The processor is the same as last year's Fire TV, so it's not really "on par" with the A10 Fusion in the Apple TV 4K.
My thoughts too. I bet it doesn't have gigabit ethernet either. They don't appear to be adverting that. This is a real problem when trying to stream high bitrate content from a Plex server. But then again, Apple lacks true voice control. Why can't one company nail everything? How long do we have to wait?
What 4K content are you streaming from Plex that would require a Gb connection? All online 4K streaming sites require way less and 100Mb, and it isn't until you get to UHD Blu-ray that it would increase over that.
I’m an absolute Apple fanboy, but my AppleTV is the worst Apple product I’ve ever owned (as was the one I owned before this one). Episode lists for TV shows routinely take 30 seconds to load, or time out completely (and it’s not a WiFi issue). The controller is pants (and everyone knows it). And the straw that broke the camel’s back: apparently Apple has just removed Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Am I supposed to sit there with my iPad in my lap comparing titles to RT ratings manually? Why not remove thumbnails and descriptions while they’re at it, force people to select movies by title alone! I don’t know who’s running the ATV group, but, speaking as a UX designer myself, they need to do a better job. I’m now on the market for alternative boxes, because the AppleTV is a real chore to use.
My experiences only, YMMV.
Rotten Tomatos is there.
And I don’t even have problems with remote. The only problem I have with it is why can’t I just click Siri button to talk, why do I have to click and hold? That’s the only gripe I have with remote. Otherwise I’m very fine with it. Likes it even.
I would't disregard Amazon so soon. With Apple dragging its feet with great features, gaming and hardware innovation, competitors with crap can catch up.
I’m an absolute Apple fanboy, but my AppleTV is the worst Apple product I’ve ever owned (as was the one I owned before this one). Episode lists for TV shows routinely take 30 seconds to load, or time out completely (and it’s not a WiFi issue). The controller is pants (and everyone knows it). And the straw that broke the camel’s back: apparently Apple has just removed Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Am I supposed to sit there with my iPad in my lap comparing titles to RT ratings manually? Why not remove thumbnails and descriptions while they’re at it, force people to select movies by title alone! I don’t know who’s running the ATV group, but, speaking as a UX designer myself, they need to do a better job. I’m now on the market for alternative boxes, because the AppleTV is a real chore to use.
My experiences only, YMMV.
Never had that slow TV show loading issue, not even in gen 4.
Rotten Tomatoes was gone yesterday guys, he's kinda right. Today it's back up again! I like comparing both Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews with real world casual audience opinions from iTunes. Apple TV sucks in that it removes audience reviews and you can't load cards and codes from iTunes Apple TV app. This is a real pain when your iPhone is broken etc. Also no wish lists on apps and TV shows yet they have them on movies but they don't sync with your other devices. It all seems so fragmented for an Apple product.
The remote is amazing. Would Apple be better off with ones of those crappy Roku/Amazon remotes that try to emulate Apple? No, you would find reasons to complain about how outdated it is.
I do wish they added more Apple magic to the remote though like Taptic Engine, 3D Touch, M motion processor for gaming and others. Really want some camera love for Apple TV, Kinect on steroids.
I’m an absolute Apple fanboy, but my AppleTV is the worst Apple product I’ve ever owned (as was the one I owned before this one). Episode lists for TV shows routinely take 30 seconds to load, or time out completely (and it’s not a WiFi issue). The controller is pants (and everyone knows it). And the straw that broke the camel’s back: apparently Apple has just removed Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Am I supposed to sit there with my iPad in my lap comparing titles to RT ratings manually? Why not remove thumbnails and descriptions while they’re at it, force people to select movies by title alone! I don’t know who’s running the ATV group, but, speaking as a UX designer myself, they need to do a better job. I’m now on the market for alternative boxes, because the AppleTV is a real chore to use.
My experiences only, YMMV.
For me, the only App that takes long to load up and display the episodes is the Prime TV app. I've had no problems with any of the other apps on the Apple TV.
I think Prime TV may be the worst designed app on the Apple TV. I still enjoy the contents though. Binge watching Psych again!
I’m an absolute Apple fanboy, but my AppleTV is the worst Apple product I’ve ever owned (as was the one I owned before this one). Episode lists for TV shows routinely take 30 seconds to load, or time out completely (and it’s not a WiFi issue). The controller is pants (and everyone knows it). And the straw that broke the camel’s back: apparently Apple has just removed Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Am I supposed to sit there with my iPad in my lap comparing titles to RT ratings manually? Why not remove thumbnails and descriptions while they’re at it, force people to select movies by title alone! I don’t know who’s running the ATV group, but, speaking as a UX designer myself, they need to do a better job. I’m now on the market for alternative boxes, because the AppleTV is a real chore to use.
My experiences only, YMMV.
For me, the only App that takes long to load up and display the episodes is the Prime TV app. I've had no problems with any of the other apps on the Apple TV.
I think Prime TV may be the worst designed app on the Apple TV. I still enjoy the contents though. Binge watching Psych again!
Amazon's app looks pretty much the same, but it slower on my SmartTV than my Apple TV. To paraphrase Psych, which I've coincidently started rewatching recently, "I've heard [tried] it both ways."
If you want the best the best experience I suggest people use an Apple TV. To quote Monk, which I binged watched about 6 months ago, "You'll thank me later."
PS: A segue, I don't understand how Netflix can be so great at so many aspects of their streaming service but doesn't allow the same user profile to stay selected on any device, and has no option for using a temporary access code displayed on the Apple TV. All the others seem to have this convenient and fast option.
I’m an absolute Apple fanboy, but my AppleTV is the worst Apple product I’ve ever owned (as was the one I owned before this one). Episode lists for TV shows routinely take 30 seconds to load, or time out completely (and it’s not a WiFi issue). The controller is pants (and everyone knows it). And the straw that broke the camel’s back: apparently Apple has just removed Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Am I supposed to sit there with my iPad in my lap comparing titles to RT ratings manually? Why not remove thumbnails and descriptions while they’re at it, force people to select movies by title alone! I don’t know who’s running the ATV group, but, speaking as a UX designer myself, they need to do a better job. I’m now on the market for alternative boxes, because the AppleTV is a real chore to use.
My experiences only, YMMV.
double check your internet provider's connection to Apple servers. I used to have Sky Fibre (UK) and got a constant 76mbps connection, I noticed after several months of head scratching that they were throttling (altho strongly denied it) my connection to the services I used most often. So for example; Apple Servers for daily device backups and Youtube for my kids. I could download anything at full speed, but it would grind to a halt on certain servers. Eventually, many of my iOS devices would say they haven't backed up in weeks as it could never stay connected long enough to complete and watching anything on Youtube some days was impossible - the site and results would load instantly, however nothing would play. I switched providers to Vodafone (same speed) and suddenly everything works as it should.
and FYI, if you think 30secs is bad to wait - try a Fire Stick - it's sometimes like going back to the dial-up days.
rogifan_new said: What is the A10 Fusion chip advantage for streaming media? Does it make streaming content better or does that mostly depend on your ISP?
The article claimed that "on paper the product is largely on par with the Apple TV 4K", and yet it has a clearly inferior SoC + shortcomings with available storage. Those are typical "paper" types of comparisons, no?
The processor is the same as last year's Fire TV, so it's not really "on par" with the A10 Fusion in the Apple TV 4K.
My thoughts too. I bet it doesn't have gigabit ethernet either. They don't appear to be adverting that. This is a real problem when trying to stream high bitrate content from a Plex server. But then again, Apple lacks true voice control. Why can't one company nail everything? How long do we have to wait?
Yes, I want something that provides true voice control to the TV and will definitely try this and Sonos Beem. Would try the Apple TV if it and HomePods could do totally hands free voice control. I’m always misplacing and forgetting the remote.
This Firestick Cube does not compare with ATV4K - it is above it in features and control. This is what ATV 4K should be.
1) Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Cube are different products. There is no Firestick Cube. In fact, the notion of a stick being a cube should've been a red flag.
2) All these devices have features that the others don't, but to say that one is above the other without detailing any specifics that are important to you ranges from lazy to trolling. For example, I think the Apple TV 4K is better than the Fire TV Cube because of performance, UI speed, UI look and feel, the amount of internal storage, Dolby Vision and Atmos, and a GigE port.
Now, you may say that using WiFI is all you want, but I like having one less device connected to WiFI with the lower overhead of a wired connection, which goes into my router and into my media server, which is also wired. You may also have dexterity issues where using Alexa voice commands are a huge boon for you to control your TV—which is perfectly acceptable, but you didn't state that as one of the features that you prefer.
I say all this as someone who has a house full of Echos which are used daily, and while I'd love to have Alexa to control my TV, even if it's just an Echo Dot with some TV controls, the benefits there don't even come close to outweighing the benefits the Apple TV 4K offers me.
Comments
So Gb on these devices is not really needed
And I don’t even have problems with remote. The only problem I have with it is why can’t I just click Siri button to talk, why do I have to click and hold? That’s the only gripe I have with remote. Otherwise I’m very fine with it. Likes it even.
Never had that slow TV show loading issue, not even in gen 4.
Rotten Tomatoes was gone yesterday guys, he's kinda right. Today it's back up again!
I like comparing both Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews with real world casual audience opinions from iTunes.
Apple TV sucks in that it removes audience reviews and you can't load cards and codes from iTunes Apple TV app. This is a real pain when your iPhone is broken etc.
Also no wish lists on apps and TV shows yet they have them on movies but they don't sync with your other devices. It all seems so fragmented for an Apple product.
The remote is amazing. Would Apple be better off with ones of those crappy Roku/Amazon remotes that try to emulate Apple? No, you would find reasons to complain about how outdated it is.
I do wish they added more Apple magic to the remote though like Taptic Engine, 3D Touch, M motion processor for gaming and others. Really want some camera love for Apple TV, Kinect on steroids.
Siri is still dumb.
For me, the only App that takes long to load up and display the episodes is the Prime TV app. I've had no problems with any of the other apps on the Apple TV.
I think Prime TV may be the worst designed app on the Apple TV. I still enjoy the contents though. Binge watching Psych again!
If you want the best the best experience I suggest people use an Apple TV. To quote Monk, which I binged watched about 6 months ago, "You'll thank me later."
PS: A segue, I don't understand how Netflix can be so great at so many aspects of their streaming service but doesn't allow the same user profile to stay selected on any device, and has no option for using a temporary access code displayed on the Apple TV. All the others seem to have this convenient and fast option.
and FYI, if you think 30secs is bad to wait - try a Fire Stick - it's sometimes like going back to the dial-up days.
USB Micro in a new mid 2018 product?
2) All these devices have features that the others don't, but to say that one is above the other without detailing any specifics that are important to you ranges from lazy to trolling. For example, I think the Apple TV 4K is better than the Fire TV Cube because of performance, UI speed, UI look and feel, the amount of internal storage, Dolby Vision and Atmos, and a GigE port.
Now, you may say that using WiFI is all you want, but I like having one less device connected to WiFI with the lower overhead of a wired connection, which goes into my router and into my media server, which is also wired. You may also have dexterity issues where using Alexa voice commands are a huge boon for you to control your TV—which is perfectly acceptable, but you didn't state that as one of the features that you prefer.
I say all this as someone who has a house full of Echos which are used daily, and while I'd love to have Alexa to control my TV, even if it's just an Echo Dot with some TV controls, the benefits there don't even come close to outweighing the benefits the Apple TV 4K offers me.