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Should I Buy The Apple TV 4th Gen For My 4k TV or Wait For The Apple TV 5th Gen?

G

gregpod9

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 27, 2007
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I currently have high end Sony 4k TV, a highend Sony Bluray player, and the new Nvidia Shield TV that I bought over a month ago. I'm into Apple ecosystem at home with a mid 2014 high end 15" MBPr, 9.7" 128GB iPad Pro, and an iPhone 7 Plus. I'm a self-employed hardware tech that deals mostly with Windows PCs. I know that there is not much 4k streaming material out there. I'm at the point that I'll be going all digital for movies. For streaming 1080P material either from Netflix and Vudu, I use my Sony blu-ray player, because it has better picture quality due my tv's excellent 4k upscaling. My Nvidia Shield TV makes the picture quality lack in detail, sharpness, and color fidelity even if I put it in 1080p mode and 4k mode. I also don't like the Vudu customer support, it takes them a few weeks to answer emails and 3 hours to get hold of somebody on the phone. I been thinking of switching to iTunes for movies.

My question is should I buy the Apple TV now and let my tv upscale the movies to 4k and sell it when the 5th Gen Apple TV comes available or wait for the 5th Gen Apple TV?
 
I would at least wait until the next Apple keynote event (rumored the end of March/beginning of April.)

I personally doubt they will update the Apple TV hardware this year, but I have been wrong in the past.
 
Buy refurb, relatively easily sell it and get back most of what you spend on it when they get around to rolling out the "5." Consider the difference cheap rent to enjoy it between now and then. Else, you might wait, then wait again, then wait again always looking to the next event as the one where Apple might update it. Or enjoy one starting today and replace it whenever Apple gets around to updating it (which could be months or year(s) away).
 
If you have a need for it, then buy it now. A 32gb apple tv can be found on sale very easily. I do hope they update to support 4k. But that means they'll have to support their iTunes movies to 4k. Not sure they have agreements in place for that.
 
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Do you have more than one TV? Is the other an older 720p or 1080p model? You could get the Apple TV4 now, and then move it to your other TV when you upgrade to the Apple TV5 for your 4K TV.
 
Personally I'd wait until the spring event, which is probably right around the corner, to make a decision. My guess is if it's not updated in the spring, then it probably will be in the fall. Otherwise, Apple risks ceding even more of this market to their competitors.
 
gregpod9 said:
I currently have high end Sony 4k TV, a highend Sony Bluray player, and the new Nvidia Shield TV that I bought over a month ago. I'm into Apple ecosystem at home with a mid 2014 high end 15" MBPr, 9.7" 128GB iPad Pro, and an iPhone 7 Plus. I'm a self-employed hardware tech that deals mostly with Windows PCs. I know that there is not much 4k streaming material out there. I'm at the point that I'll be going all digital for movies. For streaming 1080P material either from Netflix and Vudu, I use my Sony blu-ray player, because it has better picture quality due my tv's excellent 4k upscaling. My Nvidia Shield TV makes the picture quality lack in detail, sharpness, and color fidelity even if I put it in 1080p mode and 4k mode. I also don't like the Vudu customer support, it takes them a few weeks to answer emails and 3 hours to get hold of somebody on the phone. I been thinking of switching to iTunes for movies.

My question is should I buy the Apple TV now and let my tv upscale the movies to 4k and sell it when the 5th Gen Apple TV comes available or wait for the 5th Gen Apple TV?
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Is there a reason you use the player for Netflix when you can use the Sony TV itself and get UHD streaming of which there is a bit (same with Amazon Prime).

Is there a reason you want to switch to iTunes for you film needs, it can work out more economical to buy the Blu-ray (HD or UHD) which comes with a UV/iTunes copy as well than it is to buy from iTunes exclusively.

I would recommend that you wait until after the Apple keynote, we may get a surprise and there's a UHD Apple TV around the corner although I do doubt it but you never know.
 
based on the fact your streaming needs are currently covered, I would wait to see if it is updated in the next 5-6 months. Also, why not just buy the physical disk since they come with UV codes for the same price? You can keep the code and sell the physical disk to make back some of the cost (most people do the reverse, keep the disc and sell the code).
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T'hain Esh Kelch said:
Apple TVs are quite cheap, so if you can afford everything else, I really dont get why you just dont buy it, unless you just wanted to brag.
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or this. It seems like the price isn't an issue. Also, I still think VUDU is the way to go because it is cross platform. Nothing worse than redeeming all of your movies with apple and not having access to them outside of apple products.
 
I decided to wait for an apple tv that supported 4K - and that was more than a year ago... :(
I've transition to my in-tv software for all steaming - apple's missed out on my rental $

I'll still give them a shot though, when they finally do get it all together .
 
i have a 4k tv, and I have a roku 4, Xbox 1, and Firestick and still without a doubt the apple tv 4 even thou it's 1080p is still the best streamer i own, the best in image quality and quality apps
 
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I really wish the AppleTV supported 4K HDR. It's my favorite device for streaming content, and the in-built experience on my TV sucks (Sony's Android TV), but now I can only use it for half my content if I want the best quality.
 
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Doesnt your Sony 4K tv have Netflix built in? Usually all 4K TVs with Netflix allow 4K streaming for new/a selection of their programmes. Hence I don't stream Netflix through my Apple TV, always directly through the tv.
 
apple suks big time! Inovative company is long gone. Do not wait, buy something else.
 
Defender2010 said:
Doesnt your Sony 4K tv have Netflix built in? Usually all 4K TVs with Netflix allow 4K streaming for new/a selection of their programmes. Hence I don't stream Netflix through my Apple TV, always directly through the tv.
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Pretty much all newer TV's do, but a large part of the point of having an Apple TV is using it for streaming, instead of whatever software comes on the TV. If you use the built-in app you also have to rely on ARC for audio if you use an AVR, which can sometimes give people fits. Some TV's will also only output stereo over ARC instead of surround.
 
Until the iTunes store starts selling 4k films why wait ?

I've got a 3 and a 4 and they're both great. Tbh the app store on the 4 is mostly awful so you ain't missing much if you get a 3. If you can find one. Although wi fi on the 4 does seem better than the 3..

The 4 also has that shockingly terrible remote , but fortunately you can bypass that with the ios app.
 
Kind of curious as to why your Nvidia shield is playing back your files incorrectly. Using it as a plex server should be your best bet for watching movies without question. Have you maybe got the colour output set up wrong or something?
I'm on the verge of ditching the apple tv and buying a shield. Fed up with the lack of 4k support and the ability to output at 24fps.
 
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