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What now for ATV3 ?

Jambalaya

Jambalaya

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 21, 2013
715
161
UK
I have two of these and love them, even take them on holiday and friends places when visiting. I am able to do a lot with them by using iPhone or iPad to mirror content not directly supported inc games. Having seen the ATV4 launch presentation might Apple add App Store to the 3 ? Is there a technical reason they could not get the remote to work too (I am guessing the Siri Mike pickup is in the remote rather than the box) ?

I won't be buying at ATV4 yet, need to see what apps are available and the ATV3 feels timeless and I can't see why it would "wear out" so I'll be keeping them a while longer I think

Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, I've read a few threads but didn't find it
 
Atv3 doesn't have any real storage so, even if they added the App Store, there'd be nowhere to install apps to.

The Siri mic is in the remote.
 
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nifta said:
Atv3 doesn't have any real storage so, even if they added the App Store, there'd be nowhere to install apps to.

The Siri mic is in the remote.
Click to expand...
Thanks. So when Apple add new apps/icons to the ATV3 they are effectively embedded in the OS ? As I understand it the ATv3 has storage as I download movies and photos to it as not everything is streamed, I could be wrong though.

I'm hoping to get some new apps for ATV3, BBC iPlayer and CurzonHomeCinema would,be great and would save me having to stream / mirror from the phone/pad
 
nifta said:
Atv3 doesn't have any real storage so, even if they added the App Store, there'd be nowhere to install apps to.

The Siri mic is in the remote.
Click to expand...
Those that Jailbreak the ATV2 install apps on it. While the ATV3 cannot be jailbroken I would doubt it has any less capability than the ATV2.
 
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There's 8gb storage in the atv2/3. Lots is for the OS, and the rest is for cacehing of movies etc. I guess Apple could, in theory, partition some small part for apps.

The current 'channels' aren't real 'apps' given they use the system UI for display. They're probably pretty tiny installs. There's no technical reason that Apple couldn't have opened this up to other developers, but it wouldn't really let games and stuff come to them.
 
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Keep noticed that iOS 9 requires less space for self-updates than iOS 8.x (1.3 GB instead of 4.5 GB), so 3 GB may stay reserved now for Apple TV content. 3 GB is enough for about 2÷3 "bigger" games.
 
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The processor on the 3 is slow. It has the relative performance of an iPhone 4. I don't even want to know how slowly a current version of iOS would run on it.
 
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They waited too long between hardware upgrades. Mine are gone by Christmas.
 
Interesting, thanks. I'll keep using mine for a while yet as they can do a decent amount especially when paired with a phone/tablet. Any move to a 4 will be driven by what apps we see, the price point is low enough to buy just as an experiment.
 
So if you get a new AppleTV4, what will most be doing with your ATV3?
I can't think of any way you can utilize two ATV's?
 
Putting it in the electronic recycling bin.

As for 2 aTV's: move it to another room with a less watched tv (like a bedroom tv).
 
I'll keep mine for future tinkering projects. Their second-hand value is so low now, not worth reselling. But I feel bad just wasting such good and functional electronics by trashing / recycling it.

I remember seeing a while back: Some guy bought two of those car headrests with a built-in LCD screen in the back, so the kids can watch cartoons on long drives. He then stuffed an ATV somewhere behind the screen and connected it, and ran power to it all. Essentially, he got a somewhat self-contained system that allows an iPhone or iPod Touch to airplay to the headset screens, where each of his kids can watch separate things. This was possible in part because the ATV is so small, and if you bypass it's built-in power supply, it works off of 5V DC which is easy to wire into a car.
 
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I currently have an ATV1, 2 and 3 all in active service on three different TVs. Just because they're old doesn't mean they suddenly stop working. I will likely buy the ATV4 and finally retire the ATV1 although I do still prefer the interface on the original, especially how it groups series of TV shows together.
 
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I'm basically going to start giving the two I have to either my parents and/or my sister. If I set it up right, I think my sister can let her kids watch some videos I've bought BUT NOT SOME OTHER ONES. Like I bought a couple seasons of the old TMNT cartoons, and I'd like for them to be able to watch that on a TV. Same thing with giving my parents access to HBO and some other stuff I've bought in multiple rooms, although I think my dad wants one of the new ones.

Wondering if I can still get some money out of the ATV2 I still have that I meant to sell but forgot about for, oh, a couple of years.
 
satchmo said:
So if you get a new AppleTV4, what will most be doing with your ATV3?
I can't think of any way you can utilize two ATV's?
Click to expand...
Put it in another room, take it on holiday ? I have 2 ATV3's and if I got an ATV4 I'd probably keep at least one of the 3's of not both
 
I'll get a new ATV to replace the current ATV3 in the lounge and that will replace the ATV2 that's in the snug; the ATV2 will be moved to the conservatory :)
 
Phil A. said:
I'll get a new ATV to replace the current ATV3 in the lounge and that will replace the ATV2 that's in the snug; the ATV2 will be moved to the conservatory :)
Click to expand...
You have a "snug" in Telford, how very transatlantic of you ;)
 
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