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The Siri remote isn't nearly as fragile as the one before it. The one before it is so thin, and easy to bend or break if one isn't careful.
 
I don't want a gaming console. I have a gaming PC for a reason.

So do i.

But

  1. it doesnt live in the living room
  2. i'm not everybody (and neither are you)
  3. its pretty difficult to even build a decent gaming machine right now due to supply issues.
  4. cross-play between macOS, iOS and TvOS is a thing
Right now this is a missed opportunity for Apple, by no means a saturated/done market. Spec isn't everything for a console, just ask Nintendo who are currently laughing all the way to the bank.
 
Look at the primary customer base for Nintendo games, and you'll realize they're not adults most of the time. I doubt children who frequent and adore the Nintendo library are going to be buying Apple TVs anytime soon. Their parents might, and the kids might enjoy the mobile game thing on the ATV, but that's pretty much it.

It's like expecting tablets to replace laptops anytime soon. It won't happen. The two devices fit two different use cases. Or forcing mobile sites on desktop users. Makes no sense.
 
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Oh, and for the pure heck of it, I went to Best Buy and got that older silver remote that was once standard for the (2nd?) older Apple TV, and two things I noticed:

1. They added a battery door to the bottom. It's ugly, but now at least I can replace the coin cell when it dies without destroying the remote.

2. The "menu" key can't back out of an app or get you back to the home screen. So on the ATV4K it's sorta broken. The nav keys, select, and play/pause work, and "menu" does wake the ATV and turns the TV and receiver on, but can't go back within in app.

So those of you hoping to go back to your 'favorite' remote will be disappointed. Just wanted to point that out in case anyone tried.

Forgot how thin that thing was. Seems it'd be a lot easier to misplace than the current Siri remote myself. Oh, and it's IR only. Not an issue for myself, but you will have to do like old people do and point the remote at the ATV box.
 
I've never lost or broken an Apple TV remote, and generally I don't find it difficult to use.

However, I much prefer using the Control Centre software remote on my iPhone if given the choice.
 
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I never lost it either, and I'm quite OCD about where it's placed anyway. I also don't try picking it up blind. But folks here have complained about losing it, picking it up the wrong way, etc.

I do use the Remote app for Apple Watch sometimes, as it's more convenient than picking up my iPhone and littering its screen with fingerprints (and it's often on charge after work anyway)

The only glitch is that the Apple Watch complains about the ATV being 'unavailable' a lot of times, or nothing happens when I do something with the app. Usually, going to Dock, removing it, and opening it again fixes it though.
 
My Apple TV 4K has been working well. I can't recall ever needing to fiddle with settings or anything. As far as the remote goes yeah. It could be improved. But I got used to just using my iPhone as the remote. Maybe exchange for another?
 
You can still buy the older style remote for $15 at Best Buy. Doesn't even need to be paired. I finally fixed the Menu key not backing out of an app--apparently you have to double-click it to go back.
 
I was a regular user of our ATV 4K up until 18 months or so ago. Connected directly into our router via Ethernet the streaming quality was superb, as was image quality. But yes, the remote sucked. Too easy to lose, too easy to pick up the wrong way round.

Then I upgraded my TV to a LG E9 OLED which has an on board Apple TV app. The TV is also connected via Ethernet into the router so streaming quality is fine, no buffering etc. Image quality is also good, Dolby Vision etc. The on board app is occasionally a bit glitchy though, sometimes stutters and sometimes has a white line across the bottom of the screen. But this is rare. Overall the ease of use of the on board app using the TV remote, and the fact I can still access my library of iTunes movie purchases through it, means I quickly defaulted to using the on board TV app. The ATV 4K became redundant and I sold it. So I’m not sure I see the need for a new ATV at all in my scenario, even though the streaming and image quality of my 4K version was impressive. Surely there are many others in this situation now that Apple TV apps are present on newer TVs? Perhaps if I used it for gaming (we do have Arcade via the Apple One sub), or to view photos in our iCloud Photo Library I’d see the point. But we don’t, so?
 
I was a regular user of our ATV 4K up until 18 months or so ago. Connected directly into our router via Ethernet the streaming quality was superb, as was image quality. But yes, the remote sucked. Too easy to lose, too easy to pick up the wrong way round.

Then I upgraded my TV to a LG E9 OLED which has an on board Apple TV app. The TV is also connected via Ethernet into the router so streaming quality is fine, no buffering etc. Image quality is also good, Dolby Vision etc. The on board app is occasionally a bit glitchy though, sometimes stutters and sometimes has a white line across the bottom of the screen. But this is rare. Overall the ease of use of the on board app using the TV remote, and the fact I can still access my library of iTunes movie purchases through it, means I quickly defaulted to using the on board TV app. The ATV 4K became redundant and I sold it. So I’m not sure I see the need for a new ATV at all in my scenario, even though the streaming and image quality of my 4K version was impressive. Surely there are many others in this situation now that Apple TV apps are present on newer TVs? Perhaps if I used it for gaming (we do have Arcade via the Apple One sub), or to view photos in our iCloud Photo Library I’d see the point. But we don’t, so?
Depends on how long LG support it. They won't even release the Apple TV app for their 2017 OLED TVs which I have even though they are perfectly capable of running it. These apps baked into the TVs are okay while the TV manufacturer can be bothered, after that you will need a box of some sort.
 
Depends on how long LG support it. They won't even release the Apple TV app for their 2017 OLED TVs which I have even though they are perfectly capable of running it. These apps baked into the TVs are okay while the TV manufacturer can be bothered, after that you will need a box of some sort.

+1

I couldn't agree more with this! I too have a 2017 LG OLED that's more than capable of running the AppleTV+ app. The set has included 4K HDR on Netflix with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support since purchase. It's not as if other new streaming services haven't been made available for it in recent years such as BritBox UK and Disney+ so there's no excuse really. Very frustrating!! Doubly so when every streaming service I want to watch is built in other than AppleTV+. Grrrrr. And WebOS and the magic remote are both excellent.
 
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I was a regular user of our ATV 4K up until 18 months or so ago. Connected directly into our router via Ethernet the streaming quality was superb, as was image quality. But yes, the remote sucked. Too easy to lose, too easy to pick up the wrong way round.

Then I upgraded my TV to a LG E9 OLED which has an on board Apple TV app. The TV is also connected via Ethernet into the router so streaming quality is fine, no buffering etc. Image quality is also good, Dolby Vision etc. The on board app is occasionally a bit glitchy though, sometimes stutters and sometimes has a white line across the bottom of the screen. But this is rare. Overall the ease of use of the on board app using the TV remote, and the fact I can still access my library of iTunes movie purchases through it, means I quickly defaulted to using the on board TV app. The ATV 4K became redundant and I sold it. So I’m not sure I see the need for a new ATV at all in my scenario, even though the streaming and image quality of my 4K version was impressive. Surely there are many others in this situation now that Apple TV apps are present on newer TVs? Perhaps if I used it for gaming (we do have Arcade via the Apple One sub), or to view photos in our iCloud Photo Library I’d see the point. But we don’t, so?
The one thing you now no longer have access to is the iTunes Extras, yeah not everyone cares about extras but quite a lot of films have directors/extended cuts of movies which you cannot access via the ATV app on third party devices.
 
I've learned (the hard way too often) that relying on a Smart TV's app no matter what app that is, will not always work for the future. It wasn't long ago that my 2017 Smart TV (Samsung 45" UHD) got an 'update' that did nothing other than remove (literally removed) the Hulu, App Store (Samsung Apps) and a few other things from Samsung (some of their 'hub' features)

I still use Hulu, Samsung!

My 2016 LG WebOS TV, also got 'updates' that 'removed' specific apps so all that's left now is Netflix, Amazon, TV+ (a PlutoTV based app that acts like broadcast cable channels) and the LG content store, which is in a sad state today since most of what's there is useless or malware.

Smart TVs don't have any future proofing. On my old Galaxy Tabs from like 2012 every old app still works, and older versions can still be sideloaded and work fine (older Netflix, Amazon MP3, games, Kindle, Aldiko, etc work fine) but on a Smart TV, they have 'forced OTA updates' that end up removing 'no longer supported' apps, even if the older version would continue to work fine until whatever server it connects to is switched off.

Which is why I always have something plugged into an HDMI port on any Smart TV I still own. I don't even bother buying new TVs.
 
The one thing you now no longer have access to is the iTunes Extras, yeah not everyone cares about extras but quite a lot of films have directors/extended cuts of movies which you cannot access via the ATV app on third party devices.

This is true indeed, although to be honest I don‘t think I’ve ever bothered with the iTunes Extras. So it’s not an issue for me personally and not enough of a reason for me to buy another ATV. I’ll check out the reviews when a new one is released though, always worth considering given the streaming and image quality which I still think edges it over the on board LG TV app.
 
Just use your iPhone. You can even use the iPhone keyboard and password manager instead of dealing with the crappy remote.

The AppleTV remote is trash, to be honest I would not be surprised if they ditch it entirely and just make it controlled via iPhone/iPad/watch/etc.

That's very doubtful (and can already be done if one wants). What about the people who only use an AppleTV and have no other Apple products? Those people do exist.
 
Good thing I don't update my stuff. I'd hate to find out what remote the 'new' ATV would come with to satisfy those who hate the current version.
 
Well, it's been announced.

I don't really see any new "game console" features.

They changed the remote a bit (but I had no problems with the other one).
 
Doesn't need to be another game console. We already have that (PlayStation 5, Xbox One X, etc). Apple TV does just fine as a reliable streaming box.

Next thing you will claim is that tablets will replace laptops...

"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain"

~ Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

It does not need to do more than stream TV content. No more than tablets should be used for more than media consumption, and smartphones as more than convenient communication tools.
 
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