Why do some keep VERY OLD Apple TV’s?

[Juicy Box]

This thread has been useful for me to review. I owned an ATV v.1 a long time ago, sold it, and am now thinking of getting another ATV for streaming purposes. We have a single Toshiba 32 inch 720p TV in our house. Circa 2009 I think. It just works. It gets turned on once per week for my wife's favorite program.

We have Verizon FIOS so most of my tv consumption is done via my 12.9 M1 IPP using the buggy Fios TV app. Their web based tv access is a bit better, but not completely so. For those shows that I watch on the IPP, I thought of using Airplay to stream those programs on to the 32 inch. It the ATV 3 would do that reliably, I can snag a used one for ~$20 or so locally. the 4K gen 1 models are running about $50-60 or so.

Or... I could just buy a Roku I suppose. I am guessing my AirPod Max would work better with with the ATV

What apps and/or streaming services do you intend on using?

 

[tenordrum]

Basically Airplay from my IPP to the TV.

 

[Juicy Box]

This thread has been useful for me to review. I owned an ATV v.1 a long time ago, sold it, and am now thinking of getting another ATV for streaming purposes. We have a single Toshiba 32 inch 720p TV in our house. Circa 2009 I think. It just works. It gets turned on once per week for my wife's favorite program.

We have Verizon FIOS so most of my tv consumption is done via my 12.9 M1 IPP using the buggy Fios TV app. Their web based tv access is a bit better, but not completely so. For those shows that I watch on the IPP, I thought of using Airplay to stream those programs on to the 32 inch. It the ATV 3 would do that reliably, I can snag a used one for ~$20 or so locally. the 4K gen 1 models are running about $50-60 or so.

Or... I could just buy a Roku I suppose. I am guessing my AirPod Max would work better with with the ATV

What apps and/or streaming services do you intend on using?

Basically Airplay from my IPP to the TV.

This could work for you, but keep in mind that some apps are not able to be air played. You can still use AirPlay to mirror your iPhone, but that's not always as convenient.

I just wouldn't pay much for a used Apple TV 3. If it ends up being only a little bit difference in price to get a used Apple TV 4 (HD) or Apple TV 4K, I would go with the newer options.

 

[Lampekap]

Some are using ancient ancient dinosaur appletv’s like older than the HD model and expect it to still work. I don’t get it. I started with the AppleTV 3 in 2016 and have upgraded twice since then. I would not keep the 3 unit and expect it to still work, so why do some people? Why do some keep the first model?

I don't get it why it should not work.

 

[everlast3434]

I had a gen 1 AppleTV. It was such a fantastic product when it came out. I remember spending $100 on an HDMI cable when I got it too. LOL. How times have changed.

 

[Boyd01]

Basically Airplay from my IPP to the TV.

I also have FIOS but their TV never interested me. I subscribed to Sling about 3 years ago for streaming, but it is not supported on the Apple TV 3. So, I thought I could just do as you describe. Really wasn't acceptable however, when I would Airplay a program from my phone or iPad, it would always start from the beginning instead of what was being shown in realtime on the app and the functions like fast-forward/rewind didn't work. It was just generally a bad experience. Of course, that was three years ago and it was Sling, so maybe it would work better for you.

Anyway, I'd suggest getting an AppleTV 4 (aka AppleTV HD) if you want a vintage device, should also be pretty cheap. I have two of them and they work fine with the streaming apps I've tried.

 

[tenordrum]

Yup, looking at the 4K model prices used as well. That said, Best Buy has an open box TCL 32 inch 1080 Roku TV for $72 nearby, which I might be able convince the CFO that I can use in our basement. I prefer using Apple rather than having Amazon or Roku selling my use data

 

[Racineur]

Some are using ancient ancient dinosaur appletv’s like older than the HD model and expect it to still work. I don’t get it. I started with the AppleTV 3 in 2016 and have upgraded twice since then. I would not keep the 3 unit and expect it to still work, so why do some people? Why do some keep the first model?

How arrogant and shallow. Because these "dinosaurs" fit the bill. Period. Guess you're the kind who has already ordered an iPhone 16. Questions like this "look" wise but they are rather useless.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Some are using ancient ancient dinosaur appletv’s like older than the HD model and expect it to still work. I don’t get it. I started with the AppleTV 3 in 2016 and have upgraded twice since then. I would not keep the 3 unit and expect it to still work, so why do some people? Why do some keep the first model?

First off, not everyone has or even needs a 4K TV. And if you don't have a 4K TV, you don't really need a 4K Apple TV.

Furthermore, the 4th Generation Apple TV (aka Apple TV HD) still runs the latest tvOS release. Who knows for how much longer, but, at least for now, it's still supported. Also, if you're not using Apple Arcade and/or playing other games on your Apple TV, it's not like the A10X Fusion, A12 Bionic, or even A15 Bionic versions of the 4K Apple TV are even necessary.

Past that, people generally hold onto old Apple TVs because they think they can hack or jailbreak them. 2nd Generation Apple TVs were great for that. I'm not sure if anyone has gotten that to work with either the 3rd or 4th generation models. But considering that, unlike any 4K model that has ever come out, those ones still have a USB port; it's at least something that can be attempted.

 

[AppleComputer]

I remember when i got the 120 gb Apple TV, and had a fun time getting os 10.4 running, and then 10.5, I actually had them running BOINC at one point when they were idle. It was neat at the time because it was like a super cheap mac mini. Can you run Mac OS on a new Apple TV?

 

[jwolf6589]

First off, not everyone has or even needs a 4K TV. And if you don't have a 4K TV, you don't really need a 4K Apple TV.

Furthermore, the 4th Generation Apple TV (aka Apple TV HD) still runs the latest tvOS release. Who knows for how much longer, but, at least for now, it's still supported. Also, if you're not using Apple Arcade and/or playing other games on your Apple TV, it's not like the A10X Fusion, A12 Bionic, or even A15 Bionic versions of the 4K Apple TV are even necessary.

Past that, people generally hold onto old Apple TVs because they think they can hack or jailbreak them. 2nd Generation Apple TVs were great for that. I'm not sure if anyone has gotten that to work with either the 3rd or 4th generation models. But considering that, unlike any 4K model that has ever come out, those ones still have a USB port; it's at least something that can be attempted.

Yeah I have a 4K ATV and only a HD TV because I value the speed among other things of the 2nd generation model.

 

[Juicy Box]

Yeah I have a 4K ATV and only a HD TV because I value the speed among other things of the 2nd generation model.

Do you have the 2022 ATV4K with the A15 chip?

 

[grkm3]

They do much more than just stream 4K. There is Dolby Vision/HDR, Dolby Atmos, spatial audio, play music, view photos, work as a smart home hub, among other things. Until you have steamed movies and series in 4K with Dolby Atmos / DD 7.1 surround sound, you really don’t know how much more immersive the viewing experience can be. I almost never go to the cinema anymore because I have such an awesome setup at home. I know the total cost can be restrictive for many people, but saying that all it does is stream to a TV is quite naive.

And all that works with first gen 4k apple tv

 

[Brownie77]

Because they still have a component input TV?

 

[ignatius345]

I had a gen 1 AppleTV. It was such a fantastic product when it came out. I remember spending $100 on an HDMI cable when I got it too. LOL. How times have changed.

My first foray, before I got a Roku, was actually plugging my iPod into my old CRT TV and playing things I'd (umm) downloaded onto it. As absurd as it all was, it felt pretty futuristic to not be burning DVDs...

 

[satcomer]

Also the older I get I stoped buy super expense das systems! They would last about 1-2 years a start to flake out 4 year they all died, even the expensive one went first! The fragile hold style disk is legendary!

 

[ColdCase]

I have an old big screen TV in the spare bedroom that the grandkids play my old PS games on when they visit. I have an ancient AppleTV also attached as the TV is not directly compatible to the newer ones. Its sometimes nice to sit in that quite bedroom watching old Perry Mason, Peter Gunn, Highway patrol episodes off my media server... sometimes with a glass of Buffalo Trace...