“I finally cracked it,” former Apple CEO Steve Jobs infamously told his biographer Walter Isaacson, referring to his plans for digital TV. But in the years since his death, Apple never released the “integrated television set” that Jobs envisioned. And Apple TV, once downplayed as a hobby, has stumbled along and has been consistently non-competitive.
That’s about to change. Finally.
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No, Apple doesn’t seem to be on the verge of a long-rumored and all-inclusive digital TV subscription: Those plans were scuttled when it couldn’t get buy-in from enough of the key content providers. So we may have to wait an interminable time period before Apple can do to TV what it did to music.
Instead, Apple is about to right at least some of the many wrongs it inflicted on its customer base when it first shipped the still-current Apple TV back in 2015.
That device, you may recall, arrived with three major issues at a time when its competitors were racing ahead. It lacks 4K/UHD support, which was unforgivable two years ago, let alone today. It lacks HDR support, a failing tied to the lack of 4K/UHD capabilities that ensures that picture quality isn’t as good as it can be today on modern sets. And its remote, with its awkward swipe- and touch-based interface, is a user experience disaster of epic proportions. It’s so bad, it makes the previous Apple TV remote—once the worst remote ever made—seem decent by comparison.
I’ve not seen any news about an improvement to the remote, but there are at least workarounds: The Apple TV app for iPhone works OK, especially for text entry. And there are even third party remotes that work with the new Apple TV too.
But Apple is fixing what I consider to be the biggest issues with the Apple TV. And in doing so, it is taking a major, if belated step forward that could propel this device ahead of the competition. It is finally making a version of the Apple TV that supports 4K/UHD and various forms of HDR.
This is great news for TV and movie fans, and Apple is likewise going to offer 4K/UHD/HDR content through its iTunes content store, again, putting the firm back in the race. All of its major competitors are already offering this kind of content.
What’s interesting about Apple TV today, even with its 1080p limitations, is that the picture quality often surpasses that of other, 4K-based services on my 55-inch 4K/UHD/HDR Samsung Smart TV. And this is a phenomenon that everyone in my family, including my kids with their young eyes, agree on: For whatever reason, the interface and the content usually look better on Apple TV than elsewhere.
And, yes, to be clear, that means 4K/UHD content too. 4K movies and TV shows, for whatever reason, seem crisper and look better on the 1080p Apple TV than they do on the Smart TV’s native apps, on Roku 4K, on Amazon, on Chromecast Ultra, on whatever. Usually.
(HDR content is sometimes an exception, and 4K/UHD/HDR Blu-Ray discs via Xbox One S remain the visual champ. Though to be fair, some of these discs, like that for Deadpool, aren’t noticeably better in this format.)
And that’s why a 4K/UHD/HDR Apple TV is so enticing. If Apple is already delivering epic picture quality at 1080p, one naturally wonders how these new capabilities will make things better.
That said, there are other issues I’d like to see Apple address, and if the firm is able to capitalize on all of this, I could see moving to Apple TV as our primary TV interface now that our cable TV days are behind us.
First, is that aforementioned remote. It’s horrible.
Then, there’s the subscription TV service that Apple has been not-so-secretly planning for years. The issue there, I know, is that broadcasters and other content makers don’t trust Apple because the firm is too dominant, and because it appears to have marginalized music content creators. As a result, Apple has had to tread water here, and its current “TV” solution is a joke.
Finally, there is the lackluster Apple TV store, which has only slowly added useful new apps. PlayStation TV, a subscription TV service I’m currently testing is there now. But YouTube TV is not, nor are popular services like Spotify. (Yes, you can fall back to AirPlay beaming from your phone.) And Microsoft apps, like Groove and Movies & TV are nowhere to be seen, if you need such things.
Point is, Apple TV is so close. And I really hope the firm is able to put it over the top.
Delmont
<blockquote><a href="#165087"><em>In reply to BigM72:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yeah it's called the Fire Stick for $39.</p>
Delmont
<blockquote><a href="#165129"><em>In reply to lvthunder:</em></a></blockquote><p> How many gadgets do you need? How much is enough? I don't want a coffee table full of remotes, I don't want a laptop bag of gadgets. Oh pity you, you can't airplay. How will you live for that one night at a hotel?</p>
wocowboy
Premium Member<p>I had a 55" Samsung Smart HDTV for years, and the apps in that thing were horrible. Operationally they were awful and the picture quality was terrible when compared to my TV. I have read on some Apple-related websites that when you watch Netflix, HULU, and other video streaming services that the streams pass through Apple's servers on the way to your device in order to provide a better experience. This may be the reason those services look better on TV than on other sets. </p><p><br></p><p>I have since switched to a 55" LG OLED UHD set and the app experience on this thing is wonderful. 4k HDR content looks amazing and the performance of the apps is worlds better than what it was on the Samsung. So I think you are experiencing two things, bad Samsung apps and better-managed streaming from Apple to your TV. </p>
Delmont
<blockquote><a href="#165093"><em>In reply to wocowboy:</em></a></blockquote><p>have read on some Apple-related websites that when you watch Netflix, HULU, and other video streaming services that the streams pass through Apple's servers on the way to your device in order to provide a better experience.</p><p><br></p><p>Oh please… you forgot to add: "wonderful, amazing, we've done something special". </p>
jbuccola
<blockquote><a href="#165116"><em>In reply to lvthunder:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Image processing. Compression algorithms. Black arts.</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#165097"><em>In reply to toukale:</em></a></blockquote><p>"Apple is that unlike a lot of their competitors, they like to offer a complete solution to their users whenever possible"</p><p><br></p><p>Apple does offer a complete, often very limited, solution for a fantastically higher price.</p><p><br></p><p>Paul quoted his Samsung TV as the other device that had lesser quality. I have both a LG and and a Samsung 4K TV's. That app quality, speed picture etc is way better on the LG…..way better. So much so we never use the built in Samsung apps but we do on the LG.</p><p><br></p><p>Also bandwidth/streaming could be the issue. His current Apple TV only has to stream 1080p content. It is much easier to stream 1080p content vs 4K content. His apps will try to pull 4K if the provider has it (Netflix/Amazon etc), but it will vary based on bandwidth, so you get 4K ish, massively compressed and it can drop down if his Internet pipe is busy with other stuff at his house. He also stated that his Xbox One S is better when the content is good on a UHD disk.</p>
BrianEricFord
<p>Oh, thank God!</p><p><br></p><p>When Apple didn't release a 4K capable Apple TV 2 years ago, I was horrified that I'd not be able to watch the 3 or 4 4K demo reels of waterfalls that were available and now it's just sickening that they're forcing me to miss out on the enormous handful of 4K content that has burst onto the scene since.</p><p><br></p><p>Also, the remote works fine and if it doesn't float your boat there are easy alternatives that work really well.</p><p><br></p><p>The only real omission for me has been Amazon Prime Video and that appears to finally be on the way, though I'm not sure what the holdup could possibly be given that it was announced in June.</p><p><br></p>
Delmont
<p>Apple TV? Too late… </p><p><br></p><p>Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu already exist. We have Amazon Prime and the Fire Stick. From that we have Netflix and Hulu. Why would I pay for yet another service? Apple TV who?</p><p><br></p><p>Seriously, if you already pay for Amazon Prime… why would you pay again for Apple TV?</p>
Delmont
<blockquote><a href="#165117"><em>In reply to lvthunder:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Pay again? You're paying again for the 90% of the same content. How much is enough? You pay for Amazon Prime, you pay for the Fire Stick… then you're going to pay again for Apple TV? Content. </p>