Brought an Apple TV HD back to life after years of storage

[Edd70]

Been using a 4k Roku in the bedroom for years, using a universal remote because the Roku remote doesn’t fully control the old Sony 1080p 32” TV. It was always clunky but we watch TV in bed less than half the nights of the week and always for less than an hour so it seemed ok.

Then one night I watched my wife struggle in the dark with that universal shutting off one device at a time. The clunkiness annoyed me more than usual.

So I dug my old ATV HD out of a closet, ordered a missing power cable on Amazon for $6, charged the old Siri remote, and hooked it up.

The OS was on version 14.4, apps weren’t working, so I updated it to 18, which took over 30 minutes over WiFi.

And it’s all good! A much improved experience, it connects to our Sonos speaker right next to it, no issues. I’m just impressed that this 7 year old dusty box that’s been stored for 3 years has been brought back to full usefulness.

 

[Icehawk]

I recently looked to see how old the AppleTV I bought my parents is. Turns out its the original 4k, and honestly, works flawlessly still. Not a complaint in the world. It helps the line hasn't gotten nearly as many flashy upgrades as the others, but its a solid little piece of gear.

 

[Bigwaff]

And it’s all good! A much improved experience, it connects to our Sonos speaker right next to it, no issues. I’m just impressed that this 7 year old dusty box that’s been stored for 3 years has been brought back to full usefulness.

Been using ATV HD in the basement family room since release. Now attached to Samsung 4K + Sonos Beam. Nobody has ever complained about the picture or sound ;-)

 

[JeffPerrin]

The HD is still great. No Atmos or FaceTime, but still plenty useful in 2024!

 

[Boyd01]

I have two AppleTV HD's, they still meet my needs just fine. Actually, I was happy with my old AppleTV 3, but it didn't support Sling for streaming. Eventually I'll upgrade, since I have a 4k TV now, but honestly not all that interested and don't sit and watch TV much anymore.

 

[Audit13]

I still have an AppleTV HD in use as well. It's still feels quick and the interface to ad-free!

I'm contemplating get the latest 4k version and using the HD unit as dedicated tailscale exit node. I'm hoping it's 10/100 connection will be fast enough to stream HD to 1 or 2 remote users.