Look at my many posts on this site and many other. This is exactly I mentioned Apple needs to do. Though one thing missing from this article and hope get announced at WWDC is this new Apple TV hardware/software can support games similar to one can play on ipad/iphone but on large screen TV. Hope, not biggy but somehow new hardware can also put out 4K and supports AC wifi, bluetooth 4.0, etc similar to latest iphone/ipad. This paves path to future more powerful Apple TV that can easily become true HOME ENTERTAINMENT HUB for all functions needed inside home that are all over gadgets and can remotely control from your iphone/ipad/laptop.
I really don't understand why people hold off on upgrading. You realize that technology is either a) improving or b) dropping in price all the time. Also, with Apple products you can always sell your device for next to the same amount you bought it for so you might lose like $20-30 but if you get that much more enjoyment out of it.... who cares?
yeah. between the 12 months hes already waited + the 6 more months, thats 18 months of value he could have been enjoying from a $99 device. dunno his bill rate of course, but $99 isn't much of my time.
I really would love to see H.265 (4K streaming HDMI 2.0) & 802.11ac, I have a pretty solid amount of my devices on 802.11ac and would love to not use the 5GHz band for N anymore. Plus I imagine it would speed up AirPlay/AirDrop, etc.
Are you sure? I'm pretty sure they do. They had millions and millions of iPad 2 and iPad Mini 1 in backlog inventory. That is way to this day they sell the iPad Mini 1 with now a old A5 chip. Excess inventory.
Even relatively inefficient supply chains don't have years worth of product in the pipeline unless the product is a total failure (read Surface 1.0). They continue to sell the iPads because there continues to be a demand for them and the margins are good.
That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple did cut the price to clear inventory of a relatively slow moving product.
As it looks they will be reverting back to the original AppleTV (which had an HDD, which will be replaced by a SSD). It had more storage, was much more promising. But then they dumbed it down. I look forward to this upgrade. I own, now, a gen 2 ATV. But, if it truly does gaming and 4K, then it will cost me a new TV as well... Time to upgrade that anyway.
I only hope, if it indeed does gaming, that some titles will be ported there so as to avoid purchasing the PS4... (I am basically referring to Rocksmith and Assassins creed, not much else).
In my opinion it is critical how well this device will work and, finally, that Apple strikes some deals also outside the US. SmartTVs, Spotify, Netflix are all eating up that part of the pie. If they plan to sell it in numbers outside the US, they'll have to have content.
And Apple, as of lately, has lost a LOT of negotiation power (so much as to buy Beats to get some back). So I am not too optimistic...
As a HomeKit Hub? Well, that seems also an incredibly intriguing idea. Let's see.
I disagree. If this can replace your cable DVR it will pay for itself in less than a year. Plus it can be a legit gaming hub and app machine monster. With enough on board storage + cloud it can also be a decent home server.
Can't wait to see the possible apps with AppleTV + AppleWatch + Homekit. Wow.
This is exactly what i predicted last year
I could see maybe $199 but there would have to be a serious upgrade for Apple to successfully charge more than that. People are used to the $99 price point. And there are competing products that are better than the current ?TV (Amazon, Roku) so it would have to be better than those devices as well.
yup. anybody who claims an apple device "needs" to do Niche Use Case X still doesnt get apple...
Agreed.
Remember how many tech site denizens were talking about how iTunes had already failed before it even started because the bitrate was way too low, and FLAC was just absolutely necessary?
I basically have AppleTV for two things, watch the occasional documentary on NetFlix (their movie selection is crap) and viewing our photos on our TV with some light music in the background. [...]
The photo management/streaming blows....I have to wait 20 days to delete a fuzzy photo from my stream?
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it is no fun anymore.
you can create & curate your own shared albums (ex: "Mexico Vacation") and play those, rather than use the general PhotoStream of all your recent stuff.
As long as Apple doesn't install a new "AppleTV" app on every iPhone, iPad out there. My junk folder of Apple unwanted softare is filling up (currently Podcasts, Tips, Stocks and Apple Watch). Let people download what they need. Tips? Come on. Get rid of that already. At least after some time ask people if they want to keep it!
Back to the Apple TV.
I live in a country where 3 languages are spoken (but, with at least two languages spoken, does a Canadian, a Belgian, and several others). The current system for renting or buying content in various languages is crappy at best. Please, PLEASE, update that too. ASAP.
Apple doesn't practice this. Tim Cook is the master of the supply chain, he keeps a tight lid on inventory. Apple knows the sell-through rate, they keep less than 30 days inventory in their own stores.
The channel probably has 4-6 weeks of inventory. That's why third-party retailers occasionally drop prices before a new product launch, but Apple itself does not.
(Yeah, wishful thinking, I know. But I'm thinking in terms of marketing. Doubling the preexisting price would be suicide.)
i cant think of an apple product ever marketed at the odd number of $109. a factor of 10 ($99, $109) isn't one they generally do. thirds, yes ($99, $129).
I'm happy enough with my current model ATV's, so upgrading has no real urgency, for me at least.
So it'll all depend on what it does and what the price is...and those factors will each depend on the other.
My real hope is that the new one will reliably hold my screensaver settings (PhotoStreams of my own photos),
instead of whimsically reverting to the in-box National Geographic set at least once daily...
(Anyone else have this happen?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by NolaMacGuy
you can create & curate your own shared albums (ex: "Mexico Vacation") and play those, rather than use the general PhotoStream of all your recent stuff.
Thanks Nola...I'll try that. I'll call it "AppleTV" and just put the photos in there to be seen on AppleTV. I thought I'd tried that, but I'll take a closer look at it.
I didn't mean that it wouldn't happen technologically. Obviously, that's not true.
I meant that I don't ever see it taking off. Heck, most physical media sales today are STILL DVD. People haven't even decided that Blu-Ray is the way to go. The fact is, most people just don't notice or care about these things, and aren't willing to spend any money to "upgrade." Not to mention that the percentage of people who have: A UHD capable device, a 25Mbps+ Internet connection, and even know what 4K is is pretty damned small.
And I really hope that those who do choose to upgrade don't have data caps.
Comments
Look at my many posts on this site and many other. This is exactly I mentioned Apple needs to do. Though one thing missing from this article and hope get announced at WWDC is this new Apple TV hardware/software can support games similar to one can play on ipad/iphone but on large screen TV. Hope, not biggy but somehow new hardware can also put out 4K and supports AC wifi, bluetooth 4.0, etc similar to latest iphone/ipad. This paves path to future more powerful Apple TV that can easily become true HOME ENTERTAINMENT HUB for all functions needed inside home that are all over gadgets and can remotely control from your iphone/ipad/laptop.
I really don't see 4K ever happening.
I really don't understand why people hold off on upgrading. You realize that technology is either a) improving or b) dropping in price all the time. Also, with Apple products you can always sell your device for next to the same amount you bought it for so you might lose like $20-30 but if you get that much more enjoyment out of it.... who cares?
yeah. between the 12 months hes already waited + the 6 more months, thats 18 months of value he could have been enjoying from a $99 device. dunno his bill rate of course, but $99 isn't much of my time.
Are you sure? I'm pretty sure they do. They had millions and millions of iPad 2 and iPad Mini 1 in backlog inventory. That is way to this day they sell the iPad Mini 1 with now a old A5 chip. Excess inventory.
Even relatively inefficient supply chains don't have years worth of product in the pipeline unless the product is a total failure (read Surface 1.0). They continue to sell the iPads because there continues to be a demand for them and the margins are good.
That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple did cut the price to clear inventory of a relatively slow moving product.
It doesn't "need" to do that, frankly. 99.9% of people don't care or notice.
I think the fact that you're talking about a $1,400 Blu-Ray player sets out outside the mainstream a bit.
yup. anybody who claims an apple device "needs" to do Niche Use Case X still doesnt get apple...
Finally. Really, Finally.
As it looks they will be reverting back to the original AppleTV (which had an HDD, which will be replaced by a SSD). It had more storage, was much more promising. But then they dumbed it down. I look forward to this upgrade. I own, now, a gen 2 ATV. But, if it truly does gaming and 4K, then it will cost me a new TV as well... Time to upgrade that anyway.
I only hope, if it indeed does gaming, that some titles will be ported there so as to avoid purchasing the PS4... (I am basically referring to Rocksmith and Assassins creed, not much else).
In my opinion it is critical how well this device will work and, finally, that Apple strikes some deals also outside the US. SmartTVs, Spotify, Netflix are all eating up that part of the pie. If they plan to sell it in numbers outside the US, they'll have to have content.
And Apple, as of lately, has lost a LOT of negotiation power (so much as to buy Beats to get some back). So I am not too optimistic...
As a HomeKit Hub? Well, that seems also an incredibly intriguing idea. Let's see.
Now that the motherboard on the new macbook is so small. What's stopping them from using that type of processor/chipset in the Apple TV?
cost and dependency. no reason to pay Intel for what they can do themselves
The $99 AppleTV was a hobby. The new AppleTV is not.
Nothing has come out that is even close to what the new AppleTV is.
I have a feeling they will change the name to avoid confusion.
I think something like AppleHome? Here are some of the features:
1. Replace you HD-DVR
2. Gaming system with real game pads (sold seperately) or iPad/iPhone control
3. Home server for music/movies
4. Full Apps. Control with AppleWatch. Control lights, AC, ect.
5. Siri control
Awesome.
This would be awesome. Let's hope...
I could see maybe $199 but there would have to be a serious upgrade for Apple to successfully charge more than that. People are used to the $99 price point. And there are competing products that are better than the current ?TV (Amazon, Roku) so it would have to be better than those devices as well.
yup. anybody who claims an apple device "needs" to do Niche Use Case X still doesnt get apple...
Agreed.
Remember how many tech site denizens were talking about how iTunes had already failed before it even started because the bitrate was way too low, and FLAC was just absolutely necessary?
I basically have AppleTV for two things, watch the occasional documentary on NetFlix (their movie selection is crap) and viewing our photos on our TV with some light music in the background. [...]
The photo management/streaming blows....I have to wait 20 days to delete a fuzzy photo from my stream?
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it is no fun anymore.
you can create & curate your own shared albums (ex: "Mexico Vacation") and play those, rather than use the general PhotoStream of all your recent stuff.
It is still March and there is a lot of news about Apple being involved with...
I am certain I have missed something!
As long as Apple doesn't install a new "AppleTV" app on every iPhone, iPad out there. My junk folder of Apple unwanted softare is filling up (currently Podcasts, Tips, Stocks and Apple Watch). Let people download what they need. Tips? Come on. Get rid of that already. At least after some time ask people if they want to keep it!
Back to the Apple TV.
I live in a country where 3 languages are spoken (but, with at least two languages spoken, does a Canadian, a Belgian, and several others). The current system for renting or buying content in various languages is crappy at best. Please, PLEASE, update that too. ASAP.
Apple doesn't practice this. Tim Cook is the master of the supply chain, he keeps a tight lid on inventory. Apple knows the sell-through rate, they keep less than 30 days inventory in their own stores.
The channel probably has 4-6 weeks of inventory. That's why third-party retailers occasionally drop prices before a new product launch, but Apple itself does not.
Then how do you justify the MSRP price drop?
$109, you heard it here first.
(Yeah, wishful thinking, I know. But I'm thinking in terms of marketing. Doubling the preexisting price would be suicide.)
i cant think of an apple product ever marketed at the odd number of $109. a factor of 10 ($99, $109) isn't one they generally do. thirds, yes ($99, $129).
Look at my many posts on this site and many other. This is exactly I mentioned Apple needs to do.
well, you and a million other people. its not hard to wish for it.
I'm happy enough with my current model ATV's, so upgrading has no real urgency, for me at least.
So it'll all depend on what it does and what the price is...and those factors will each depend on the other.
My real hope is that the new one will reliably hold my screensaver settings (PhotoStreams of my own photos),
instead of whimsically reverting to the in-box National Geographic set at least once daily...
(Anyone else have this happen?)
you can create & curate your own shared albums (ex: "Mexico Vacation") and play those, rather than use the general PhotoStream of all your recent stuff.
Thanks Nola...I'll try that. I'll call it "AppleTV" and just put the photos in there to be seen on AppleTV. I thought I'd tried that, but I'll take a closer look at it.
Best.
Huh? Netflix is already 4k
I didn't mean that it wouldn't happen technologically. Obviously, that's not true.
I meant that I don't ever see it taking off. Heck, most physical media sales today are STILL DVD. People haven't even decided that Blu-Ray is the way to go. The fact is, most people just don't notice or care about these things, and aren't willing to spend any money to "upgrade." Not to mention that the percentage of people who have: A UHD capable device, a 25Mbps+ Internet connection, and even know what 4K is is pretty damned small.
And I really hope that those who do choose to upgrade don't have data caps.
Huh? Netflix is already 4k
I have a 4K TV and Netflix have a very limited offering.