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Thoughts on October 2009 Apple Event

mprofit

mprofit

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 4, 2009
150
1
Atlanta
I'm looking at the Apple Keynotes Podcast page from Apple on iTunes and I'm seeing a trend I'd love Apple to continue for this year:

January 08 and 09: Keynote
March 08 and 09: "Sneak Peek" Event
June 08 and 09: WWDC Keynote Address
September 08 and 09: Music Keynote Event
October 08: Apple Special Event

October 2009: Apple Special Event for AppleTV Take 3???

Given the recent Snow Leopard update, as well as new iTunes 9 content announced Wednesday (iTunes LP/Extra and new GUI, to name a few), can we expect Apple to seize the opportunity to announce a new AppleTV next month? One thing to consider if such an event took place: since computers were updated as recently as June (MacBook updates) and the iPhone/iPods have their 2009 updates already, wouldn't it logically feature Apple's "other" product (perhaps even premiered with the famed Tablet)? Seems to be the right time, given the mass availability of new features that people are going to want to take full advantage of (i.e. on large TVs).

Hopefully I'm not just being optimistic, as I really want an AppleTV and am very tempted to go out and buy one right now. Looking for opinions on the matter.
 
I don't expect a hardware or major software Apple TV update anytime soon. I think if something big was going to happen with the Apple TV, they would have put it into this latest keynote (especially considering the rather dull product announcements). It's more of an iPod/iTunes Store product than a Mac product.

However, I do expect some type of minor software update within the next month that adds new iTunes 9 capabilities (particularly Albums LP and movie Extras) to the Apple TV.

I think there will be a minor event in October. It'll likely happen at Apple's Cupertino campus and be Mac-related (probably iMac related considering its lagging sales).

It's worth noting, Apple hasn't issued a warning to investors that its holiday line-up is set, yet. So, we know something is coming in the next few months. They typically issue a holiday line-up statement around early November.
 
I would recommend not buying an AppleTV. If possible save your money and buy an older Core2duo mini or wait to see what they do with the AppleTV.

I loved the AppleTV at first but then grew tired of having to constantly restart it. Or my Movies not wanting to stream without skipping (I did have my movies on a USB hard drive attached to my time capsule) but that shouldn't be a problem for it and it was.

It is inevitable that Apple is going to do SOMETHING with the AppleTV soon; its sitting stalemate and is still just a hobby for them. All these netflix streaming TVs and blue ray players are going to kill it.
 
My gut feeling tells me Apple TV will receive a silent update (website announcement). Whether it will be a firmware update for iTunes Extra and LP (and hopefully few more features) or full hardware refresh is the real question.
 
nutmac said:
My gut feeling tells me Apple TV will receive a silent update (website announcement). Whether it will be a firmware update for iTunes Extra and LP (and hopefully few more features) or full hardware refresh is the real question.
Click to expand...

I hope your gut is right.

Given the world situation as it is right now- with many people needing to stay home instead of go out- my guts tell me that if Apple would roll out an updated hardware platform that addresses some of the most popular wishes, while keeping the price around the same level... and do this in a big splash event, they could probably sell a ton of :apple:TV's this Christmas.

It is a relatively cheap, "wow" product (a good combo for what may turn out to be a penny-pinching holiday season). It gives those that feel the financial pinch some more interesting things to do at home, rather than channel surf for something to watch (we all know how that usually goes). It showcases some of their other AV equipment they probably already have (good TV, good speakers, etc). And it makes it pretty easy to put the family experiences (photos & home movies) in on-demand display.

If I was Apple, I'd retire the "hobby" mentality and make a much more public play for the living room. Given that other somewhat similar devices (and hacks) show that some of the bigger :apple:TV wishes can be granted for relatively cheap prices, I bet Apple could roll out a next-gen with the Apple margins baked in, making such a move make sense as a "must have" holiday product at Apple's preferred margins. Timing looks excellent if it could hit in the next 30-45 days.
 
benlee said:
I would recommend not buying an AppleTV. If possible save your money and buy an older Core2duo mini or wait to see what they do with the AppleTV.
Click to expand...

I agree with BenLee. I have a feeling that Apple is still trying to figure out how to really get the ATV into homes. The current design just seems underwhelming. Getting a Mini really provides you much better options (except HDMI).
 
Seems to me that the atv will stay a hobby a bit longer. It's kind of a cheap way out but as long as its a "hobby" they seem to feel free to change things on a whim, which is in general a good thing. I mean this is really new stuff imo and I can see where they would want to wait to see how things shake out. I mean AC3 passthru in an mp4 was unheard of until they popped it out in the atv. I still think its sort of a petri dish for them. Which frankly I don't mind. As far as all of the " oh, I want it to play my 1080p mkv's I 'downloaded' from somewhere I would rather not mention" rubbish. That is frankly an obvious non starter to apple. What possible motivation would they have to devote resources to make that happen anyway ? It's not like any other device they have does (including the macs, which require perian for qt to play back mkv's). Thats patently ridiculous imo.

I agree the existing atv will likely get a quiet software bump in the next month or so.

Btw, its true that the new iPhone and iPod Touch can play the appletv preset in HB which means both bframes and cabac . Is this coincidence ... I think not.
 
dynaflash said:
Btw, its true that the new iPhone and iPod Touch can play the appletv preset in HB which means both bframes and cabac . Is this coincidence ... I think not.
Click to expand...

But not using iTunes syncing right? iTunes still artificially prevents files encoded with the ATV preset from syncing to the iPhone. The days are numbered for the “SD/HD” downloads. I knew that was a stop-gap from the beginning. The last thing Apple wants is to make you downloaded two separate files for video content.
 
jaw04005 said:
But not using iTunes syncing right? iTunes still artificially prevents files encoded with the ATV preset from syncing to the iPhone.
Click to expand...
Negative. They sync and play just fine. van one of the hb dev's tested it and he is to be believed, bank on it.
 
dynaflash said:
Negative. They sync and play just fine. van one of the hb dev's tested it and he is to be believed, bank on it.
Click to expand...

Oh. Just tried it, works great. Although it didn’t work on some of my older encoded movies. I’ll just re-encode those.

While I’m here. Is there a way to make "thumbnail with text" chapters like Apple makes with their purchased movies? I can get the text-based chapters using MetaX, but I haven’t figured out how to get the thumbnail chapters yet.
 
I don't expect anything AppleTV related now until the Tablet launch (Jan?) which I personally believe will be heavily biased towards enjoying video content. At that time the AppleTV may either become less relevent or continue to be just another way to enjoy your iTunes content.
 
Thanks for the responses.

The problems listed above (constant restarting, skipping) are one of the reasons why I've refrained from buying an AppleTV. Seems the more reviews I read the more they're mentioned.

Watched the 9/9/09 Keynote last night, and I can't say I'm surprised an AppleTV announcement didn't occur (though I was hopefull when Steve Jobs announced "one more thing..." with over 10 minutes or so to go and the refreshed iPod lineup was seemingly fully announced). We know September is generally an iPod-centered event; given the conference's slogan and Jobs saying the event would be "all about music" at the start of the keynnote, it fit that an AppleTV announcement didn't happen. However, I really don't see this as discouraging news for the ATV. I really think a future conference, whether October or January would be perfect for an AppleTV refresh. Whet users' appetites with new iTunes features, which would all be great on a big TV, and demand to do just that will increase.

Browsing the forums makes me see the AppleTV isn't forgotten, and generally isn't hated. It just isn't there just yet, and maybe this loyalty and sustained interest, coupled with new demand, will lead to a refresh.
 
mprofit said:
Thanks for the responses.

The problems listed above (constant restarting, skipping) are one of the reasons why I've refrained from buying an AppleTV. Seems the more reviews I read the more they're mentioned.

Watched the 9/9/09 Keynote last night, and I can't say I'm surprised an AppleTV announcement didn't occur (though I was hopefull when Steve Jobs announced "one more thing..." with over 10 minutes or so to go and the refreshed iPod lineup was seemingly fully announced). We know September is generally an iPod-centered event; given the conference's slogan and Jobs saying the event would be "all about music" at the start of the keynnote, it fit that an AppleTV announcement didn't happen. However, I really don't see this as discouraging news for the ATV. I really think a future conference, whether October or January would be perfect for an AppleTV refresh. Whet users' appetites with new iTunes features, which would all be great on a big TV, and demand to do just that will increase.

Browsing the forums makes me see the AppleTV isn't forgotten, and generally isn't hated. It just isn't there just yet, and maybe this loyalty and sustained interest, coupled with new demand, will lead to a refresh.
Click to expand...

I agree with you that just because it didn't get updated doesn't mean anything (hell, we have been waiting for a hardware update for 3 years now!). A few quarters back the CFO said Apple will continue to invest, and based on the new Genius Mixes, iTunes Extra, and iTunes LP at least another software update should occur.
 
I think that October/ November will see a slight Mac change (MacBook/ Pro/ iMac/ Mac Pro/ Mini)
 
If you look at the new rumour about the tablet - it;s supposed to to useing the new PA-Semi ARM chips. I'd guess that the next ATV (in whatever form it will take) will use that chip so we'll probably be waiting until the tablet finally launches (or more probably, just after so as not to steal the limelight).
 
benlee said:
I would recommend not buying an AppleTV. If possible save your money and buy an older Core2duo mini or wait to see what they do with the AppleTV.

I loved the AppleTV at first but then grew tired of having to constantly restart it. Or my Movies not wanting to stream without skipping (I did have my movies on a USB hard drive attached to my time capsule) but that shouldn't be a problem for it and it was.
Click to expand...

+1, I love the Apple TV concept and I own a 160gig ATV but the damn thing runs hot as hell (I don't care if this is ok with engineers, hot = BAD) and needs to be rebooted more often than Windows ME. But my wife loves it when it works right and the time has come for Apple to do this right, because if they don't, I'm looking for a non-Apple product to replace it.

It is inevitable that Apple is going to do SOMETHING with the AppleTV soon; its sitting stalemate and is still just a hobby for them. All these netflix streaming TVs and blue ray players are going to kill it.
Click to expand...

Quite possible, they might kill it and Apple might not care which would be too bad. I really hope they come out with something killer.
 
ThE.MeSsEnGeR said:
maybe this year's october special event is held for:

1. Apple TV take 3
2. iMac Updates
3. MacBook Updates
4. Tablet introduction (for a january release??)

:D:D
Click to expand...

I agree, but I'd swap out Tablet for Multitouch Mouse and new Black Backlit Keyboard.
 
I agree the apple tv needs an update bad but I dont see one coming until the announcement of the tablet. Why? because I think the two will be closely interwound and will provide amazing features to each other.
 
gan6660 said:
I agree the apple tv needs an update bad but I dont see one coming until the announcement of the tablet. Why? because I think the two will be closely interwound and will provide amazing features to each other.
Click to expand...

If they are interwoven then I actually see the AppleTV getting released first. This way they have everything in place for when the Tablet is released. I'm hoping that Oct is the time for a New AppleTV to be released, but who knows.
 
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