The new AppleTVs are a lot better in every way when compared to the 2. Of course, the 2 was great because it could be jailbroken, but the 4 has Plex and a lot more apps, so that isn't a shortfall these days. Also, its performance is much faster, has Airplay 2, and does 4k. In other words, you are comparing a very old device to newer devices, so it isn't really a fair contest. I have the Roku 4 and Nvidia Shield and prefer the AppleTV4.
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So, who else has given up?
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It is a fair comparison because at the time I had no guarantee that Apple was going to do anything to address the issues and limitations that I was experiencing. I'm not the type of person who keeps throwing money at a company in the hopes that they'll offer something that suits my needs.
With every release of the ATV, I take a look to see what has changed. And while performance has improved (performance wasn't one of my complaints with the ATV2), it is still too locked down and limited for my needs.
And that's precisely what I did, and now regret. Upgrading every time a new one came out..."it's got to be better now, I'm sure they've improved on the flaws; surely we're out of 'hobby' mode now." I got tired of paying a premium for devices that again, cost 4-5x as much compared to the competition, and for what? It’s Apple charging what they charge because they’re Apple, but UNLIKE their phones and computers where I actually think the cost difference can be justified, it just doesn’t make sense here. Obviously judging by some of the other posts here it’s a “your mileage may vary” kind of thing happening but, I certainly have not had the “it just works” experience that I typically get with other Apple products.
“Yes, you read that right, according to John Gruber, Cupertino-based Apple Inc. goes to market with the 4K Apple TV priced at $180.00, which he believes is the exact same amount that the company pays to manufacturer each unit,” Morris reports. “He has also heard similar information pertaining to the company’s intelligent Siri-based speaker, the HomePod.”
https://www.redmondpie.com/apple-sells-apple-tv-at-cost-homepod-at-loss-according-to-john-gruber/
"It just works". Sorry guys, but what exactly does not work on the Apple TV 4K? Personally I bought the ATV 4K because I wanted a box playing Prime Video without being a stuttering machine as it was (for sure the audio) on my Bravia with Android TV. And I wanted a fully working media player, capable of playing Hi-Res Audio, not crashing or hanging every other time as, again, they were all media players I tried on Android TV (and I have probably tested them all. A nightmare, starting from Plex).
I have read about Infuse, I knew Prime Video was out for tvOS, so I bought the ATV 4K. I have honestly never regretted the choice. Even more now, that with Android Oreo the audio passthrough it a total mess in the Bravia, even worse than before.
I must specify that in Italy there was no Fire TV at all (and lucky us since few months Amazon decided to honour us selling the Fire TV Stick 2nd gen. piece of junk), no Roku either. Just the Nvidia shield and the cheap Android boxes, probably running worse than Android on my TV.
The apps in Italy for tvOS are more or less the same on Android TV, with the latter honestly having a slight advantage. Not talking about games where Android TV wins hands down. But I have zero interested on them, I have a PS4 Pro for gaming. The TV App and Siri do not work in Italy. YouTube due to the unsupported VP9 Codec doesn't reach 4K (nor does get HDR).
Still being honest the thing that annoys me the most in tvOS is the lack of Codecs (not just VP9. DTS, Dolby TrueHD, mkv containers and so on). The audio/video tracks must be either in Apple supported formats or they most likely won't play.
But everything else just works. If I need to type some text I get a notification in my iPhone and iPad, informing that I can type from there (and also using the password stored in iCloud, if they aren't in the Apple TV already). Airplay, now v2, is there and working. The apps usually don't glitch on me, and they never (ever) crashed. Prime Video turned from a nightmare to a pleasure to use, with the ability to scrub with the touchpad. Ok, Netflix is missing the interactive videos (and that must be fixed by Apple in the standard tvOS media player, I suppose). Although Prime Video now has X-Ray (for whom it works), which should be interactive (I am one of the unlucky ones with X-Ray not appearing), so I don't know exactly what's going on.
As another comparison I have been factory resetting Android TV so many times that I lost count, while I did it only once on the ATV because the Aerial screensavers were using all internal memory. But it has been a totally painless process, everything was back there, apart from few passwords. And I am not going to count the times Android TV rebooted on me. So from a stability point of view it really "just works". If it doesn't for others I'd love to know how.
I have read about Infuse, I knew Prime Video was out for tvOS, so I bought the ATV 4K. I have honestly never regretted the choice. Even more now, that with Android Oreo the audio passthrough it a total mess in the Bravia, even worse than before.
I must specify that in Italy there was no Fire TV at all (and lucky us since few months Amazon decided to honour us selling the Fire TV Stick 2nd gen. piece of junk), no Roku either. Just the Nvidia shield and the cheap Android boxes, probably running worse than Android on my TV.
The apps in Italy for tvOS are more or less the same on Android TV, with the latter honestly having a slight advantage. Not talking about games where Android TV wins hands down. But I have zero interested on them, I have a PS4 Pro for gaming. The TV App and Siri do not work in Italy. YouTube due to the unsupported VP9 Codec doesn't reach 4K (nor does get HDR).
Still being honest the thing that annoys me the most in tvOS is the lack of Codecs (not just VP9. DTS, Dolby TrueHD, mkv containers and so on). The audio/video tracks must be either in Apple supported formats or they most likely won't play.
But everything else just works. If I need to type some text I get a notification in my iPhone and iPad, informing that I can type from there (and also using the password stored in iCloud, if they aren't in the Apple TV already). Airplay, now v2, is there and working. The apps usually don't glitch on me, and they never (ever) crashed. Prime Video turned from a nightmare to a pleasure to use, with the ability to scrub with the touchpad. Ok, Netflix is missing the interactive videos (and that must be fixed by Apple in the standard tvOS media player, I suppose). Although Prime Video now has X-Ray (for whom it works), which should be interactive (I am one of the unlucky ones with X-Ray not appearing), so I don't know exactly what's going on.
As another comparison I have been factory resetting Android TV so many times that I lost count, while I did it only once on the ATV because the Aerial screensavers were using all internal memory. But it has been a totally painless process, everything was back there, apart from few passwords. And I am not going to count the times Android TV rebooted on me. So from a stability point of view it really "just works". If it doesn't for others I'd love to know how.
I see your point, but your are essentially comparing a 2018 device to a 2010 device. For tech, that is a lifetime. I have an old Roku in the guestroom and it is a piece of garbage compared to any of the new devices (including the newer Roku).
Personally, I look at what I need and not how many backdoors open the unit up to more stuff. The Shield had all kinds of backdoors to install third party apps. I just have no need for that and the updates were huge changes that made it a headache to adapt to. I think it comes down to what you need and if you are in the Apple ecosystem, it just has a lot more features. If you are not in the Apple Ecosystem, outside of the better interface (at least compared to scrolling through tons of apps like most of the others), it doesn't offer as much as it does if you are entrenched.
If I re-evaluate the ATV at each iteration then I'm not comparing a 2018 device to a 2010 device. I'm measuring the current gen ATV against what I currently have based on my needs. The only difference is, I didn't spend money on subsequent generations that didn't suit my needs. If the ATV should ever reach a point where it serve my needs better than what I currently have, I'd have no problem adding it (or switching to it).
My purpose in posting in this thread was to answer the OP's question, not to convince anyone that they should follow me. If you're delighted with your setup, then Stream On!
I know, but if you compare any tech from 2010 to today it will typically come up short. In other words, your comparison to the archaic version of the AppleTV doesn't hold much relevance today. It is very different from the AppleTV 4. If it makes you feel better with your purchase to compare it to something that old, then go for it. Just know that it has nothing to do with the current AppleTV and how it compares.
And if you look at the MR thread on this topic from the other day, most people in there were calling "BS" on this article. I certainly don't buy it, however if true, then that's pretty pathetic. It's a plastic box with an over-spec'd chip in it for $180.
Absolutely, Apple TV 2 is late 2010!!! A lot has happened in the tech field since then. Gosh it has an A4 chip and only does 720p. But it was groundbreaking at the time and its design is still beautiful.
We have two Apple TVs and barely use them. The fire sticks are a fraction of the price and work so nicely. I had high hopes for some fun games on the Apple TV, but after years only a few dozen games exist.
Apple TV is a bust. It’s too expensive and I don’t see it lasting forever.
Apple TV is a bust. It’s too expensive and I don’t see it lasting forever.
My only issue with the fire TV interface is that its a chore to sift through your own content. A movie library of anything over 100 or so movies is an absolute burden to scan through movies. I've completely given up on using that section and just load up movies anywhere to browse my movie content. Owned TV series are lumped in with movies and those are even harder to dig through.
Amazon pushes way to much content on me that I don't subscribe to. That's such an annoyance and pain in the ass.
Apple TV OS is pretty, but it feels like its a beta build or something. Sometimes movie artwork loads up, sometimes it doesn't. Click on a movie and sometimes it loads up and others you get a little circle spinning endlessly. I just really don't feel excited about using my Apple TV 4K like I have been with previous Apple devices. I still get a little excited and happy when I pull out my 2012 MBP.
Amazon pushes way to much content on me that I don't subscribe to. That's such an annoyance and pain in the ass.
Apple TV OS is pretty, but it feels like its a beta build or something. Sometimes movie artwork loads up, sometimes it doesn't. Click on a movie and sometimes it loads up and others you get a little circle spinning endlessly. I just really don't feel excited about using my Apple TV 4K like I have been with previous Apple devices. I still get a little excited and happy when I pull out my 2012 MBP.
True browsing owned content on a Fire Stick is total ****. Why not go full screen and give me 5-8 thumbnails on each row? Not a single row that I have to browse right on forever.
Just like with iTunes loading a movie you purchased takes forever. It is not my router, ISP, OpenDNS or Ipv6 settings did the same with Google DNS and IPv4.
Another one that the ATV 4 has not worked well. I have earlier ATVs on several TVs and the only problem I notice with the earlier ones is that once every few months i have to re-sign in again. Minor hiccup.
The ATV4 has been a far bigger headache since the beginning. I have to constantly reboot for it on that main TV we use or it wont show the TV/movies I have in my iTunes list.
I would love to move to move away from ATV and perhaps today will investigate how I might do that considering that all the products i own are by Apple.
The ATV4 has been a far bigger headache since the beginning. I have to constantly reboot for it on that main TV we use or it wont show the TV/movies I have in my iTunes list.
I would love to move to move away from ATV and perhaps today will investigate how I might do that considering that all the products i own are by Apple.
Sometimes I don't get you guys set on owning just ONE TV device! Why not own or three third party different boxes and use all three when you want to use it!
Strange. When I use mine for renting or buying movies, it is instantaneous. We rent a movie about once a week on average. I have all of mine hardwired to Ethernet, but nothing special about my setup. I use Netgear Orbi's modem/router combo.
I own several, but rarely use anything other than the AppleTV and the app built into my Samsung TV for Youtube.
I just bought an Apple TV and I must say I am disappointed in it also. I am considering taking it back to Costco. The remote is difficult to use as many have said, however there is an App that lets you use your ipad or iphone so there's that. I don't even think there will be a new version of this device. It's becoming apparent to me that Apple wants the TV manufacturers to just build it into their TV's in place of the android apps that give similar functionality. If when I buy a new TV that has Apple Tv built into it why should I have an external box that does that?
Because that's the point of these devices! Why would I want to have to switch to a different device depending on the app I want to use?
Yes, if you replace all your TVs with those that have all the functionality built in, then there is no reason for another box. Though, I think they will continue making the box for people that aren't in the market for new TVs. Especially, with the AppleTV helping them push their services. I think this new path of allowing the software on TVs is to give them a broader base for their services (especially their rumored movie service). I don't think they are doing this to shrink the number of places you can get their content.
Do we know that these TVs will have the exact same functionality and get the same updates at the same time?
For what it’s worth, my old gen 2 and 3 Apple TVs would take a while to pre-load or pre-buffer iTunes movies sometimes when my ISP was dicey. But since the gen 4 and 5 (4K) Apple TVs arrived on the scene, iTunes movie streaming is pretty much instantaneous and as fast or faster than Amazon Prime, Hulu or Netflix.
The new TVs won't have tvOS (an Apple TV) built it. They will still have their own OS, with the addition of AirPlay 2, iTunes Movies (and TV Shows? Whatever that is). They won't be able to run apps like Infuse, in my opinion the best media player for 4K HDR HEVC content with HiRes audio (no Atmos yet), Amazon Prime Video will be the version for the TV's OS and not the one we have in the Apple TV (which IMHO is the superior around there. Going back and forward, changing languages or subtitles in most of the other platforms is simply a mess).
And, unless the TV will support eARC, say goodbye to a decent audio return via ARC. Which I agree, it isn't much of an issue for people playing movies via iTunes, since the audio track id DD+ the most (and that gets returned via ARC, at least up to 5.1 channels).
Then there is the issue that many TVs have quite slow CPUs. Maybe it will be (finally) fixed now in 2019. The Sony's Master Series TVs seem to finally run Android TV smoothly, for example. We'll see...
I say this because having only ONE TV box is short sighted in today's environment! Multiple devices insure that you can use the best of what each device can actually do if it jus from Apple, Google or others each box does things the others can't do!