landline.
Any time I look at reducing anything, you hardly save anything - and the tv is a bit sneaky still with the HD channels. Unless you're on the top tier, you lose most of them.
With the Apple TV, it'll be interesting to see the app store and game options - I would never buy a console, but would still love to be able to play the odd game on the tv.
Is it just me or does $149 sound too cheap if we really do get all the features that are rumored? Seems to me the touch screen interface remote alone would almost cost $149. Add in the rumors of some gaming capabilities and stuff..... I just think that if it really goes for $149 there is NO WAY we will see all the rumored features on it.
Touchpad, not touchscreen. Potentially a big difference as the former would be more like a track pad vs a screen.
Ahh that actually makes much more sense. I thought I had read touch screen but I guess not.... And thar does indeed make a big difference.
You can say the same things for ATV.
Everything has an EOL. Please don't be brainwashed and buy everything Apple sells