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Apple TV - should i wait?

B

bp1000

macrumors 65832
Original poster
Jul 7, 2011
1,504
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I did plan on asking my wife for apple tv as a xmas present but i told her not to bother 2 weeks ago. Amazon dropped their price, a long with some other online retailers and they haven't renewed the stock here in the uk.

I saw it as a sign that a new apple tv might be due out soon.

Are you seeing the same in the U.S.A and other parts of the world, is it wise to wait until Jan to see what happens??

Apple TV has no consistent release dates so i know it is hard to tell. One thing is, i would hate to miss out incase they are phasing it out. People seem to think a TV is the next device which i won't be needing.
 
bp1000 said:
I did plan on asking my wife for apple tv as a xmas present but i told her not to bother 2 weeks ago. Amazon dropped their price, a long with some other online retailers and they haven't renewed the stock here in the uk.

I saw it as a sign that a new apple tv might be due out soon.

Are you seeing the same in the U.S.A and other parts of the world, is it wise to wait until Jan to see what happens??

Apple TV has no consistent release dates so i know it is hard to tell. One thing is, i would hate to miss out incase they are phasing it out. People seem to think a TV is the next device which i won't be needing.
Click to expand...

I would think that an update would come in the fall now that it is running iOS. So I am predicting the earliest we will see with be September around iPod/iPhone refresh. Maybe we will begin seeing more rumors come spring after iPad 3 is out.
 
I imagine that stock and prices of the Apple TV 2 in the UK are dropping because it's just not a popular market.

Stock is normal here in North America.

I don't see any reason for AppleTV hardware to be updated at this point. Storage is not a concern now that iCloud has been shown to be the future of iTunes content and the ATV2 has more than enough power to run iOS mirroring and other CPU taxing features.

I believe we'll continue to see iOS updates for AppleTV, but no hardware update until an actual Apple television is released. At that point, I think we'll see another AppleTV box released for those with other branded televisions.
 
It's less than $100! Just get one.

a) It may be upgradable to whatever great software is released in 2012
b) It can be retired to a secondary tv if you buy the $2000 Apple TV.
c) Shouldn't you be more worried about your current TV that you bought for a grand?
 
Wait, or you'll be _VERY_ sorry.

With all the buzz around Apple TV at this time, I couldn't imagine a worse time to buy what could suddenly be dropped in favor of a very different product.

Fairly reliable rumors indicate a widescreen TV set type unit in more than one size. If & when this materializes the current little boxes will be nearly worthless.

That's my take on it. And I'm not even interested in either :)
 
Eh I have one and it an awesome product. I dont use it at all for renting or any form of internet media, I just stream everything from my iTunes.

I do need another one, for my bedroom/living room, as my one now dances between the two rooms. The only thing that is holding me back is the lack of 1080p support (and to a far lesser extent, 3D). I have a nice big tv in the lounge, I want to give it what it deserves.
 
Interesting debate for me this one, I have an ATV2 coming from my parents this christmas as a pressie, I too umm'd and arrrr'd a lot about whether now was the time to request one or wait for an inevitable updated release

but...

I see no better way of Apple drawing the masses into the idea that Apple can make a plausable step into the TV market than subtly pushing the current model to as many people as possible. The more visual media you purchase and consume on your Apple TV makes the idea of ditching the normal manufacturers come upgrade time. TV series are, i believe, an imminent release in the UK (plus many other areas), a few updates have been released of late, the streaming of content (mac/pc less) direct from icloud is developing etc.

The draw is being slowly crafted

Coupled with if they replace it with an updated model (1080p etc) it'll be a bridge to the full TV's being released which will be the real prize so only a stop gap item (less than 12 months).

As already mentioned, worst case senario the ever expanding itunes collection of media will be playable from a different TV in the house, no bad thing for £100 in my book :)
 
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I bought an ATV2 the other week and I love it. I don't use the youtube facility as my TV does all that sort of thing, but its great being able to easily stream stuff from my devices to my TV. I also enjoy watching world affairs news items warped through the lens of an american perspective with the wall street journal channel.
 
vitzr said:
Wait, or you'll be _VERY_ sorry.

With all the buzz around Apple TV at this time, I couldn't imagine a worse time to buy what could suddenly be dropped in favor of a very different product.

Fairly reliable rumors indicate a widescreen TV set type unit in more than one size. If & when this materializes the current little boxes will be nearly worthless.

That's my take on it. And I'm not even interested in either :)
Click to expand...

Why? I just bought one for $89. Enjoy it now, if a new one comes out sell the old one for almost the same price and buy the new one. Thats the best thing about apple products, they hold their value. I been doing this for years.

I love my ATV2 with airplay
 
jbro1999 said:
Why? I just bought one for $89. Enjoy it now, if a new one comes out sell the old one for almost the same price and buy the new one. Thats the best thing about apple products, they hold their value. I been doing this for years.

I love my ATV2 with airplay
Click to expand...

You do bring up a good point.

One that frankly never comes to mind in my case as I'm simply too busy, and not interested in reselling the Apple gear I buy.

If at some point I no longer have the desire to keep it, my preference is to give it to family, friends, or a local school or charity.

Cheers.. :)
 
vitzr said:
Wait, or you'll be _VERY_ sorry.

With all the buzz around Apple TV at this time, I couldn't imagine a worse time to buy what could suddenly be dropped in favor of a very different product.

Fairly reliable rumors indicate a widescreen TV set type unit in more than one size. If & when this materializes the current little boxes will be nearly worthless.

That's my take on it. And I'm not even interested in either :)
Click to expand...

This could also mean buy now, if it is indeed dropped if and when Apple releases a TV and you are not in the market for a new TV than you might have a bit of an issue.
 
Darien Red Sox said:
This could also mean buy now, if it is indeed dropped if and when Apple releases a TV and you are not in the market for a new TV than you might have a bit of an issue.
Click to expand...
$89 now vs $$$$$ in the future. All in one devices go stale pretty quickly in electronics.
 
Get it now and start converting all your movies to iTunes format.. (using handbrake and sublar for metadata) taking me over a month of on and off encoding. (I have about 200 HD movies, and 40 Seasons of tv shows)

It takes time to make it perfect looking, but it will all be worth it
 
vitzr said:
Wait, or you'll be _VERY_ sorry.

With all the buzz around Apple TV at this time, I couldn't imagine a worse time to buy what could suddenly be dropped in favor of a very different product.

Fairly reliable rumors indicate a widescreen TV set type unit in more than one size. If & when this materializes the current little boxes will be nearly worthless.

That's my take on it. And I'm not even interested in either :)
Click to expand...

Uh how would the little box be worthless? The ATV2 hooked to a 55" TV will be just as good at watching my iTunes content as a apple branded TV (I can't even imagine the outrageous price tag).

Look ATVs aren't going anywhere. Apple know not everyone is going to replace their TVs.

Get one as its 99 bucks. Its so cool. Mine is JB and I can watch lots of other stuff with running windows 7 on a VM on my computer through play on/XBMC.
 
ajohansson said:
Uh how would the little box be worthless? The ATV2 hooked to a 55" TV will be just as good at watching my iTunes content as a apple branded TV (I can't even imagine the outrageous price tag).

Look ATVs aren't going anywhere. Apple know not everyone is going to replace their TVs.

Get one as its 99 bucks. Its so cool. Mine is JB and I can watch lots of other stuff with running windows 7 on a VM on my computer through play on/XBMC.
Click to expand...

I do not believe that apple would create more then 1 or 2 models ( I actualy do not think they will go the TV route at all), so they will keep the ATV for a low cost option for those that do not need or want the model they make.
 
Amazon still out of stock in the uk

Very odd, they are never this slow at replenishing

Also, I would be extremely surprised if apple release a tv set. The apple tv form factor is great. Locking functionality into a tv set is creating a limited market. People like a range of different sizes and panel types are changing and evolving more aggressively than any other tech market.

Their tv set could be old news within months.
 
IMHO, an Apple TV LCD is inevitable. There are too many rumors about it and with Steve Jobs talking about it before he died; I think Apple will at least try to enter the market. Also, Apple is heavily invested in the market with other products like the iPod, iPad, and Apple TV not to try. There are also enough Appleheads that would love to add an Apple branded LCD TV to their equipment list.

Without a doubt, it’s going to have a very clean look, an awesome looking screen, and the polished Apple look. I’m not going to speculate on voice activation or any other features.

That being said, I won’t buy one. I have a nice enough LCD TV so I would like Apple to continue with the Apple TV box and hopefully release an upgrade to it (1080p, A5 chip, etc.) alongside the new Apple TV LCD.
 
ffrcoupe said:
That being said, I won’t buy one. I have a nice enough LCD TV so I would like Apple to continue with the Apple TV box and hopefully release an upgrade to it (1080p, A5 chip, etc.) alongside the new Apple TV LCD.
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Thats what i think, everyone already has really nice TVs. We are used to putting extra boxes underneath the TV.

Surely it would make more sense to create a STB version instead which you can pair with any TV and it will have several tuners / cable feeds and HDD for recordings, along with all the other stuff.

It really would have to be special for people to switch their tv, some crazy integration into the set itself.
 
I work in one of the large department stores in the UK. Went to purchase an Apple TV today as a gift and none in stock. I asked when would they be in and was informed that they had been instructed by Apple yesterday to remove all stock and return to Apple due to an imminent update.
Make from that what you will but the Apple guy I spoke to seems to think its a software upgrade to integrate the likes of iplayer here in the uk.
 
johnnyfuggles said:
I work in one of the large department stores in the UK. Went to purchase an Apple TV today as a gift and none in stock. I asked when would they be in and was informed that they had been instructed by Apple yesterday to remove all stock and return to Apple due to an imminent update.
Make from that what you will but the Apple guy I spoke to seems to think its a software upgrade to integrate the likes of iplayer here in the uk.
Click to expand...

It's always hard to know with apple rumours but none of the big stores are replenishing stock in the uk like you say.

I hope they update soon. I have a drive full of movies and a lot of time off to rent films :)
 
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will be delving into the TV market, although timing is uncertain.

In any event, an Apple TV still has a lot to offer, especially for the price. I have four and am buying two more to give as gifts this Christmas.

There have been numerous software updates the last couple of week, although still not one that restores putting all the seasons of a TV show under the same menu.
 
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