Apple TV 4K official (1 Viewer)

[dpippel]

HIGHLY doubtful that there will be an ATV4K refresh this year IMO.

 

[Ted Todorov]

HIGHLY doubtful that there will be an ATV4K refresh this year IMO.

I agree - what exactly would they need to upgrade? Most of anything I can think of is strictly software.
Presumable there are people who would like Apple to downgrade the AppleTV into a new, less capable, cheaper version, but as Apple has started supporting Roku & smart TVs for its Apple TV app, even that argument dies.
I absolutely love the aTV 4K - combined with the Infuse Pro app, it is fantastic.

 

[DaveF]

I'm mostly hoping Apple will drop the price, possibly through lower cost hardware refresh. But there's always speculation for an AppleTV stick, a la Amazon's Fire Stick or the Roku Stick.

And hope springs eternal for Apple actually designing a good remote control...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t think Apple really does price drops within a product line; they just put out a new product at the same price point as the old one.

I have the 4K AppleTV which I think was $180. I found myself needing a second streaming box for part time use, and went with the $90 Roku Ultra. For how little we use it, saving the money was probably the right call. But it’s inferior in just about every way to the AppleTV.

I don’t mind the price on the APTV because I think the quality of what you get compared to the competition justifies the price. It’s like the difference between a $100 Blu-ray player and a $500 Oppo. Most people will be satisfied with the cheaper unit, but you really are getting something for the extra money.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I’m having WiFi connectivity problems with my AppleTV again. It finds my network but says incorrect password and it is correct. In fact, the password it’s using is the one it remembers. He had me do a factory reset, yeah I was thrilled about that. I get to the spot to enter the pw, I enter it oh, so carefully, and same error.

Another tech tells me it could be my hdmi cord, and apple only approves a certain Belkin cord. She says the hdmi cord can affect the WiFi connectivity. Is that possible? I think it’s BS.

So now I’ve got an apple store appointment tomorrow. Crap.

Anybody else here using AT&T for there WiFi?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I’m having WiFi connectivity problems with my AppleTV again. It finds my network but says incorrect password and it is correct. In fact, the password it’s using is the one it remembers. He had me do a factory reset, yeah I was thrilled about that. I get to the spot to enter the pw, I enter it oh, so carefully, and same error.

Another tech tells me it could be my hdmi cord, and apple only approves a certain Belkin cord. She says the hdmi cord can affect the WiFi connectivity. Is that possible? I think it’s BS.

So now I’ve got an apple store appointment tomorrow. Crap.

Anybody else here using AT&T for there WiFi?

Yeah, that is BS, Johnny. An improper HDMI cable will cause issues with the 4K video & audio connection to your AVR or display, but it cannot have any affect on the WiFi signal.

 

[DaveF]

I don’t think Apple really does price drops within a product line; they just put out a new product at the same price point as the old one.

I have the 4K AppleTV which I think was $180. I found myself needing a second streaming box for part time use, and went with the $90 Roku Ultra. For how little we use it, saving the money was probably the right call. But it’s inferior in just about every way to the AppleTV.

I don’t mind the price on the APTV because I think the quality of what you get compared to the competition justifies the price. It’s like the difference between a $100 Blu-ray player and a $500 Oppo. Most people will be satisfied with the cheaper unit, but you really are getting something for the extra money.

I’m not hung up on price at this point. I’ll pay $180 ea for a couple of aTV’s if that’s what it costs, since we’re in the ecosystem, and it’s not huge compared to all the other expenses of going 4K.

But I thought it possible Apple would do something with hardware to help spur new users and new subscribers for their AppleTV service, this Fall.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

But I thought it possible Apple would do something with hardware to help spur new users and new subscribers for their AppleTV service, this Fall.

I figure that the thing they’re doing on that end is the forthcoming app that will play their content on non-Apple devices.

 

[DaveF]

Definitely might be their whole play for finding customers who won’t pay $180 for an aTV, at least in the near term.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Yeah, that is BS, Johnny. An improper HDMI cable will cause issues with the 4K video & audio connection to your AVR or display, but it cannot have any affect on the WiFi signal.

The first tech told me to bring the power cable with me since he couldn’t guarantee the store would have one. So I called the apple store and that just got me back into tech support who gave me the hdmi bullshit. So it’s not possible to call the apple store.

I was trying to avoid getting behind my home theater crap because it’s a big deal to get back there.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I’m not hung up on price at this point. I’ll pay $180 ea for a couple of aTV’s if that’s what it costs, since we’re in the ecosystem, and it’s not huge compared to all the other expenses of going 4K.

But I thought it possible Apple would do something with hardware to help spur new users and new subscribers for their AppleTV service, this Fall.

When my AppleTV works I love it but this experience has taught me that apple will fight tooth and nail to not replace the device when problems arise.

 

[Ted Todorov]

I'm mostly hoping Apple will drop the price, possibly through lower cost hardware refresh. But there's always speculation for an AppleTV stick, a la Amazon's Fire Stick or the Roku Stick.

And hope springs eternal for Apple actually designing a good remote control...

They could change the remote and issue new game controllers without touching aTV hardware itself. Ultimately the best way to change the remote would be 100% software only change to the existing iPhone remote app, to make it so good, people stop bothering with the physical remote.

 

[Johnny Angell]

They could change the remote and issue new game controllers without touching aTV hardware itself. Ultimately the best way to change the remote would be 100% software only change to the existing iPhone remote app, to make it so good, people stop bothering with the physical remote.

When my AppleTV and my phone will connect, I don’t use the remote at all. They recently made software changes that made the phone remote more accessible, i.e. wake the phone and it’s there.

 

[dpippel]

One thing the remote has that the app will never have - hard buttons. For me, that's an important feature, because I can operate the remote one-handed without looking down at it. Can't do that with an app on a touchscreen device.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

They could change the remote and issue new game controllers without touching aTV hardware itself. Ultimately the best way to change the remote would be 100% software only change to the existing iPhone remote app, to make it so good, people stop bothering with the physical remote.

That doesn't help those of us who do not own an iPhone (I'm a longtime Android phone owner). The remote's not a big deal for me, though, as I use my Harmony 650 universal remote to control my entire home theater, including the Apple TV 4K.

 

[DaveF]

I prefer hard-button universal remotes, and have the AppleTVs programmed into my master remotes. But not infrequently I need the full power of the aTV native remote, and then I use the iPhone app. And now that Control Center gives direct access to the remote, and it auto appears on the lock screen during text input, it’s gotten a lot easier to use.

Still, normal people deserve a better remote than the nonsense Jony Ive designed for his man-servant to control his tv with.

Or...drop the remote completely and lower the aTV price by $30

 

[Carlo_M]

It's funny. For all of the things Apple has gotten right (and let's be honest, there's a lot of success stories with this company's product)...a great remote control has somehow managed to elude them since I got my first Macbook in 2006 which came with one (they don't, anymore).

 

[Johnny Angell]

I went to the apple store with my Apple TV and guess what? It worked. I had started a reset, per the tech on the phone, that couldn’t be completed because it wouldn’t connect to the internet. We completed that in the store. I brought it home and hooked it up this morning and the AppleTV automatically connected with my WiFi. No re-entry of the password require.

That ol’ factory reset didn’t reset everything.

 

[Ted Todorov]

It's funny. For all of the things Apple has gotten right (and let's be honest, there's a lot of success stories with this company's product)...a great remote control has somehow managed to elude them since I got my first Macbook in 2006 which came with one (they don't, anymore).

I hate all hardware remotes, because even if you had a perfect one it couldn't possibly work with multiple devices. (that said, the one hardware remote I do use is the current AppleTV remote - I really like it, my only objection is lack off glow in the dark keys.)
I do have the Harmony for everything else, and use it strictly via my iPhone or iPad.

Worst software remote experience - TiVo - had a great iPad remote, then a few months they completely rewrote it and made it unusable to a degree that I have essentially stopped using my TiVo for other than recording than transferring to my Mac via cTiVo and then watching on AppleTV via the InfusePro app. The old TiVo remote version you could slide back and forth to whatever spot on the recording you wanted - so I could see a 4 hour baseball game in 20 minutes, or go directly to the one guest I'm interested in on a talk show, etc. The slide feature still exists *only if you are watching on the iPad itself* - it no longer lets you do that to watch on your TV. (The hardware remote never had that feature to start with, and thus neither the Harmony software version because it is just a direct copy of all hardware remotes).

 

[DaveF]

I hate all hardware remotes, because even if you had a perfect one it couldn't possibly work with multiple devices. (that said, the one hardware remote I do use is the current AppleTV remote - I really like it, my only objection is lack off glow in the dark keys.)

What is it that you love about the aTV remote? I've never heard anyone express even a positive opinion about it.