Credit to @cook!
Record low for this 64GB Apple TV 4K. Whoops. Maybe not quite If you stack with Student Beans however, you'll unlock it for $179! That's a record low.
Apple TV 4K lets you watch shows and movies in stunning 4K Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
- 4K Dolby Vision and HDR10+ for vivid picture quality
- A15 Bionic chip
- Dolby Atmos
- Siri Remote brings precise control
- AirPlay
Enjoy!
Been tempting to get one for a long time
I'm on apple's ecosystem as well.
What cool functionalities do you get from an iphone?
Instant casting, use your phone as a remote + some other quirks like easy sign ins etc.
The misso has the iPhone so these are just some things I noticed.
What features do we get out of it if we already have a new Smart TV at home?
I am guessing we would still need to pay for Apple TV+ subscription if we want to watch Apple TV shows. Sorry just trying to understand the advantages of having this device. Thanks
I've had a Nvidia Shield and an Apple TV. Off the top of my head
TVOS is smoother and nicer looking
Wallpapers look better
You can use your phone as a remote
You can type your username and password to login to things using your phone which actually makes it a lot faster.
You can cast things from your phone to the TV if your into that kind of thing.
You might not think its much but i'll tell you what, when we went from the Apple TV to the Nvidia shield the lower quality wallpapers + worse looking OS just made it feel like I was using a lesser product. Gave the Shield away.
All those you listed seems like do-able on a Google Chromecast with TV as well. Is there anything that stands out when comparing with the Google TV?
@wildstone: The user experience is at the next level.
I use Samsung phone and have a smart TV at home. But still use ATV (Youtube, Netflix) + Infuse
@wildstone: If you are doing tit for tat I believe Google TV can do everything the Apple TV can at a cheaper price. Although I was not aware the Google TV allowed you to use your phone as a remote or to use it as a typing device but the last one I had was a Google Chromecast.
It's more the upgrade in the OS and wallpapers that I found the biggest differences between something running TVOS versus Android OS.
@MrMoo: I had Apple TV and moved to Google chrome cast because it’s easier to sail the high seas. I’ve been getting salty with all the streaming companies wanting to introduce ads to their services so times to sail to clearer waters.
If iOS allows easy sideloading of apps like the rumours say then it would be great. Could do all sorts of things easily, even emulating old gaming consoles.
@MrMoo: @MrMoo Thanks, yeah you can actually use phone as remote as well as use it as typing device. Seems like the general concession is that the interface is better but Google TV could just do as well when it comes to functionality.
@wildstone: It’s way smoother than chromecast. I use both and it’s annoying that chromecast is so dated and clunky in comparison. Hoping google lifts their game soon.
@wildstone: I just replaced my Chromecast with TV for an Apple TV. Apple win the interface hands down, it's smoother, it's easier to navigate, the phone remote is great, the physical remote feels more solid (although I'm not a huge fan of the big touchpad button on the remote though, particularly pausing and playing again as I often accidentally swipe forward or back a bit).
Apple has more options in the setup (so many options), does a TV colour calibration with an iPhone, battery is rechargeable in the remote (although I don't ever recall replacing them in the Google remote, maybe once?). And it ties well into other bits of the apple ecosystem (apple arcade, spatial audio on their headphones, etc)
At the end of the day though, they are both the same at playing back content at a high quality. Google just cut out all the extra stuff and just made a product that does what it's meant to do at a much lower price. Which is Apple products in a nutshell, really, functionally they don't do much more and cost a lot more, but they do a very good job of making it feel great to use.
@wildstone: You can colour calibrate your video output by holding your iPhone up to the screen. Apple TV has some app store games. Has a beefy CPU that can handle 4k 60fps HDR10. Can be used as a hub to control wifi devices remotely
@Themartinator: If your TV has Dolby Vision it says calibration is not required as the TV is already sufficient BUT definitely a nice feature for those who chose TVs that don’t have DV HDR - also, iirc, it had to be a pretty recent iPhone - probably a iPhone 13 or 14 - not sure if the pro models are required.
They both have their place. AppleTV is good if you want a very good UI that integrates well with your iPhone and other Apple products, but if you have any interest in side loading or VPN the AppleTV won’t give you those features. I use my AppleTV sometimes but I use my Shield TV Pro a lot more. It depends your your own need case but i if you have Ethernet, definitely consider the 128GB model - the AppleTV also works as a hub for HomeKit not sure if both models or just the 128GB one.
There are definitely use cases for both products. Android / Google TV gives you the ability to side load as does an Amazon Fire Stick 4K (suggest to get the MAX) if you have WiFi 6 - and I also got the option to hook up the FireStick to Ethernet as well, however if you don’t have Amazon Prime you can be a bit limited.
Given the Shield TV Pro offers a bit more options, it can be a tough choice depending on who you are buying the device for. I hope they fixed little issues like the E-AC3 audio playback which there were problems with in earlier models. I would still recommend the 128GB model to give you Ethernet, but if you run everything Wifi it not as critical.
All my HT gear is connected to a Gig-E switch and I have 250/25 FTTP.
AppleTV+ content also offers the highest bitrate of any of the streaming services.
That does not mean you get better streaming speeds from Netflix or another other streaming service. Just that AppleTV+ is exceptionally good quality.
If the device is for someone who pays for streaming services and don’t need to mess around with VPNs or Sideloading, it’s a very solid media player, especially if you add InFuse which will give you the ability to play back .mkv files.
For me and my use cases, the Shield TV Pro is a better choice and you can get a phone based remote for that too for iOS and Android. It’s on special often enough sometimes I’ve seen it as low as $218.
If you are using either box for playing back streaming subscriptions - they both do the job, with the simplistic UI and UX beating out Android TV by a small margin.
I just wanted people to consider a couple of things you will be restricted from doing on an AppleTV but I won’t deny that it’s good and the newer remote is very easy to use.
Having an Apple Silicon box really does make a difference - the overall responsiveness of the product is incredible. Plus there's all the nice Apple ecosystem stuff like being able to AirPlay, connect to the iPhone's keyboard, connect to Airpods with spacial audio, Fitness + with the Apple Watch. It also supports Dolby Vision & Atmos - so its my primary home theatre box. Being able to calibrate the picture using the iPhone is pretty cool as well. If you're in the Apple eco system - it's a no brainer.
The TV company will not update the OS after a few years at best. After then if you aren’t one to replace your Tv every three years you will need a streamer box as the smart Tv apps start to get out of date and support dries up.. Any streamer will do the same streaming services, so if that is all you do, maybe a chromecast or fire stick because they can be had for sale at one third the price of even this ATV.
However, Apple TV or Nvidia Shield are much more powerful, and can do many other app based activities and services.
Apple TV is the most powerful and has way the best interface. It also has some very integrated services eg. myriad fitness apps etc. that are able to work with your watch or iPhone as well. And it has a lot of games, mostly iOS based. The ATV is best option for most people if they want more than just watching Netflix. Often those that have one claim to prefer its interface than the one that came with the TV. The 128GB version can act as a HomeKit/matter/thread base station for household smart functions. Oh, and Apple doesn’t sell your data to third parties like your Tv maker likely does.
shield is similar, a bit more flexible when it comes to things like side loading apps and is the preferred tinkerers’ device. It is showing it’s age though.
I love how my AirPods seamlessly connect to my appletv as well. This is great for me because I’ve got a kid now so can’t always watch tv with volume. Being in the ecosystem has its benefits.
You can even connect two pairs of Airpods simultaneously.
Given the utterly inexplicable lack of this feature from nearly all Smart TVs (I'd say all because I've never seen one that does it, but I'm sure there's a couple out there somewhere), it's a massive plus if you're parents with kids who want to watch TV after they've gone to bed.
Fire stick 4k max is $60. That's hard to beat for price surely.
i would rather buy apple tv
I use shield and appletv both
Shield for tivimate, plex, emulation, sideloading apps and game streaming etc.
Appletv for infuse, wallpapers, youtube and netflix etc.
As long as you have a Amazon Prime subscription as well which is another AUD$59 /year the Fire TV Stick and Max are much cheaper options and being based on Android you have the option of Sideloading apps and installing VPN apps to access other media libraries. You can add on Ethernet if you want for not much extra. So absolutely it’s worth considering. The UI is a bit more confusing though.
I've had a Fire Stick, Google TV, Apple TV.
For Plex, it's Apple TV hands down(Infuse App for 4K works incredibly). Especially if you use HEVC content. Fire Stick and Google TV would struggle to play it and regularly crash. Plus the interface on APPLE TV is simple. No adds and convoluted pages. Just one page, with apps you want only.
Time to get an iPhone then.
Please note that there are subtle differences between the 64Gb and 128Gb models.
Difference between the 128GB and 64GB version is the lack of ethernet and lack of thread mesh networking support, and obviously double the storage. The storage bug has since been fixed by Apple, so you can use all of your storage.
Looks sus to me, the listing photo shows ethernet port but I don't recall 64gb comes with ethernet port?
i wonder if it's a 2nd gen?
It says the model identifier is MN873X/A, which is 3rd gen. Looks like they're just using the wrong photo in their listing - quite misleading, indeed.
So 128gb only had Ethernet?
Is there a new model coming out any time soon?
Wifi 6 + Gigabit Ethernet and Thread support
Thanks - sounds like 128gb is the one to get.
Yer I’ll stick to the Ethernet one
This only came out 5 months ago. It's hard to predict when the new one will come out. Apple TV usually goes years without an update, I would guess 18 or 30 months until an update, but you never know. Apple may have some hardware they want to add to Apple TV to work with new iPhones and Macs forcing them to update it sooner.
It only came out late last year. It could be at least a yea or two before the next one comes out.
Apple TV transformed my 15 year old LCD TV. Well worth it if you use any tv streaming platform.
Plus a lot of TVs are subsidised by the apps on them and the TV makers track user data and sell that data to other companies. Apple isn't in the business of selling data so what you do on your Apple TV won't be sold to anyone.
I get the privacy concerns for the phone/PC where you’re doing… much more sensitive things… but who really cares that someone knows they watch Friends reruns? Big deal lol
Principle of the thing. Plus you might not care if people dig through your trash, but I bet you'd rather not if you had a choice in the matter.
@AustriaBargain: Exactly. So there’s no actual problem.
Trash = highly sensitive stuff goes in there. Body fluids, private documents, medications, etc.
TV box = whether you watch friends or not.
(Data which Apple is most certainly collecting.)
@haemolysis: You'd think knowing what you buy from Target doesn't matter either, but apparently it's enough to let Target know that a teenage girl is pregnant before her parents do https://techland.time.com/2012/02/17/how-target-knew-a-high-…
meh the 128gb one has ethernet thats the only one worth getting.
Is it really a worthwhile jump from a Chromecast with Google TV 4k
subscribe as I would like to do this upgrade too. CCwGTV is "just good enough"
Yeah like my CCwGTV 4k works fairly fine, I'm not sure if this would really improve it that much
no
Say good bye to adblock and sideloaded apps.
If you have a SO who might appreciate the better UX, then maybe. You could always repurpose the Google TV 4K to the man cave TV or whatever.
If all you do is use it to watch Netflix etc. (stream) then no. You can sometimes get a chrome
cast with Google tv or an Amazon firestick on sale for $59. I think they RRP around $99.
If you want a more feature rich, powerful box that does a lot more with a great interface then yes. particularly if you also have an iPhone or Apple Watch. And…It’s $189! That isn’t that much in the scheme of things, and well worth the extra if the CC or FS aren’t on sale.
I have the HD version of Chromecast with Google TV and it is so slow compared to my Apple TV 4K Gen 1 - unless the 4K version is drastically faster than the HD version I would call this a big upgrade.
This device is about to get better since apparently in iOS 17 you’ll be able to side load apps.
Ads on YouTube? Pass
That's YouTube everywhere (unless blocked via adblocker) not Apple TV itself
YouTube premium is pretty cheap since according to Google I live in India.
Smart tube is pretty free
Meh, I’d rather pay $2.50/month to watch it on all devices I want without mucking around and also get YouTube music included.
there's 0 mucking around lol
If Google ever figure out your scheme and cancel your account, will you lose your years of viewing history or can you just set it up again on a local YouTube account?
Just pay 5$ a month for a family plan on an Indian account and you can keep you main google account Australian.
I have the ethernet version hooked up to my router in the lounge. Very happy. I might consider this for the bedroom.
Good luck. No kink shaming here.
Very Good
JB hi-fi has the 32gb wifi and Ethernet model from 2021 available for $155 plus delivery.
Good find, that’s the better deal I think. I bought the 32GB 2nd gen instead of the 3rd gen recently, and no regrets. It’s still 2021, so many years of updates, and it does pretty much everything minus a few small features (eg Karaoke mode in Apple Music). With no storage of media files on device, even 32GB seems overkill - no need for 64 or 128.
Having it as the Home Hub for automation is awesome compared to our old iPad, and Thread support will be useful in coming years.
They really shouldn’t have taken out Ethernet + Thread from the 3rd gen 64GB!
128GB 3rd gen > 32GB 2nd gen > 64GB 3rd gen
The stock is exactly the same. Seems like the same seller behind.
Good deal, if you have the SNSM code it's stackable with MCSAVE10 which bring it down to $174.99.
Just tried to stack this with the Student Beans discount and it's coming up as an ineligible item.
The problem with Apple TV is you cannot install the Apps available for Google TV or Fire TV stick to watch 'free' movies.
What apps let you watch ‘free’ movies?
Plex ?
Gott sei Dank! This is why I use my Apple Tv all the time.
You can get apps to watch the "free" movies actually. Maybe not the same apps, but there are apps that'll do it.
Is 3rd Gen the latest ?
yes
Yes
I think only the 128GB model with Ethernet will have an extra radio chip to support newish matter/thread, the latest protocols which will be the standard gradually adopted by every smart device manufacturer.
Both will support Apple’s protocol, HomeKit.
Have the original 4K (purchased in the US), works amazingly well. Not sure I'd benefit from this model, but if you don't have one, it's a no brainer.
I have the 1st Gen model too, absolutely no reason to replace (maybe for those into Apple Arcade, not when used as a media player).
Can Apple TV 4k do the lossless HD Audio Codecs yet? I know the older generations could not, One of the many reasons why people stick with Nvidia Shield TV.
I have never owned an iPhone, but I do love my Apple TV. Nice and fast.
1ms latency moonlight streaming compared to nvidia shieled
Can you elaborate please? Looking to play my PC games in the living room on the big TV. Would this be a good option?
Incredible value, clearly sold below cost in order to get a following and sell content. It's a fantastic device.
It can't stack with Student Beans.
A niche difference between the AppleTV and a number of other platforms - If you watch sport on Kayo, the AppleTV allows multi screen = you can watch multiple matches at the same time. I have Kayo on some Android devices, but only the Apple has the option
I will have to try that.
Tivimate will let you watch 4 channels at the same time.
I have the Shield Pro as well as firestick and google TV. If you watch plenty of TV and movies, then the Apple should be a good investment that will work for the next 10 years and will just mean so much less friction for the basic viewing stuff. I add this last bit because apple doesn't usually much frigging.
Recently bought a 4K WiFi + Ethernet for $163.71
From?
Bought the 15% off GC and stack it with the 21% cashback from SB deal… technically it should be $164.27 if you did everything correctly
Have owned one for over 6mths now and can honestly say as a non Apple user this is easily the best product for price to use your TV as you thought it would have worked out of the box and then some.
EDIT: You do miss out on a lot of cool functionality if you don't own an iPhone though.