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Samsung Smart TVs Adding Support for iTunes Video Content and AirPlay 2
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AppleTV is another product Apple have left to sagnate.
Try introduced apps and 4K, but after that they have done virtually nothing, especially on the App side, which is such a missed opportunity.
Try introduced apps and 4K, but after that they have done virtually nothing, especially on the App side, which is such a missed opportunity.
It’s great if you use it for more than Netflix and YouTube. If that’s what most people want/wanted from Apple TV then sure it’s a total waste of money.
If you have iTunes Match ($25/yr for having your entire music library in the cloud), buy iTunes movies or buy Blurays which come with iTunes digital copies especially 4K Dolby Vision, use AirPlay to stream video from iPhone/iPad/Mac to TV, listen to podcasts, want to access your iCloud Photo Library or photo stream then it’s worth the money.
I also own an LG C8 and like using the built in Netflix, Amazon and Vudu apps. However the implementation and UI is always better on Apple TV. You don’t have to stop playback to change language or subtitles for example. Apple TV also has a much better WiFi chip than what the LG OLED has.
Modern TV remotes really aren’t that bad anymore, this one is from a 2016 Samsung:
You must have gotten that TV for Christmas. My parents got the 65KS8500 with that remote and it’s horrible.
All the white is completely removed off the buttons and it’s now solid black.
There is not much they can do apart from sell an “iSight” Bluetooth camera for FaceTime that you could clip on to the side of the TV or on top of the Apple TV.
It gives you access to nearly every movie in 4K Dolby Vision or HDR10. All the music you could want through an amplifier, your photos, podcasts, almost all of the VOD TV channel apps and Airplay mirroring.
There is nothing left. Games? Something like this could never seriously compete with an Xbox One X or PS4 Pro.
I really hope apple also will incorporate chromecast streaming into their itunes app as it will open up itunes to a lot more devices and useability outside the A garden. With services such as moviesanywhere there is not point not to anymore.
Apple should focus on consol gaming for the ATV - never understood why they haven’t already captured a huge part of the marked such a strategy.
Apple should focus on consol gaming for the ATV - never understood why they haven’t already captured a huge part of the marked such a strategy.
In what world is this spy-riddled thing the best? I’ve seen Roku TV interfaces that look and navigate much better. What a claim.
I disagree. Between 4K, Dolby Vision, Atmos, auto-framerate switching and lots of little features such as single sign-on and homescreen syncing, I think Apple did a great job with the ATV4/4k. They also have apps for all of the major streaming providers as well as great independent apps such as Infuse. I greatly enjoy my Apple TVs and they are in use almost every day (and also serve as Homekit hubs). I think Apple made a mistake with the high prices, but otherwise it's the best streaming device out there IMO.
I doubt anyone buys an Apple device because of the services. Apple makes great hardware, but with a few exceptions (e.g., iMessage and Apple Music), its software and services suck badly. Plus most of Apple's services, such as Apple Music and iTunes, are already available on other platforms.
It’s really not like Apple to make a move like this BUT it makes a lot of sense and it’s all about 4K Dolby Vision iTunes movies/HDR10 4K HDR content is still limited to 4K Blu-ray for the most part and the majority of people do not own a 4K Blu-ray player and probably will not buy one. Unfortunately people today just do not value or care about watching and hearing the best quality A/V possible. It’s all about convenience and quantity for the lowest price possible.
Netflix’s 4K Dolby Vision library is limited. It’s all Netflix original content. Amazon Prime barely has any 4K HDR apart from a few original tv shows and to be frank Amazon’s UI is total GARBAGE. Apple nearly sells it all in the best streaming quality available for $20 or less. Limiting access to this is leaving money on the table.
People who buy Blu-ray’s and redeem codes with Movies Anywhere will already have several movies in iTunes and built in access can lead them to make impulse purchases or rent them.
Netflix’s 4K Dolby Vision library is limited. It’s all Netflix original content. Amazon Prime barely has any 4K HDR apart from a few original tv shows and to be frank Amazon’s UI is total GARBAGE. Apple nearly sells it all in the best streaming quality available for $20 or less. Limiting access to this is leaving money on the table.
People who buy Blu-ray’s and redeem codes with Movies Anywhere will already have several movies in iTunes and built in access can lead them to make impulse purchases or rent them.
I bought my Apple TV to watch my 500 movies I’ve got in ITunes. Stream music from my 40K Songs in ITunes Match. Also use as a HomeKit hub. How else could I have accomplished that before today’s announcement?
No, those will be kept only for Apple hardware. They’re simply expanding their movie store into more households. Even people who may have iPhones, but Samsung TVs and never bought an Apple TV. Not everyone owns the entire Apple ecosystem. There is no reason to lock iTunes to Apple hardware. Hell when I bought my first iPod I was a Windows only user. Had iTunes not been available on Windows at the time I would’ve never bought one.
It’s not like they’re opening up OS X to generic PC hardware. That’s when I would worry!
Ummmm no, it's not the death of an Apple TV. Smart TVs are absolute crap and the ability to use AirPlay and iTunes won't move the needle much on the crap-meter. People buy AppleTVs because they simply work better, not because they can't use iTunes on their smart TV.
Moreover, a Samsung TV does not run tvOS and can't run any apps or games. It also lacks iCloud so it can't sync photos, movies, etc.
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Apple makes far more money on content that people buy via iTunes than on selling AppleTVs, regardless of whether the content is purchase via an AppleTV or a Samsung tv. So yeah, what a nutty idea to expand their distribution of content to other platforms.
It’s called declining IPhone sales. Adapt or die. Microsoft adapted and turned to cloud services and is the second company to hit a trillion dollar company. Apple must adapt.
Wrong. Apple has been making moves like this since Steve Jobs decided to release iTunes for Windows in 2003. MobileMe was also available for Windows. Apple Music has been available for Windows for several years.
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They have a short memory.
The 2nd reply you made is true and likely shows a smart business move on their part. However your first reply is not only outdated but flat out wrong. Smart TVs have gotten much better to the point they're as good as almost any TV streaming solution, they also have games and apps. You are correct that this doesn't mean there's no value in the Apple TV but for SOME, it might no longer be worth it when they have another option for airplay or iTunes already available.
They never even bothered on the Mac and now they’re even killing OpenGL and they sure as hell aren’t adopting DX. How do you expect them to compete with the One X, PS4 Pro or even the extremely underpowered Switch?
The Apple TV would have to cost a hell of a lot more and definitely have something much better than an A8 or A10. Look at the One X for example: 6 TFLOPS, 12 GB GDDR5 RAM. MS charges $500 ($430 holiday sale) for that. How much would Apple charge? $800? $1000? I just don’t see it ever happening.
