2026 Apple Devices

[gregatron5]

I just want to standardize my house on one gen that can be set to native refresh rate and resolution and not flicker for five seconds.

Assuming you mean native refresh rate and resolution of the content, I think this is an HDMI handshake thing, not an Apple TV thing. Handshakes just take time. Even audio. I get sound drops when the video stays the same but the audio codec changes. I'm not sure a hardware update will do anything about that. (That said, if Apple TV could negotiate the handshake before starting the content, that would be welcome.)

I never even knew the Xbox 360 had a startup animation and sound because the handshakes on my receiver and TV were so slow until I started playing emulated games on the Xbox One.

 

[Jables]

Assuming you mean native refresh rate and resolution of the content, I think this is an HDMI handshake thing, not an Apple TV thing. Handshakes just take time. Even audio. I get sound drops when the video stays the same but the audio codec changes. I'm not sure a hardware update will do anything about that. (That said, if Apple TV could negotiate the handshake before starting the content, that would be welcome.)

I never even knew the Xbox 360 had a startup animation and sound because the handshakes on my receiver and TV were so slow until I started playing emulated games on the Xbox One.

There’s a protocol called Quick Media Switching (QMS) that supposedly solves this. The current ATV 4K supports, as do three of my Samsung/LG TVs. I’d buy the current and be done with it but I hate to buy three new ATVs knowing a new one is coming.

 

[gregatron5]

There’s a protocol called Quick Media Switching (QMS) that supposedly solves this. The current ATV 4K supports, as do three of my Samsung/LG TVs. I’d buy the current and be done with it but I hate to buy three new ATVs knowing a new one is coming.

Oh snap it may be time to upgrade my receiver ;_;

 

[Hap]

The built-in "smarts" hardware on TVs is pretty universally junk, the broader software stack is pretty universally junk, and ages poorly. Using the built-in smart TV software after becoming accustomed to a hardware dongle (ATV or Shield or whatever) is like going back to an HDD based computer after experiencing SSD computing.

Not too long ago we got an LG Swing. A neat little mobile touchscreen TV/Monitor (portable as in rolls). My wife lasted a week with the built in interface before she had me semi-permanently attach an AppleTV to it despite having to give up the touch interface. Lag was intolerable, even for my wife who is not a techie and far more tolerant of that than I am.

 

[byrningman]

I can’t see a reason I’d buy an Apple TV that would justify the expenditure, given I’ve got an Apple TV app on my LG TV, and it works.

Apple TV streaming apps often provide better image quality than the built-in TV apps for the same streaming services. As in, Netflix/Disney/whatever might deliver lower resolution or more compression on the TV’s app than ATV’s app. So if you have a new TV and care about optimal image quality, the ATV is pretty much obligatory. I don’t know if there’s a recent systemic analysis of this, but there have been some tests in the pasts that showed this to be the case.

 

[CommanderJameson]

Apple TV streaming apps often provide better image quality than the built-in TV apps for the same streaming services. As in, Netflix/Disney/whatever might deliver lower resolution or more compression on the TV’s app than ATV’s app. So if you have a new TV and care about optimal image quality, the ATV is pretty much obligatory. I don’t know if there’s a recent systemic analysis of this, but there have been some tests in the pasts that showed this to be the case.

Never noticed any image quality issues.

I’ve got an 1-year-old LG OLED TV, fwiw.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

And now LG has all your viewing data. And all of their partners they sell it to.

 

[CommanderJameson]

And now LG has all your viewing data. And all of their partners they sell it to.

So Apple’s app is giving out my data?

Reassuring.

Also, you assume I care. I don’t. I’ve got far, far bigger fish to fry right now, than whether I get targeted adverts based on me watching The Expanse.

 

[Bonusround]

So Apple’s app is giving out my data?

Reassuring.

Also, you assume I care. I don’t. I’ve got far, far bigger fish to fry right now, than whether I get targeted adverts based on me watching The Expanse.

No, it's worse than that. Modern TVs will run a full analysis over their entire A/V output to determine what you're watching, even if it's fully local media. See automatic content recognition.

 

[Scud]

^^ this. Not to mention to overall speed due to the hardware choices Apple made.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

So Apple’s app is giving out my data?

No, your spyware TV is.

Also, you assume I care. I don’t. I’ve got far, far bigger fish to fry right now, than whether I get targeted adverts based on me watching The Expanse.

This is, of course, your right not to care. But you originally stated that the Apple TV box has no value in the face of the Apple TV app. You are wrong.

 

[CommanderJameson]

No, your spyware TV is.


This is, of course, your right not to care. But you originally stated that the Apple TV box has no value in the face of the Apple TV app. You are wrong.

No, I am correct. We just value different things.

 

[CommanderJameson]

No, it's worse than that. Modern TVs will run a full analysis over their entire A/V output to determine what you're watching, even if it's fully local media. See automatic content recognition.

Again, I don’t give a shit. I am dealing with things that matter, and this is not one of those things, nor will it ever be.

You cannot persuade me that this is important to me. Please, stop trying.

 

[cateye]

It's good and vitally important that Apple offers an alternative to the advertising/personal-data economy (to a point—Apple's fastest growing services segment is advertising sales, I believe), but let's be real here. It absolutely does not matter to most of the public, regardless of Apple's marketing. Because if it did, social media apps wouldn't dominate the App Store charts and the AppleTV wouldn't be a "hobby."

 

[jaberg]

One day with apps on the new Samsung we purchased for the day room I set up for my (late) Mother sent me off to the Apple Store to purchase a(nother) ATV box.

I’m not particularly privacy concerned (TV-wise), but the TV experience was substandard at best.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

Oh, I fully admit the general public’s ignorance of this issue is only exceeded by its apathy toward it, even when finally informed. I’m just surprised at a tech-savvy person being indifferent, though that remains his right.

 

[Louis XVI]

I have to admit that I’ve never understood all the concern about TV privacy. Why does it matter if [x corporation] knows that I watch too much Star Trek? I guess it’d be better if they didn’t, but it ranks about 5,280th on my list of things to worry about.

I really like the Apple TV because it has a wife-friendly, easy to use interface that’s stable, simple, and fast. The screen savers are also really great, whether it’s serving up a flight through Iceland or surprising me with a beautiful photo of a friend or relative that I haven’t seen for a while.

 

[cateye]

Oh, I fully admit the general public’s ignorance of this issue is only exceeded by its apathy toward it, even when finally informed. I’m just surprised at a tech-savvy person being indifferent, though that remains his right.

One way to look at it is being an informed, tech-savvy person also allows people the ability to prioritize based on the relative benefit. Long ago, I purged all social media use because I felt like the benefit ratio increasingly tipped in favor of the companies delivering the experiences and not toward my uses and wants. At the same time, I use (and even pay for) a number of Google services, despite understanding how Google makes 99% of its money, because the balance remains in my favor. I don't expect any company to act fully in my self interest, including Apple. Why would they? It makes no sense.

Therefore, it's about a personal determination of what's "worth" the effort. Like jaberg, I like and prefer the UI/UX of the AppleTV, which is why I own one. "Privacy" specifically has nothing to do with it. my LG TV is little more than a monitor for my AppleTV and my XBox, but I also don't wall it off from the internet. I want it to get whatever updates it needs without me having to babysit it.

Conversely, Apple's position here allows someone who puts privacy above all or most other factors a way to prioritize that want, which is great.

 

[Honeybog]

I have to admit that I’ve never understood all the concern about TV privacy. Why does it matter if [x corporation] knows that I watch too much Star Trek? I guess it’d be better if they didn’t, but it ranks about 5,280th on my list of things to worry about.

On the one hand, I don’t really care if my viewing habits are being tracked, and that would seem to be a necessary concession when streaming anything anyway. On the other, I am tired of nearly every piece of personal data being commoditized in order to keep the bullshit targeted advertising shell game going for another round. To that end, I’m happy to pay a premium for products that limit that behavior.

As importantly, though, when it comes to Apple TV (or really anything), I’d prefer to take the Unix approach. I want my media device to output media, I want my display device to display media, and I don’t want one of those becoming obsolete or damaged to necessitate replacing both.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

I have to admit that I’ve never understood all the concern about TV privacy. Why does it matter if [x corporation] knows that I watch too much Star Trek?

Because fuck them, that’s why.

 

[wco81]

Smart TVs have been known to have microphones actively listening. Not sure if their webcams were caught surveilling people.

Vizio was especially bad about monitoring viewers but the transaction was that you got TVs cheaply but ads would be how you pay the difference.

 

[Hap]

Ok, tin foil hat time.

You're tracked watching 'woke' shows, the democratic national convention, and liberal news outlets. All the sudden your ineligible for a government position, or "there seems to be a problem with your voter registration.

The really sucky thing is that I wouldn't put it past the current administration.

PS - not trying to get into a political debate, this is not the SoapBox, just pointing out that even the little things could be used against you. No I'm not suggesting becoming a hermit, but low effort things like preventing what you're watching being tracked might be worthwhile.

 

[CommanderJameson]

And now for something completely different.

The Larch.

Talking to my sister today. Her girls (15 & 17) are due new iPads. They’re probably each getting a Neo, instead.

 

[cateye]

I have definitely seen some iPad purists elsewhere in the Apple-sphere who are pretty purple about the Neo becoming an alternative for people who might otherwise "graduate" to higher-end iPads and therefore buttress the existence of the iPad as an alternative platform.

Something-something-didn't-Jobs-say "better to cannibalize yourself" something-something.

 

[Louis XVI]

Ok, tin foil hat time.

You're tracked watching 'woke' shows, the democratic national convention, and liberal news outlets. All the sudden your ineligible for a government position, or "there seems to be a problem with your voter registration.

The really sucky thing is that I wouldn't put it past the current administration.

PS - not trying to get into a political debate, this is not the SoapBox, just pointing out that even the little things could be used against you. No I'm not suggesting becoming a hermit, but low effort things like preventing what you're watching being tracked might be worthwhile.

Ehhhhh, there are so many things they can come and get me for before they get around to noticing my TV-watching habits: posts here on Ars or Facebook, participating in protests, donating to Democrats, being an agnostic Jew, having graduate degrees….

I mean, I can understand “fuck them that’s why,” and not wanting to be tracked or whatever, but there are so many more significant things going on right now (Hell, I’m a lot more offended by Cook kowtowing to Trump than any privacy violations) that TV privacy just seems to be the smallest of potatoes. Your mileage may vary, and that’s fine, but for those wondering why a tech-savvy person would be indifferent, well, this is why I‘m indifferent, for what it’s worth.

 

[Galvanic]

I mean, I can understand “fuck them that’s why,” and not wanting to be tracked or whatever, but there are so many more significant things going on right now

Like a lot of people, I can handle multiple things at the same time. One of the things that I can handle amidst all the other stuff is being annoyed at people who lecture everyone that they're not allowed to be concerned about something Because Other Things Are Worse.

 

[Louis XVI]

Like a lot of people, I can handle multiple things at the same time. One of the things that I can handle amidst all the other stuff is being annoyed at people who lecture everyone that they're not allowed to be concerned about something Because Other Things Are Worse.

??? You’re allowed to be concerned about anything you want, not that you needed my permission in the first place. I…even said so in the post you partially quoted. I’m just personally not concerned about this particular thing.

 

[Galvanic]

??? You’re allowed to be concerned about anything you want, not that you needed my permission in the first place. I…even said so in the post you partially quoted. I’m just personally not concerned about this particular thing.

I can also handle being annoyed at the people who announce Hey It's Just My Opinion, Why Are You Annoyed? Especially when they do it with multiple ??? and don't realize they might get the same answer back to them. Hey, It's Just My Opinion, Why Are You Annoyed?

I'm capable that way.

 

[Bonusround]

Again, I don’t give a shit. I am dealing with things that matter, and this is not one of those things, nor will it ever be.

You cannot persuade me that this is important to me. Please, stop trying.

Dude, calibrate. I'm merely explaining what it is. What you choose to do with that information is entirely yours to determine, and never did I suggest otherwise.

 

[analogika]

nm.

 

[amateurpro]

I have to admit that I’ve never understood all the concern about TV privacy. Why does it matter if [x corporation] knows that I watch too much Star Trek? I guess it’d be better if they didn’t, but it ranks about 5,280th on my list of things to worry about.

Because it's not necessarily corporations to be worried about. Between the third party doctrine in the US, and governments around the world simply buying from commercial data brokers sophisticated, targeted dossiers of citizens compiled from web browsing, TV watching and social media views/comments, authorites can narrow down who to target.

In the US we've seen some limited prosecutions from things like Fitbit data, but the information is more useful to some regimes for investigative purposes. Compiled data on viewing habits reveal political leanings, religious beliefs, health concerns, or personal struggles - the kind of profiling data that could inform malignant agencies who to investigate, even if the data itself never appears in a courtroom.

The 2021 Signal ad campaign on Instagram (that Instagram quickly shut down) was just a small, pointillist example of the information that what you look at creates sophisticated casebooks on you.

Now imagine that your TV viewing habits, supplemented by data broker documentation from web browsing and social media interactions, are used by authorities with totalitarian tendencies and goals, are used to vet you and friend/family/neighbors for political acceptability... or targeting.

 

[BlueSandbar]

I want an Apple TV but have been waiting since last year since the rumors keep saying "refresh soon".

I'll be honest, I kind of agree with some of the commenters here that privacy is lower on my list of concerns here. Does it really matter that much if LG knows what I watch on YouTube and Netflix when those companies know what I watch anyway? I mean it's not ideal but it doesn't keep me up enough at night to stop using the built in apps while I wait for this fabled Apple TV refresh.

The main reason I want to upgrade is that the built in software is laggy and has ads and I hate it. My old TV had Android TV which was actually kind of okay (laggy but less ads) but the LG software is pretty awful and I can't wait to ditch it.

 

[analogika]

Because it's not necessarily corporations to be worried about. Between the third party doctrine in the US, and governments around the world simply buying from commercial data brokers sophisticated, targeted dossiers of citizens compiled from web browsing, TV watching and social media views/comments, authorites can narrow down who to target.

In the US we've seen some limited prosecutions from things like Fitbit data, but the information is more useful to some regimes for investigative purposes. Compiled data on viewing habits reveal political leanings, religious beliefs, health concerns, or personal struggles - the kind of profiling data that could inform malignant agencies who to investigate, even if the data itself never appears in a courtroom.

The 2021 Signal ad campaign on Instagram (that Instagram quickly shut down) was just a small, pointillist example of the information that what you look at creates sophisticated casebooks on you.

View attachment 131188

Now imagine that your TV viewing habits, supplemented by data broker documentation from web browsing and social media interactions, are used by authorities with totalitarian tendencies and goals, are used to vet you and friend/family/neighbors for political acceptability... or targeting.

ICE is currently using commercial data services (namely, Palantir) to acquire data they are not legally permitted to collect themselves, and using that for targeted raids.

This is not some abstract scenario.

https://stateofsurveillance.org/art...targeting-immigration-palantir-immigrationos/

 

[Bonusround]

ICE is currently using commercial data services (namely, Palantir) to acquire data they are not legally permitted to collect themselves, and using that for targeted raids.

This is not some abstract scenario.

Fabulous. Like many other things, the degree to which one need not concern themselves with privacy is a matter of privilege.

 

[analogika]

Fabulous. Like many other things, the degree to which one need not concern themselves with privacy is a matter of privilege.

Well, and time.

 

[CommanderJameson]

You’ll be fine. I’m sure they definitely won’t flag “a conspicuous lack of data on an individual” as worthy of further investigation.

 

[ant1pathy]

Setting all of the security and privacy things aside, the AppleTV is one of the current quintessential products (along with AirPods) of the "it just works" and "it's such a nicer experience" Apple-ness that brought many of us to the platform in the first place. The "I just use the apps on my TV" feels a lot like "I just use my PC and it's fine, what's the big deal?".

 

[Bonusround]

You’ll be fine. I’m sure they definitely won’t flag “a conspicuous lack of data on an individual” as worthy of further investigation.

I presume you're joking. I'm worried about others, knowing I benefit from a surplus of privilege.

 

[CommanderJameson]

I presume you're joking. I'm worried about others, knowing I benefit from a surplus of privilege.

Well, I’m joking today.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

Setting all of the security and privacy things aside, the AppleTV is one of the current quintessential products (along with AirPods) of the "it just works" and "it's such a nicer experience" Apple-ness that brought many of us to the platform in the first place. The "I just use the apps on my TV" feels a lot like "I just use my PC and it's fine, what's the big deal?".

A million times this.

One of the reasons I beat the security drum so hard when it comes to the Apple TV is that by addressing the privacy issue you are also massively upgrading the user experience. MILES better than the intentionally user hostile interfaces and Kafka-esque remote controls of these (so-called) smart TVs. I don’t know how anyone uses them for more than two minutes without putting their fist through the screen.