Apple TV disappears from BestBuy.com as refresh rumors swirl

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014


Best Buy is no longer selling the Apple TV on its website, prompting speculation that a new model from Apple is soon to arrive.



Though BestBuy.com carried Apple's set-top box as recently as the 2011 holiday season, the device was nowhere to be found on the retailer's website as of early Friday.



AppleInsider contacted the company's sales division to inquire about stock of the Apple TV. A Best Buy salesperson was unable to say when exactly the device had been removed from the website's listings. "I don't recall seeing them for a while," he said.



"At this point in time, it doesn't look like we'll be getting [the Apple TV] back," the representative said after performing an inventory check.



An AppleInsider reader reported having a similar experience on Thursday, noting that a Best Buy employee checked inventory in all stores and found that they were all out of stock. Apple does, however, continue to list the Apple TV as "In Stock" on its website.











The disappearance of the Apple TV from Best Buy's inventory comes as a surprise because the big-box retailer was one of the first to carry the device when it first arrived in 2007. The original Apple TV got off to a promising start, but the product has yet to become more than a "hobby" for Apple.



Though a second-generation refresh of the device jumpstarted sales in 2010, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at an investment conference earlier this week that revenues from Apple TV are still a tiny fraction of those generated by the iPhone, iPad or Mac.











He also pointed out that Apple's decision to direct resources to the Apple TV was unusual because the company doesn't normally "do hobbies." According to the executive, the company sees potential for something larger to eventually develop from the device.



Many have speculated that Apple's plans for expanding its Apple TV platform involve a full-fledged television set. Multiple reports have suggested that the company has begun building prototypes for a connected TV, with one even claiming that Canadian telecoms Rogers and BCE are testing the set in their labs.



Best Buy actually made headlines about an Apple television set earlier this month when a speculative customer survey was leaked because it contained references to a 42-inch iOS-based HDTV from Apple. The company responded by pointing out that the survey was a "routine offer effectiveness survey" conducted by a research partner and was strictly hypothetical.



Sales of the second-generation Apple TV reached a record 1.4 million units in the most recent quarter roughly half of the 2.8 million units sold during the previous fiscal year, which ended last September.



Apple clearly still has big plans for the Apple TV, as the company announced that it will bring the AirPlay Mirroring feature to its Mac computers with the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this summer. The feature will allow users to wirelessly stream from their Macs to an HDTV via the Apple TV.











With rumors swirling that Apple is readying Retina Display versions of both its iPad and MacBook Pro, some have speculated that the Apple TV is due for a refresh to upgrade video support from a maximum resolution of 720p to 1080p.



AppleInsider reported last year that Apple was investigating 1080p HD+ content for its iTunes movie store. People familiar with the matter said Apple already has the backend in place to serve up 1080p video files, adding that consumer connection speeds are the biggest bottleneck at present. The arrival of AirPlay Mirroring for Mac could address some of these issues, though, as users could download the files to their computers ahead of time and then stream them to the Apple TV, rather than directly streaming them over the Internet.



Given that the second-generation Apple TV is powered by the A4 chip, it's possible that Apple could skip a generation and jump to the A6 processor for the rumored next-generation Apple TV. The company is expected to unveil the new chip alongside the third-generation iPad in early March. Reports have differed on whether the A6 will be quad-core or dual-core, but most are in agreement that the chip will see a significant boost in graphics capability and overall speed.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 61
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    Maybe they will finally rename it something more akin to its function e.g. iStream, and save the Apple TV monicker for an actual Apple television ?
  • Reply 2 of 61
    Apple TV is one of Apple's best kept secrets.
  • Reply 3 of 61
    I love my Apple TV, and I even used to use it until my wife started bitching about my entertainment choices, forcing me to retreat to Netflix on my iPad.



    Never the less, assuming $100 bucks and cool new features, I am eager to upgrade.
  • Reply 4 of 61
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Ha! He said 'Rumors Swirl'. Really? Swirl? Since when?
  • Reply 5 of 61
    jonyojonyo Posts: 117member
    I had the rev1 appleTV, loved it, but it ran sooooo hot it actually warmed up my room. Got the rev2 appleTV, loved it even more with the extra features. I use it just about every day. I got my mom one, and even though she is super NON-tech savvy, she uses it all the time. (I'm kind of glad the remote is overly dumbed down for that reason) I ripped all her DVDs into itunes on her computer, and she uses it for music, pictures, and netflix tv shows, etc etc as well. I was recently considering buying a 2nd one for her so she could have one on both her bedroom and living room TVs, connected to the single itunes library, but now that there might be a new one coming out soon, I'm going to hold off. If there's a new one with new specs and features, I'll likely want to buy it for myself, and then I can give my previous model to my mom and set it up for her, so she'll have 2 of the same type.
  • Reply 6 of 61
    It will be very surprising if Apple doesn't update Apple TV in the next few weeks at the iPad 3 event. AirPlay Mirroring will be even better with 1080p and a faster processor. However, I still think they need native apps for ATV.



    Apple TV has huge potential but it needs a good deal of work for it be more than a hobby. The timing would make sense to release an SDK with the new ATV to get developers working on apps before the expected Apple television later this year or early next year.



    Apple is bringing iOS to the Mac, it would also make sense to bring some iOS features to ATV. I expect a redesigned interface for ATV with the feel of iOS but who knows when it will happen.



    iOS TV
  • Reply 7 of 61
    If indeed the rumors are true and Apple is coming out with a full fledged TV they need to WOW the consumer!! I am not doubting they can do that because they usually have. The TV market seems like a tough one to crack. Samsung said they're not going to beat them in picture quality, and he's probably right. Though I don't think Apple is going into this market to beat anyone in picture quality. They definitely have a different agenda than that of course. And I surely hope they are not building a TV with an updated Apple TV built in. Not saying that Apple TV is bad but it surely isn't special above the rest of the little set top boxes out there(IMO).



    What I'm hoping Apple is able to pull off is to shake up the American cable companies!! Many people are sick of paying for channels they do not need!! People want to cut the cord but there are certain channels they crave(ESPN. If Apple can pull this off or at least start a trend, it would be a huge win in a tough media market.



    Am I waaaay off base here?
  • Reply 8 of 61
    Called the local Apple Store and they said they "won't be getting any until March 7th."

    Hmmm, what other event might that coincide with.

    Gonna be a big and hopefully great day!
  • Reply 9 of 61
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trapezoidboy View Post


    Called the local Apple Store and they said they "won't be getting any until March 7th."

    Hmmm, what other event might that coincide with.

    Gonna be a big and hopefully great day!



    Nice!
  • Reply 10 of 61
    Glad I skipped the earlier versions...this should be awesome! New iPad coming, new 15" MacBook Air coming and a new Apple TV too... great!
  • Reply 11 of 61
    kibitzerkibitzer Posts: 1,114member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jonyo View Post


    I had the rev1 appleTV, loved it, but it ran sooooo hot it actually warmed up my room. Got the rev2 appleTV, loved it even more with the extra features. I use it just about every day. I got my mom one, and even though she is super NON-tech savvy, she uses it all the time. (I'm kind of glad the remote is overly dumbed down for that reason) I ripped all her DVDs into itunes on her computer, and she uses it for music, pictures, and netflix tv shows, etc etc as well. I was recently considering buying a 2nd one for her so she could have one on both her bedroom and living room TVs, connected to the single itunes library, but now that there might be a new one coming out soon, I'm going to hold off. If there's a new one with new specs and features, I'll likely want to buy it for myself, and then I can give my previous model to my mom and set it up for her, so she'll have 2 of the same type.



    Your mom has a nice son. Seriously.
  • Reply 12 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kibitzer View Post


    Your mom has a nice son. Seriously.



    I second that.



    Can't wait for the iPad 3! I'll be selling my 64GB iPad 2 (mainly just for the Retina display and hopefully faster processor, and maybe "One more thing..." ) with my HDMI adapter, and probably camera connection kit, and obviously case.



    Then I'll buy the iPad 3 16GB or 32GB model depending on how much money I get for my iPad 2, and hopefully also the Apple TV 3G (or "2G S" ). I've never owned an Apple TV, but have always loved the Apple TV 2G. I just was always waiting for a better remote (maybe Siri for 3G?) because typing things on that remote takes FOREVER! I've converted all my ripped blu-rays and DVDs into iTunes compatible files, so I'm all ready to go for streaming from my iMac to my HDTV Also I'm really hoping that it's 1080p. I'm not that much of a stickler for 720p vs. 1080p, but I mean, hey, my TV is 1080p, if I can have 1080p, why wouldn't I want it, right?



    Anyways, that's my overwhelmingly happy self letting all my thoughts out! Thanks for this little tip AppleInsider. I was beginning to think that there was never going to be an Apple TV update! Rumors have been around for such a long time it feels like!





    P.S. - If you haven't checked out "The Verge's" Josh Topolsky video about the iPad 3 release date speculation, it's quite hilarious and ridiculous :P Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66j5jFEgWzU
  • Reply 13 of 61
    shaun, ukshaun, uk Posts: 1,050member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider;2048573/


    People familiar with the matter said Apple already has the backend in place to serve up 1080p video files, adding that consumer connection speeds are the biggest bottleneck at present.



    That problem isn't going to go away anytime soon.



    What we need is some kind of zip technology which compresses the HD film into a very small file that you unzip once downloaded before playing it.



    Or Apple could do a deal with the film studios to add an iTunes copy to each BluRay disk so you can easily rip it into your iTunes library like you can for CDs now.
  • Reply 14 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trapezoidboy View Post


    Called the local Apple Store and they said they "won't be getting any until March 7th."

    Hmmm, what other event might that coincide with.

    Gonna be a big and hopefully great day!



    oh yeah! I need to upgrade from my 1st Gen, the only other thing I want now is a Nike Fuelband!
  • Reply 15 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shaun, UK View Post


    That problem isn't going to go away anytime soon.



    What we need is some kind of zip technology which compresses the HD film into a very small file that you unzip once downloaded before playing it.



    Or Apple could do a deal with the film studios to add an iTunes copy to each BluRay disk so you can easily rip it into your iTunes library like you can for CDs now.



    That stinks. I definitely have the ability to stream 1080p files. I have 100mbps down with 5mbps upload.
  • Reply 16 of 61
    crunchcrunch Posts: 180member
    AirPlay mirroring from the Mac is HUGE!!! I am running OS X 10.8 as of three hours ago, but I haven't tried it yet. Initially, I thought that Apple might be using Intel WiDi (Wireless Display) feature, which is found in current and recent Macs' Intel's CPUs. Then again, WiFi and Apple TV gives Apple more control, which makes sense. Either way, this is SWEET!



    I'm ready to but the 3rd gen Apple TV. (iTV3?)
  • Reply 17 of 61
    Does anyone else think that the future Apple TV is in plain sight? in the promo pics embedded in this article? Think of it - I don't recall Apple featuring 3rd party products in its promos.
  • Reply 18 of 61
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    You know what would make the apple tv box a super duper device? A matching external HDD that hardly uses any power and can be the iTunes server hub for the household.



    It's a bit silly running a 27 inch iMac to play movies on your tv
  • Reply 19 of 61
    Entropys, I agree. I have my itunes library on a time capsule drive and wish I could access it easily from my iphone/ipad. I guess iCloud is intended to solve this but I live in a rural area with low internet and a massive itunes library (too big for icloud). I also hope they keep a set-top box option for Apple TV as I use a projector.
  • Reply 20 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Icelus View Post


    I love my Apple TV, and I even used to use it until my wife started bitching about my entertainment choices, forcing me to retreat to Netflix on my iPad.



    Never the less, assuming $100 bucks and cool new features, I am eager to upgrade.



    Time to sell the wife and get an ATV3.



    Lemon Bon Bon.
Sign In or Register to comment.