Opinion

Apple TV (4th gen)

Keeping with tradition, I’m going to write about my new gadgets but my “unique selling point” is going to be brevity. And, in this case, another angle I bring is being a  Brit — much of the mainstream tech press is American and content is still very much a local.

Good

  • The same but better. I liked the old one, so I mean that as a compliment.
  • Feels much faster than the old one. (The hardware should mean that it does, but if Android has taught us anything it’s that specs don’t guarantee performance.)
  • I think Siri is going to be great, and the more apps that it understands the better. For the past couple of weeks ((I got the developer kit.)) it’s only supported iTunes and some of the less useful stuff (weather, sports scores).
  • I really like the remote. Clearly it’s not designed for serious gamers but I don’t consider that a flaw. I’m not a serious gamer. (As an aside, it’s weird that much of the press have been complaining about the remote as a game controller and saying that the device won’t replace your Xbox One or PS4. I think it’s a good compromise between the two extremes.)

Bad

  • I think the price is starting to get a bit high as a casual/streaming device.
  • Missing a bunch of apps, though, hopefully, this is something that will be solved with time. There’s already Netflix, but I’d like to see BBC iPlayer  ((Having said that, I’m successfully using Auntie Player.)), 4oD and Amazon video. US media companies seem to have been more on the ball than those in the UK, though many had apps on the old Apple TV; maybe they had less work to do to bring their streaming apps to the 4th gen?
  • I don’t have many apps yet but it’s clear that we’ll need folders sooner rather then later.

Ugly

  • The idea of copying all your credentials and configuration over from your iPhone is fantastic. Entering your Apple ID username and password using the on-screen keyboard is a pain. However, it seems not to be working for a lot of people and for me it took so long that I almost gave up.

Overall it’s already slightly better than the 3rd generation Apple TV and has the potential to get a lot better as the App Store fills out. In my mind, it’s odds of success likely rest on the cost. It’s therefore a shame that it’s possibly on the high side. Of course, that’s not been a problem for Apple in its recent history.