Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV Cube? (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I'm in a similar boat, wanting to replace my Roku with an ATV to get HBO Max. Here's a dumb question: I still haven't replaced my Pioneer Kuro plasma with a 4K TV, but want to be ready for 4K when it's finally time to replace the Kuro. Does the ATV 4K also output regular 1080p?

...as does anything that plays 4K. Like a lot of people, I started upgrading the peripheral gear and buying 4K discs for probably a year before I had a 4K display.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I'm in a similar boat, wanting to replace my Roku with an ATV to get HBO Max. Here's a dumb question: I still haven't replaced my Pioneer Kuro plasma with a 4K TV, but want to be ready for 4K when it's finally time to replace the Kuro. Does the ATV 4K also output regular 1080p?

As others already answered, yes, *all* current 4K source devices will also output to 1080p... though unlike 4K disc players, most streaming-only devices, including the current ATV4K, does not do downconversion for better quality -- they just provide the 1080p HD stream instead. Also, even if you have an Atmos setup, you likely won't get Atmos streamed unless your setup is fully 4K HDR compliant -- some services even require that at 60Hz refresh, not just 30Hz.

IF you don't have a 4K display yet, definitely wait a little before buying. No real reason to buy until closer to say the Wonder Woman '84 release window, if that's your tipping point.

No doubt AT&T/Warner and Roku are putting in extra effort to hammer out a deal to get HBO Max on Roku sooner (probably sometime this month) rather than later given Warner's latest announcements (and new offer).

Meanwhile, Apple is also quite likely to release a new version of ATV4K in the near future though that might not be in time for WW84. Of course, nobody outside Apple really knows when, but it's been expected to come for quite a while now, and lately Apple seems to announce new products on a nearly monthly basis w/ yet another apparently expected on Tues...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

IF you haven't opened and used your new ATV4K yet, definitely should wait at least thru tomorrow...

2020 Apple TV Slated to Arrive on December 8 With A12Z Bionic, 6GB RAM; Shipments Said to Happen This Week

One tipster believes the 2020 Apple TV will release tomorrow, sporting powerful specifications and available during this week too

wccftech.com

_Man_

 

[steveT77]

As others already answered, yes, *all* current 4K source devices will also output to 1080p... though unlike 4K disc players, most streaming-only devices, including the current ATV4K, does not do downconversion for better quality -- they just provide the 1080p HD stream instead. Also, even if you have an Atmos setup, you likely won't get Atmos streamed unless your setup is fully 4K HDR compliant -- some services even require that at 60Hz refresh, not just 30Hz.

IF you don't have a 4K display yet, definitely wait a little before buying. No real reason to buy until closer to say the Wonder Woman '84 release window, if that's your tipping point.

No doubt AT&T/Warner and Roku are putting in extra effort to hammer out a deal to get HBO Max on Roku sooner (probably sometime this month) rather than later given Warner's latest announcements (and new offer).

Meanwhile, Apple is also quite likely to release a new version of ATV4K in the near future though that might not be in time for WW84. Of course, nobody outside Apple really knows when, but it's been expected to come for quite a while now, and lately Apple seems to announce new products on a nearly monthly basis w/ yet another apparently expected on Tues...

_Man_

We'll see what the Apple announcement tomorrow is, but seems like an update to the ATV has been expected before; not sure Apple thinks the ATV is critical hardware for them.

FYI just a few weeks ago I did take advantage of Roku's offer of $30 off their new Ultra, to replace an Ultra I'd had for 3 years. I figured with the new processor, I'd see some improvements. But after a week of use, it is truly a disaster. The old Roku was always a bit buggy, but nothing that really interfered with the viewing experience. But this new Roku Ultra is a mess. Just a sample of what I've seen so far:
- apps bomb out in the middle of viewing
- hitting pause on Peacock app causes the screen to go black, but audio continues playing. Nothing restores it, not even the back button. Have to hit "home" to break out of it
- hitting replay on Disney+ app causes it to go back 30 seconds, but then video starts playing at about 3X normal speed for a few seconds, while audio plays normal.
- the "subtitles on replay" feature will work once or twice, but then stops working

 

[JohnRice]

We'll see what the Apple announcement tomorrow is, but seems like an update to the ATV has been expected before; not sure Apple thinks the ATV is critical hardware for them.

FYI just a few weeks ago I did take advantage of Roku's offer of $30 off their new Ultra, to replace an Ultra I'd had for 3 years. I figured with the new processor, I'd see some improvements. But after a week of use, it is truly a disaster. The old Roku was always a bit buggy, but nothing that really interfered with the viewing experience. But this new Roku Ultra is a mess. Just a sample of what I've seen so far:
- apps bomb out in the middle of viewing
- hitting pause on Peacock app causes the screen to go black, but audio continues playing. Nothing restores it, not even the back button. Have to hit "home" to break out of it
- hitting replay on Disney+ app causes it to go back 30 seconds, but then video starts playing at about 3X normal speed for a few seconds, while audio plays normal.
- the "subtitles on replay" feature will work once or twice, but then stops working

The only glitch I've encountered on the ATV 4K is if I do a lot of scanning around a title, then play, sometimes something weird happens, like audio severely out of sync. I then need to stop playback completely and resume, and it's always been fixed. I rarely do that, but a couple times I did, that happened.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

We'll see what the Apple announcement tomorrow is, but seems like an update to the ATV has been expected before; not sure Apple thinks the ATV is critical hardware for them.

FYI just a few weeks ago I did take advantage of Roku's offer of $30 off their new Ultra, to replace an Ultra I'd had for 3 years. I figured with the new processor, I'd see some improvements. But after a week of use, it is truly a disaster. The old Roku was always a bit buggy, but nothing that really interfered with the viewing experience. But this new Roku Ultra is a mess. Just a sample of what I've seen so far:
- apps bomb out in the middle of viewing
- hitting pause on Peacock app causes the screen to go black, but audio continues playing. Nothing restores it, not even the back button. Have to hit "home" to break out of it
- hitting replay on Disney+ app causes it to go back 30 seconds, but then video starts playing at about 3X normal speed for a few seconds, while audio plays normal.
- the "subtitles on replay" feature will work once or twice, but then stops working

Sorry to hear that's the case w/ the new Roku Ultra -- such issues seem to be happening mainly w/ some of their Ultras upon initial release.

Hopefully, the new ATV4K won't be similarly flakey upon its initial release... though I suppose there's always the older ATV4K as fallback option...

_Man_

 

[steveT77]

Well, looks like no new ATV, at least for awhile. It seems like Apple rates the importance of the ATV hardware as their lowest priority among all their devices. Seems like their business model is much more focused on the Apple TV+ streaming, and maybe they don't mind leaving the hardware business to Roku and Amazon.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think the honest truth may be that the current AppleTV 4K already performs beautifully for what it’s meant to do. I really can’t imagine what could be added that would make it better at this moment in time. It doesn’t urgently need a refresh in my opinion.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Probably mostly because they can't charge $550 for it in a market dominated by Roku and Amazon (and various gaming consoles if they go that route).

Ah well, I'll probably just wait some more as I don't find their current offering all that compelling for the price premium, especially since I don't see that much to gain over my 3-yo Roku Premiere Plus...

_Man_