I have an Apple TV 4K (bought in 2017), and I just bought a TV with Roku built-in. I've quit using the Apple TV; it's fine but nothing about it is better than Roku, and I don't use it play games.
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What to Expect From the Next-Generation Apple TV Launching Next Year
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I have an Apple TV 4K (bought in 2017), and I just bought a TV with Roku built-in. I've quit using the Apple TV; it's fine but nothing about it is better than Roku, and I don't use it play games.
Yeah same here. I played a few games but I go burned out on touch type games 10 yrs ago.
I returned mine because the remote kept disconnecting. No solution over the months I owned it. Back to my chromecast. It isn’t as fast, lacks airplay and storage space, but it works reliably.
I really hope it does have a faster chip. It currently takes me an hour to watch an hour-long TV show. Think of the time I'd save if the faster chip would allow me to watch the same TV show in only half the time.
OK, seriously, this is one of those devices that users don't care much about how it works inside as long as it can push 4K video to your 4K TV in real-time that is all that is needed.
Well, there is one other function the ATV does. It can serve as a "hub" for Apple Homekit devices and the new ATVs are "Thread Border Routers" So there is some advantage to a faster chip. But not for watching TV. Only if you have Thread-enabled smart home devices. Automations that you set up, like turning on the lights en motion is detected can run on a newer ATV or on a HomePod. The ATV might be the better option because it can use wired Eithernet and is not WiFi dependent.
Apple Home App now allows you to do things like changing the color temperature of my lights to match the color of natural sunlight as it changes during the day. This kind of automation needs an ATV or HomePod. that is always on and is not moved to different locations.
Well I love Apple and its devices but I am not paying for Apple Music or Apple TV.
I am paying for Prime and adsfree Youtube plus I can use a friends Netflix account. No need for anything from Apple. And my TV has a spare USB port free so I can hook my USB stick directly to the TV but I hate this. I have to search for the second remote and I absolutely hate the TVs user interface. Would love if I could use the Apple TV remote and user interface for everything.
Add a tether. Doubles the effective length and makes it much easier to find. A case with an embedded airtag (which often includes a tether) allows you to find it when it slips between the pillows or behind a sofa, etc.
How well would that work if you are sitting 10 feet away and it is placed in an equipment cabinet?
Dunno. The remote has ~10x the battery life of my Harmony remotes which are backit (as well as a screen). Backlighting would drastically reduce that.
Lol. So in summary:
- Next years Apple TV will be released in 2024
- It will have a faster processor than the last one.
I so rarely use my Apple TV, and I don’t miss it. I got it as a present when 3rd gen Apple TVs were cheap and it’s now down to almost zero functionality. In fact I don’t have a streaming box at all, I just mostly watch Netflix on my iMac and TV via my cable providers Cloud service. It’s a couple of tabs in my iMacs browser.
The thing is, to use the Apple TV on my main TV setup I have to switch HDMI device and there is no incentive to do so. I don’t subscribe to any streaming services which are not present on my smart cable box, so even though I don’t even have a smart tv, just a dumb Full HD LCD panel with HDMI, I just leave it on that all the time.
No need to spend the 163 euro’s for even the cheapest Apple TV 4K.
The thing is, to use the Apple TV on my main TV setup I have to switch HDMI device and there is no incentive to do so. I don’t subscribe to any streaming services which are not present on my smart cable box, so even though I don’t even have a smart tv, just a dumb Full HD LCD panel with HDMI, I just leave it on that all the time.
No need to spend the 163 euro’s for even the cheapest Apple TV 4K.
I can understand them putting TV+ on the other platforms, you pretty much have to do that to grow a streaming service.
What was weird was allowing people to play all their iTunes content on the other platforms, that could have been a selling point for the Apple TV.
My Samsung TV has Apple TV Plus, Airplay and a native Apple Music app!
In a nutshell, Apple TV is major league amateur hour. I’m sure it’s absolutely fine for most casual users, but the moment you scratch below the surface you realise it’s a second rate device at a premium price. Instead of token gesture upgrades, it would be better served with some major rethinks that expand its scope into more serious AV territory.
I find the Apple TV is still nice for integration with my other Apple Devices. Also, doesn't a Roku insert ads into your content or something?
I always get ads because I only stream free TV. However Roku is basically a knockoff of Amazon Prime TV. Roku has free original programing which is a nice bonus.
I’m a little surprised Apple hasn’t put an M chip in the Apple TV.
Would like to see this for music, as well. A mode that plays the files in the native resolution rather than up/down sampling to 48kHz. Thought we would see this with the last model after Apple Music started supporting lossless and hi res. Maybe next time…. Though, Apple Music still doesn’t have an exclusive mode on the Mac, so I am not holding my breath.
People like you is why corporate greed exists. Absolutely nobody needs a brand spanking new Apple TV every year…unless they have an incessant need to blow money like it’s piss.
Assuming your cable company supports apple tv apps for your authorized channels there can be some benefits to using an Apple TV.
1. The interface is generally better than that provided by your cable box. My Xfinity box is useable but not really that great to use.
2. Comparing similar sources from my Apple TV with other devices I generally find that the Apple TV version has noticeably higher quality.
How about a version that would allow for streaming of HiRes losseless music. There is nothing currently that can stream Apple HiRes Losseless music. What's the point to have it if you cannot used it?
Even worse the ATV going all the way back to the ATV2/3 forcibly resamples everything to 48Hz output... not an issue for video, but for music (and even the apple music app) the CD audio redbook standard was 16-44.1... so music is getting resample to 48Hz rather than passing through bit-perfect from the source. HDMI can also support HiRes but the ATV doesn't support it.
This could be achieved with a true passthrough mode, which sadly it doesn't have. Some apps used to be able to passthrough AC3 and DTS (but not DTS-HD, etc) but that was removed back in tvOS 13 I believe. OTOH if you have a TV that supports eARC and use Plex/Infuse or Kodi (sideloaded) you can get LPCM 7.1 which is just the unpacked TrueHD/DTS-HD content... but you lose Atmos and DTS-X height channels if it is TrueHD Atmos or DTSX tracks. And to be fair no streaming service offers content in TrueHD Atmos or DTSX. It does support DD+ Atmos via Dolby MAT which itunes movies and streamers do use...
I believe the newest is technically capable of this as it has QMS and a true HDMI 2.1 chipset (the 2017 and 2021 models used a DP to HDMI 2.0 chip). Its down to Apple to support this though.
I don't think the screensavers are HDR so you aren't missing anything and saving your eyes, UI in HDR is too bright.
To me, match frame rate and match dynamic range are much better than the competition... its the one thing the ATV does 100% right... The Shield and FireTVs support frame rate matching but its done on an app by app basis so its very hit or miss on those platforms it say Netflix or Prime actually support it for example. And with the latest ATV model, at least for Dynamic Frame Rate switching, it supports QMS so you don't get those black screens, but only for going between 60 to say 24fps content, not SDR to HDR... QMS doesn't help with those black screens.
You don't, save your money.
It is enormously overpriced and most Smart TVs/Rokus/Fire TVs are good enough these days.
The ATV hasn't had a design change since the slim version before the App store. Honestly, it's a pretty fat block for what it is which I assume is to have the home hub features for Home Kit that only a small minority of people use. Not sure if Matter has helped.
They need a streaming stick without a hub - $50.
Even storage - let's be honest - ATV has never seen mass App use. A stick would still let that crossy road person play a light game - but really the ATV has been somewhat overkill - especially as purchasing film content declines double digits. A stick is going to appeal to a lot more people - and keep the other for the people that do use and want those other features.
They need a streaming stick without a hub - $50.
Even storage - let's be honest - ATV has never seen mass App use. A stick would still let that crossy road person play a light game - but really the ATV has been somewhat overkill - especially as purchasing film content declines double digits. A stick is going to appeal to a lot more people - and keep the other for the people that do use and want those other features.