Abydos
macrumors 6502
I think they enjoy shooting things, drones, signs you name it. but is privacy the issue , I think not - a drone is like a duck without the need for a duck tag
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What's the point of Apple TV Hardware?
- Thread starter Mike330R
- Start date
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Everything above, but also some other benefits
- works seamlessly with other Apple hardware. Use the iPhone as a remote if you want, mirror your entire Mac screen if you want. Use your AirPods (two pairs at a time, even) to watch TV loud without waking up the kid or bugging your neighbor.
- Grab the Apple TV and remote when you travel, and now you’ve got all your streaming stuff ready to plug into any TV with an HDMI cable.
- You can copy an ATV’s settings right over to another one if you’ve got multiple TVs
- ATV gets good and frequent softare updates
And yeah, like !!! said above, the software on my otherwise great Samsung is slow and clunky and generally sucks but it doesn’t impact me one bit because I never see it.
The OS inside smart TVs is a joke, serving banner ads alongside channels. Performance is slow, not helped by the cheap ass chipsets inside.
The Apple TV by comparison runs like butter and just gets out of the way of whatever you want to do.
The question should be why someone would willingly expose themselves to a Smart TV interface at all. It’s a kind of masochism really.
warriors2017
macrumors regular
I hate my Sony Android TV but I'm too cheap to replace it. It works fine most of the time but reboots itself at least once a day 😭
Except for my (perceived) picture quality improvement using the higher format options with the latest Apple TV 4K, I'd agree that a good quality smart TV would normally be fine and sufficient (my point of view).
Astuces iOS
macrumors 68020
Ok buddy so the smart tvs don't have everything !
1. Very easy to use, clean ui, cool remote ! Yk, if for example you wanna connect AirPods, that's easy !
2. You can install couple of apps that you cannot install on a smart tv ! (And some apple apps like FaceTime or apple arcade lol)
3. Screen savers ! Ton of them and that's cool !
4. Good match with HomeKit ! The Apple TV like the HomePod acts like a home hub, good when you have a smart house ! For example if you wanna do something when you are outside from home idk...
So all of this + what people said above me !
It's certainly not a necessity, but I do like that all of the TV's in the house operate the same way (through the Apple TV interface). Our TV's are from a mix of manufacturers and each one has a different Smart TV interface. That can get confusing, especially since we don't watch a lot of TV.
There's also the benefit of you can have them all update when you change one, so the app locations all synchronize.
And the available apps aren't always the same on all TV's. We have a Sony TV that only has a couple of apps. For things like my security camera, I can watch it on the Apple TV, but not on the Sony main interface.
If you had to take away one of my Apple devices, it would definitely be the Apple TV. And if you are happy without one, I wouldn't suggest buying one. Just enjoy what you have. But there are some real benefits to it (plus they tend to last forever, so the cost can be amortized over a long period of time.)
There's also the benefit of you can have them all update when you change one, so the app locations all synchronize.
And the available apps aren't always the same on all TV's. We have a Sony TV that only has a couple of apps. For things like my security camera, I can watch it on the Apple TV, but not on the Sony main interface.
If you had to take away one of my Apple devices, it would definitely be the Apple TV. And if you are happy without one, I wouldn't suggest buying one. Just enjoy what you have. But there are some real benefits to it (plus they tend to last forever, so the cost can be amortized over a long period of time.)
I never change inputs from my Apple TV because it has an app for pretty much everything, even antenna TV. For antenna, one other hardware (HD Homerun) is needed which streams the antenna source, but the advantage is you can watch on any device. The only exception for changing inputs is the occasional Blu-ray but that would be the case just using a smart TV as well.
If your smart TV works fine for you and you don't care about privacy or any of the other advantages of the ATV that people mentioned, then of course no need to buy it. It has clear advantages, but they don't all apply to everyone. No product is the best choice for everyone. But if your TV UX ever slows down/gets worse in the future, but the TV is still good otherwise, then you may want to get an Apple TV or other streaming box at that point.
Not the same. The apps are siloed from each other so they only have the data collected from within their app. And they use that data for personalizing content, generally not to sell the data to ad firms which would likely make its way to their competition as well as erode customer trust and subscriptions. Smart TVs likely have access to everything you do on every app, and likely puts together a profile using all that data, and likely sells it to advertisers. TV margins are thin and people don't buy TVs often, so manufacturers have had to look for more ways to monetize.
A high quality display is both expensive and can last a long, long time. Buying an AppleTV, to stay up to date with processor/software improvements, can be a better decision then replacing your whole TV.
BSDnostalgia
macrumors regular
This is the way. A Smart TV is really just a dumb big screen for a Mac Mini to run VLC on stuff I "have".
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
If you live alone, sure. My wife and kids wouldn't even attempt to use a computer as their main viewing device.
Frankly, neither would I. My computer lives in my office and my TV lives in the living room.
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twisted panties
macrumors member
I have owned every Apple TV and still have a 4th gen attached to my home theatre. My current TV runs Google TV. I was expecting this to be a disaster, a privacy breach and a usability catastrophe.
It was none of those. All the "telemetry" and "to improve your recommendations" privacy breach stuff was optional. It was on by default, naturally, but easily disabled from the menus, not hidden anywhere. No worse than many other apps on my iPhone. I also run my own DNS and firewall so I can see what devices are phoning home, and the TV isn't.
I had an Apple TV plugged into this TV, but have since removed it and given it away. It offers nothing useful above the built-in apps on the (TCL) TV. I can open the "Apple TV" app, for example, and see my Apple library and watch Apple TV shows. Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube all work and with the same audio and sound performance (Dolby Vision, HDR10, Atmos etc as appropriate) that the Apple TV offered. You can have different user profiles, just like on Apple TV, and so family members all get their own preferences, Youtube settings and so on.
Plus, being basically an Android core, the OS updates itself and all these apps update themselves often and automatically. The Android app library is immense, so I added Jellyfin and Plex for my home media, and some local apps for TV channels in this country.
I think modern smart TVs that use their own proprietary OS can be problematic. You never know what they are doing behind the scenes and often the app library is limited and both it and the OS isn't maintained well. But Google TV seems up to date, maintained, comprehensive and transparent. I know that's not going to be a popular view on here, and I admit it was unexpected for me too. But it's simply true.
To put it all into perspective, the TCL TV, one of their higher end ones, with mini-LED screen, Atmos decoding, Onkyo amplification with subwoofer built-in, 144Hz refresh, Dolby Vision and HDR10 etc etc cost just 4x the price of the Apple TV. Less than my iPad Air. I can't see the Apple TV surviving much longer in the face of such Google TV equipped sets. I wish Apple would offer their TVOS to TV manufacturers - they are really missing out here. At its cost and limited additional functionality, the standalone Apple TV will fade into irrelevance as people upgrade their sets.
It was none of those. All the "telemetry" and "to improve your recommendations" privacy breach stuff was optional. It was on by default, naturally, but easily disabled from the menus, not hidden anywhere. No worse than many other apps on my iPhone. I also run my own DNS and firewall so I can see what devices are phoning home, and the TV isn't.
I had an Apple TV plugged into this TV, but have since removed it and given it away. It offers nothing useful above the built-in apps on the (TCL) TV. I can open the "Apple TV" app, for example, and see my Apple library and watch Apple TV shows. Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube all work and with the same audio and sound performance (Dolby Vision, HDR10, Atmos etc as appropriate) that the Apple TV offered. You can have different user profiles, just like on Apple TV, and so family members all get their own preferences, Youtube settings and so on.
Plus, being basically an Android core, the OS updates itself and all these apps update themselves often and automatically. The Android app library is immense, so I added Jellyfin and Plex for my home media, and some local apps for TV channels in this country.
I think modern smart TVs that use their own proprietary OS can be problematic. You never know what they are doing behind the scenes and often the app library is limited and both it and the OS isn't maintained well. But Google TV seems up to date, maintained, comprehensive and transparent. I know that's not going to be a popular view on here, and I admit it was unexpected for me too. But it's simply true.
To put it all into perspective, the TCL TV, one of their higher end ones, with mini-LED screen, Atmos decoding, Onkyo amplification with subwoofer built-in, 144Hz refresh, Dolby Vision and HDR10 etc etc cost just 4x the price of the Apple TV. Less than my iPad Air. I can't see the Apple TV surviving much longer in the face of such Google TV equipped sets. I wish Apple would offer their TVOS to TV manufacturers - they are really missing out here. At its cost and limited additional functionality, the standalone Apple TV will fade into irrelevance as people upgrade their sets.
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JeffPerrin
macrumors 6502a
I never knew TVs could "crash" until I got a Sony Bravia with Google/Android software on it. 😵 (And I don't even use the "smart" features!)
wholowx3
macrumors newbie
My Apple TV 4K just runs circles around my LG Smart TV. tvOS is simply faster, better for privacy (although still not perfect), better supported, and almost every app I use feels much smoother on it.
The Siri Remote is also a big upgrade for me. Seven buttons is all I need to watch a show, and will never have to think again about which of the 40 or 50 buttons is the mute one. Plus, when I put in my AirPods Pro, the audio just hands itself over. I've yet to see a smart TV pull that off. Throw in Crossy Road and Fitness+ and it's not really a fair fight.
Smart TVs work fine, but once you've used an Apple TV for a while, the built-in apps start to feel like a bonus feature on a microwave.
The Siri Remote is also a big upgrade for me. Seven buttons is all I need to watch a show, and will never have to think again about which of the 40 or 50 buttons is the mute one. Plus, when I put in my AirPods Pro, the audio just hands itself over. I've yet to see a smart TV pull that off. Throw in Crossy Road and Fitness+ and it's not really a fair fight.
Smart TVs work fine, but once you've used an Apple TV for a while, the built-in apps start to feel like a bonus feature on a microwave.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
It depends on the TV. We have a 4k Apple TV, and a TCL Roku TV.. everyone in the household, including me, prefers the Roku TV. MUCH erasier for kids to swap inputs, and everyone likes the build-in channel guide.
The Apple TV is fine but it's nothing special. Once you're streaming, it's all the same. I've had the 4k, the HD, the 3rd gen, and the very original. I won't be buying another.
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A mouse is the most natural thing for controlling a viewing device. Restricting yourself just because you use a mouse with a computer makes no sense.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
Where? We don't have tables around the couch. On the cushion, on the cat, leg? How is that more natural than a simple grid, and you pick the one you want and push play, or you scroll up and down via a list. Simple.
No thank you. I'll stick to a remote with a directional arrow, plus I don't want to pay for or manage another computer, nor would kids or wife want anything to do with it.... and they use it a lot more than me. I don't even like using my phone as a remote.
Yes, better smart TVs can support and display Dolby Vision (via apps installed natively), but only if the content is coded in that format with Dolby Vision metadata, which is almost exclusively through paid services like Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, etc.
I happen to like all content I watch outputted in Dolby Vision, including HD and SD. My Sony OLED TV does an excellent job in handling and displaying all content in that format from Apple TV 4K (which only Apple TV can do). And for me, the picture quality is much preferred. And most of it is free.
But I think most of your other points are valid, especially if this is of no interest.
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jwolf6589
macrumors 601
People with those smart TVs see the ads on their main menu and wish they had an Apple TV.