Same here bro. Did you make sure your specific tv is getting the update? A lot aren’t. Even 2018 lg’s aren’t for some reason
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With how good smart TVs are now, why keep my Apple TV?
- Thread starter Ghost31
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Not sure, but if my Sony isn't getting the update, so be it, I'll continue to use my Apple TV solely for home movies and Apple Music and that'll be that. Either way its good. Would just be more convenient to have the Apple TV app embedded in the TV's OS, that's all.
My Sony TV remote sucks, and quickly moving between apps is a pain compared to ATV. Even getting to settings, like changing picture settings from game mode to movie is far more difficult. Then there is the bloat.
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It’s not, just a decision billions of Google users have made and are happy. Many who say they are evil must not have a clue on how pervasive modern tracking works and who uses Google Analytics. Also they never mention Amazon web services tracking that everybody uses now. For Less than $50 one can learn an entire life history on someone, including family members I mean everything in about 20 minutes from many private companies, don’t even need a name to start. None of them named Google. This “evil” bumper sticker mentality left the building long ago.
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We’ll see. The new smart TVs are based on android and ever since I’ve had them, have been updated regularly. I’ve had my lg one for a few years and it STILL gets updates. So I don’t know if it’s all doom and gloom like you say. We might be ok
My Sony is less than a year old and is very fast. Once you get used to the Android OS it becomes second nature and the equivalent of Apple TV.
There's no nice way to say this, and I'm as big an Apple TV fan as anyone having owned 8 of them since the very first one launched, but it's not about the hardware anymore. It's just about the apps. My family needs to get to Netflix and YouTube and Amazon Prime and HBO Go, and the built-in Android apps are the same as the ones on Apple TV so it makes no difference. And the integration with the TV cannot be undersold; it's important. It's nice to have one remote on the coffee table and no worries about source switching.
This happens also with aTV 4 or 4K.
The problem with Sony Bravia (I also own one) is, that you will not see many updates after 2 years. Ok, my top-of-the line 2016 model still got it, along with the CalMan AutoCal support, but the A1 and Z9 were the only ones from 2016 lineup to get that attention. Anything below that and you've been forgotten already.
My Sony is from last year and it's Android calling the shots on the smart TV features, they push out the updates to the apps (YouTube, Netflix, etc.) and so they are just as up to date as they are on any other TV.
As far as Sony pushing out updates for their own products, they understand now that the world is connected and streamed and updates will be frequent and necessary but frankly I don't care- whatever current version of Sony OS and Android TV is running in my 900E is fine by me, I don't want it updated as I like the UI as it is and it's very fast.
Apple TV is dead as a piece of hardware, the hockey puck is no more. But it'll be alive and well as a piece of software embedded in TV's. Said it before, I'll say it again, Apple should make an ass-kicking TV panel in 55", 65", and 75" and be done with it already. Apple should be disrupting the Sony/Samsung/LG space and offer a top-end 4KTV already. They should be in the TV business, not the Roku business.
Simply because, Apple will actually keep your box up to date. Smart TV's as a whole are forgotten about so fast when the next years model comes out. Some brands are worse than others. Samsung are awful. They will promise updates and features and never deliver, just release it on the next years model instead. Apple could add a new feature to Apple TV, say, HLG support, but it will be down to the manufacturer whether they build that support in to the Apple TV app for their TV, even if their set already supports HLG. I think it comes down to which brand do you trust more to deliver after sale
Was concerned about this too since I have more than 300 purchased movies. But since Samsung is updating their TVs this spring to have iTunes 4K on them + airplay, a lot of us will be just fine
But then I would have to use a Android product which I do not want to do. I like Apple!
Lets see in 2021, how well does it ride then.
I'll also say it again - I need the dumbest screen available. I can update aTV-kind of box every year, if needed. I may want to add or remove signal sources as I see fit. It all comes cheaper at the end of the day, than the expensive top-class screen. And as funny as it may seem - the "smart" motherboard inside that TV is the cheapest component of them all. So why not keep it outside after all?
I see what you're getting it and I feel ya, but if you're gonna replace an Apple TV "every year if needed" at $200 a pop, damn. You could buy an entirely new smart tv for that much money in just a few years and that new smart tv by even your logic would be ok since its current and getting updates in the early life cycle.
Personally I like Apple TV alright but I don't see how it is worth anywhere near asking price. Its not innovative. It's not doing much different than a standard smart tv can do and my lg tv thats a few years old is still getting frequent updates. So the whole "but they'll stop updating your tv and then you'll be sorry!" narrative isn't playing out in my life at all. The Netflix app gets updated like every couple weeks and same for YouTube on my smart tv.
The only times I can see you needing an Apple TV is if you have a non smart tv or a really old one. And even then, you'd be just as good with a cheapo chromecast or fire stick. So its kinda hard to see where Apple TV fits in at this price point. They need to slash the price in half at least
Alas, my screen would allow me to swap apple TVs for 21 years (assuming one every year) and that is a long time by any measure. Even for a TV. My first CRT Sony Trinitron lasted for 15, thereafter the 46" LCD only 7. I hope this one is good for at least until upgrade to 8K becomes unavoidable. So again 5..7 years, I hope.
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I would argue the opposite of the op. I want a consistent ui regardless of what tv I upgrade to and what room I sit in (I have an atv with every tv)
I truly disagree with your entire comments.
If you are happy to use an Android device, then i'm happy for you. However, i'm not convinced that you'll be smiling in two or three years time.
SONY have never had good customer service and very easily 'forget' a product that they made two years ago. SONY are a company that have made several very good products but my God, they've churned out some really really bad products over the years! Really bad!
Apple TV will continue with its excellent operating system and tight security.
Even the seven year old ATV3 is still getting update including the new Apple TV App!!!!!!!!
I certainly won't be signing into a crappy Android TV with my Apple ID and Password - the same ID that my iPhone, iPad Pro and MacBook could be linked to. That's insanity!
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Do you honestly feel safe trusting a cheap crappy TV with your Apple ID and Password??? The very same Apple ID that has all of your contacts, browsing history, messages, photos of your family, video, credit card details, billing address, purchases???
I certainly would not.
I don't think I've entered any of my personal information for anything on the tv. IE: to use Netflix, they have you go to the Netflix site on your computer and input a code to list it as an active device. And boom. It starts working. So afaik, no personal information is really given to apps aside from listening it on your account as an active device.
8. ATV is cheaper to replace (upgrade the hardware) then the smart TV.
I'd rather replace the TV every year. The panels and the scaling and the content specs keep improving.
Either way, no one needs or wants a set-top-streamer anymore. It's all a game of apps now, and Netflix in my Sony/Android is no different than the Netflix in my Apple/TVOS. We just want Netflix. Doesn't matter what delivers it.
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Don't make this an Apple vs. Android thing. I agree with you- Apple all the way, I must own 30 Apple devices, you don't need to convince me.
But Sony vs. Apple, different story. Sony just happens to use Android, they could use Roku for all I care. All I know is I pick up 1 remote, hit 1 button, and boom, there's Netflix. Apple's remote with that touchpad is 100% annoyning, the learning curve for my wife and kids with all the source switching and multiple-remotes is steep, it's just more convenient.
So who cares? If my 2018 900E becomes unsupported or obsolete I'll just buy the 2020 or 2021 version. They're only $1500. That's a car payment and I use my TV a hell of a lot more than my car.
Same as above, a new Apple TV costs $150. That's a single dinner at a half decent restaurant.
What are you so paranoid about? I've been very active on the internet since 1994 and guess how many times I've been hacked or had to change a password or cancel a credit card? That's right. 0. Zero. Never.
Look, in the end its not about hardware. It's about apps. Whoever gets me into Netflix first, wins. My Sony remote has a "Netflix" button. One measly click and I'm in. Doesn't matter if it's Android, doesn't matter if it's Roku, one click, there's Netflix. Apple TV requires more clicks and has that touch remote that I have learned to despise.
Then I do not understand you at all. A good display is more expensive than a good media streaming box. And it will remain so. I would not spend my money on a cheap and low-quality panel. So I rather get a good one and keep it for longer.
After all, the function that I expect from it - to convert electricity into colorful moving picture - has also quite a lot more longevity than the computing power of the smart-part.
But obviously, that's just me. Everyone has their own priorities and makes their own choices.
Just out of curiosity - what kind of good and capable display you could get for the $£€200 the aTV goes about?
If you check today's OLED or FALD LCD panels of sizes upward from 55", then we are talking about 4-figure price tags.
Again, as I have also been a longtime Sony customer, I can already today predict, that your Netflix app will cease to be upgraded on Sony Android TV after couple of years. Then it is only a matter of Netflix's willingness to drag backward compatibilty along.
If YouTube is any indication - then you can already see that their newest features like VP9.2 encoded HDR videos require quite fresh hard- and software that might just not happen, especially if your Android is now 3 versions old.
I reckon the move for AppleTV+ going on smart-TV, this will re-educate the "reason" for an Apple TV as a separate device. AppleTV will still be popular, just saying with Apple looking for more and more cross-platform apps to smart TV's, the icing is wearing "thin"
Your arguments all revolve around one concept: Saving money.
That's not something I am concerned with. I want myself and my family to have the easiest experience possible when deciding at a moment's notice to switch content from cable TV to streaming TV. One remote. With traditional buttons. One HDMI source with internal switching. At present that means I will always have a current Sony TV that has built-in smart features that allow us to get to Netflix, Prime, HBO Go, etc. very quickly.
A year or two from now it sounds like I will be able to use a Sony TV running Android to get to an Apple TV or iTunes Media app and at that time I will again consider utilizing movie rentals and TV show purchases as I used to with the standalone Apple TV puck. But for now, it's just easier to use the built-in Google Play app for that content. Same price, better experience.
While I don't want my smart TV to have internet access or be used that way (see my earlier post on this thread), that wouldnt be the issue I'd worry about. Apple almost certainly will use a system that generates a unique, revokable, login token for the TV that doesnt store your password and has limited scope of access to your account. Hell, that's even to some extent how it works on Apple devices. They'll probably also generate that token simillar to other services now where you never even enter your password on the TV, you use a code to authorize it from a browser or from Apple's own 2FA system synced to your Apple devices.
The most important reason set top boxes or dongles are better: more consistent OS and app updates.
TV manufacturers are notorious for dropping OS updates after a couple years.
Second reason: portability. You can take your dongle or set top box with you. No one is lugging their 65” TV on vacation
TV manufacturers are notorious for dropping OS updates after a couple years.
Second reason: portability. You can take your dongle or set top box with you. No one is lugging their 65” TV on vacation