Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

This is what the Apple TV could have been

Supermallet said:
While I agree that there's more to a device than just specs, a set top box is not as complex of a device as a smartphone. Most people who want a set top box are asking can it play the streaming services, and some of my own media, and let me watch the movies and shows I want to watch when I want to watch them. The Roku absolutely does this for practically all media providers except iTunes. Same with the Amazon Fire. Apple is actually the most limited at the moment, but we'll have to see if an actual app store changes this.
Click to expand...

AppleTV does have more complexity than you realize. I used to use an older AppleTV to serve up my ripped movies and the extras. A lot of work just to get my movies to stream for display.

With my newer AppleTV and Apple iTunes purchases I immediately get the movie (or music) available with extras and behind the scenes stuff with a DVD style movie menu served on all my Apple devices. No need to purchase a physical DVD and then rip the DVD and set it up in the set top box to deliver it for viewing. No muss, no fuss. And no gas spent to run to Best Buy in a car. Complexity hidden under the hood of the AppleTV.

What you seem to be missing is that Apple TV now offers movie/extras immediately upon purchase to all your Apple devices without the need to download (though I still download all purchases for backup purposes). I'm saving countless hours of messing around, and using that free time to enjoy myself. I don't buy physical DVD's anymore unless it is not available on iTunes.

I don't miss the countless hours fussing about just to get my entertainment to watch. No one is going to look back at the end of their life and say; "gee if I'd only spent more time personally ripping my movies for just a bit better picture, I could have died a happier person". Anyway, Apple iTunes purchases in HD beat out more than a few of my DVD bluray rips with Handbrake. And I was obsessive about reading through the Handbrake forums on custom settings to tweak Handbrake to get the best movie picture rips.

My AppleTV lets me get a life. And I get entertainment with ease.

Roku just doesn't offer the same without more work. It's just that simple.

P.S. Apple iTunes cards are regularly selling at 20-25% discounts, which means you'll get movies and music at a 20-25% discount upon redeeming it with purchases. Beats Amazon pricing and anything on other set top smart boxes. The AppleTV gives you so much in so many ways.
 
Last edited:
thepixelpusher said:
AppleTV does have more complexity than you realize. I used to use an older AppleTV to serve up my ripped movies and the extras. A lot of work just to get my movies to stream for display.

With my newer AppleTV and Apple iTunes purchases I immediately get the movie (or music) available with extras and behind the scenes stuff with a DVD style movie menu served on all my Apple devices. No need to purchase a physical DVD and then rip the DVD and set it up in the set top box to deliver it for viewing. No muss, no fuss. And no gas spent to run to Best Buy in a car. Complexity hidden under the hood of the AppleTV.

What you seem to be missing is that Apple TV now offers movie/extras immediately upon purchase to all your Apple devices without the need to download (though I still download all purchases for backup purposes). I'm saving countless hours of messing around, and using that free time to enjoy myself. I don't buy physical DVD's anymore unless it is not available on iTunes.

I don't miss the countless hours fussing about just to get my entertainment to watch. No one is going to look back at the end of their life and say; "gee if I'd only spent more time personally ripping my movies for just a bit better picture, I could have died a happier person". Anyway, Apple iTunes purchases in HD beat out more than a few of my DVD bluray rips with Handbrake. And I was obsessive about reading through the Handbrake forums on custom settings to tweak Handbrake to get the best movie picture rips.

My AppleTV lets me get a life. And I get entertainment with ease.

Roku just doesn't offer the same without more work. It's just that simple.

P.S. Apple iTunes cards are regularly selling at 20-25% discounts, which means you'll get movies and music at a 20-25% discount upon redeeming it with purchases. Beats Amazon pricing and anything on other set top smart boxes. The AppleTV gives you so much in so many ways.
Click to expand...


The only thing I don't like about digital copies is stuff can disappear if you aren't totally on top of your backup strategies. We just noticed that several seasons of a TV show we purchased are no longer listed in iTunes or registered as items we bought (so they can't be streamed from iTunes direct anymore). Luckily we DO have downloaded copies of the shows on one PC, but that was over $100 worth of purchases that might have gone up in the ether if we hadn't been downloading stuff.

At least when I buy discs, unless I have a fire, they are always there. No worries about failed hard drives, etc.

EDIT: I just figured out that what iTunes did to our previous purchases was even stupider than I first thought. The seasons of the show are still in iTunes, but they have been RENAMED to "Volume 1" instead of "Season 1", etc. That change was sufficient to fully wipe out any records that we had already purchased those episodes. Which just goes to prove how easily your purchases can disappear off the cloud. Ugh.
 
Last edited:
fieldsphotos said:
The only thing I don't like about digital copies is stuff can disappear if you aren't totally on top of your backup strategies. We just noticed that several seasons of a TV show we purchased are no longer listed in iTunes or registered as items we bought (so they can't be streamed from iTunes direct anymore). Luckily we DO have downloaded copies of the shows on one PC, but that was over $100 worth of purchases that might have gone up in the ether if we hadn't been downloading stuff.

At least when I buy discs, unless I have a fire, they are always there. No worries about failed hard drives, etc.
Click to expand...

Contact Apple support. Even if it isn't listed for sale any longer or is renamed you should still have access as a purchased item, forever. Do yourself a favor and get your situation untangled. But, always, always, always backup purchases. It's cheap to get a backup drive and painless to set up MacIntosh's Time Machine app to backup your files. Anyone who doesn't backup their computer, purchases and all files is asking for trouble.

I always have a duplicate hard drive of everything. Its cheap and takes up less space than my old wall rack of DVD's.
 
Last edited:
Sigh. Got my Roku 4 in the mail yesterday and hooked it up to my Denon receiver and.... No video. Works when I plug it in directly to the TV, but not through the receiver. The receiver is brand new and fully HDCP 2.2 compliant, so the problem is on Rokus end.

First the 4K fireTV didn't have 5.1 audio out of the box (fixed now), and now the new Roku isn't working right either.

I wish Apple would make a 4K capable streamer. This sucks with all the other competitors devices and out of the box issues.
 
thepixelpusher said:
Did you look to see if there was an update to Roku's software? I'm sure their tech support could help you out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I put in a ticket. It did update its software as soon as it connected, so I assume I am running the latest version. I am sure they will fix it, it's just disappointing that BOTH of the next gen streamers had large bugs out of the gate.


Update: got it working today. It requires a very specific power on sequence to accomplish the HDCP handshake, apparently.
 
Last edited:
You emphasize 4K content. Where are you getting 4K content to view from? I know the Netflix stuff is pretty compressed and likely not the optimal source of 4K content.
 
thepixelpusher said:
You emphasize 4K content. Where are you getting 4K content to view from? I know the Netflix stuff is pretty compressed and likely not the optimal source of 4K content.
Click to expand...

Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, and M-Go (via the Samsung UHD hard drive) Probably the best 4K has come from the downloaded movies via M-Go, however it usually takes overnight to download them and they are expensive at $30 a pop.

I am waiting impatiently for the new UHD blue ray players to release early next year along with the discs. Holding off now on all disc purchases until the new format is out.
 
I guess that's why AppleTV put such a huge heat sink in theirs. Faster processor, more heat. Remains to be seen if these are just a few defective early ROKU units or more than that.
 
Tried the Roku 4 yesterday to see which I liked best between my new ATV, which I received today, and the Roku. The Roku was HOT after a couple hours and was not my cup of tea. I am really happy with the ATV.

It's great the Roku has 4K, but the content is very limited. Apple will surely include it when it becomes relevant to most consumers.
 
Just got the AppleTV4 today and set it up. Fantastic. I think the purchased iTunes movies and TV shows definitely gives me a better image to my TV. The only thing I miss is the optical output, otherwise it's perfect!!
 
fieldsphotos said:
Yeah, I put in a ticket. It did update its software as soon as it connected, so I assume I am running the latest version. I am sure they will fix it, it's just disappointing that BOTH of the next gen streamers had large bugs out of the gate.


Update: got it working today. It requires a very specific power on sequence to accomplish the HDCP handshake, apparently.
Click to expand...

Can you share the details of the different power on process for HDCP 2.2.
 
nebo1ss said:
And you are basing this comment on a single case with a faulty fan.
Click to expand...

You seem to be ignoring the fact that it needs a fan that will eventually wear our and cause problems. You can also search on google to find out that fan noise is a well reported problem as well as anecdotal reports of units getting dangerously hot to the touch ( probably failed fan units ).

If this is what the aTV4 could have been, I'm glad Apple didn't go that route.
 
snowmoon said:
You seem to be ignoring the fact that it needs a fan that will eventually wear our and cause problems. You can also search on google to find out that fan noise is a well reported problem as well as anecdotal reports of units getting dangerously hot to the touch ( probably failed fan units ).

If this is what the aTV4 could have been, I'm glad Apple didn't go that route.
Click to expand...
it needs a fan because it has a Quad core processor.
 
nebo1ss said:
it needs a fan because it has a Quad core processor.
Click to expand...

It has a fan because they decided to have one over a several design options. I just don't trust AV equipment with these bitty fans, they are notorious for failing in a number of annoying ways. A more effecient design would be my first choice ( throwing more CPU at a problem is usually a bad design in a feature built device ) and/or a heat sink. That 4K support looks like it could be a liability in the device.
 
It's not a single case either. Go look at Amazon reviews. It's terrible. I had to return mine because it got piping hot and was loud as hell.
 
nebo1ss said:
Can you share the details of the different power on process for HDCP 2.2.
Click to expand...

The Roku has to be up and not asleep, then I can power on the receiver and then the TV. That seems to be working. So I am going to add a home button press to wake up the Roku first to my activities on my Harmony remote.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back