TMO Daily Observations 2016-11-16: Why is $feature Missing from Apple TV?
Today it’s time to look at Apple TV and ask one tough question: why don’t we get $feature on Apple TV? Good thing we’re geeks and we understand variables, too, because for this episode $feature = array(“4K Output”,”Amazon Prime Video”,”Netflix Inside of TV App”); Listen and hear what John and Dave have to say about all this… then send us your feedback and let us know!
Show Notes
- Apple TV
- Roku Ultra
- Amazon Prime Video
- Netflix
- Apple's upcoming TV app
- Apple's Tradition of Always Building the Best Doesn't Fit with Current Apple TV
- TMO Daily Observations Twitter feed
Don’t you have to think this is simply more about timing!
Apple much to my and many other’s disappointment, is no longer a annual update company (not that it ever was for AppleTV). This pisses off the geeks among us because we follow the latest trends and know what is available and what is missing on every apple product. But that is not the company Apple is anymore (although I’d argue they need to bring it back).
But to play devils advocate, What innovations are you waiting for in your next home receiver? Or even your next TV? What feature are you waiting for before you purchase your next Car or your next blender? A huge cross-section of Apples user base is the same way with tech. When it is time to purchase, they look for the best they can afford to buy and they buy what is available.
AppleTV is a 2-3 year upgrade cycle. So this spring was about the earliest we could hope for an update, but any time before Christmas 2017 is probably on track. My hope is that they take the opportunity to do a massive performance boost and actually take a stab at getting some serious console games to make the transition. AppleTV’s thermal constraints and power limits make it something that could easily take on an A10X CPU. This could put it between an Xbox 360 and an Xbox One, which will be a bit behind the curve in 2017 but still a serious amount of horsepower.
Note: One thing that always bugs me when people talk down about AppleTV and it’s reliance on the iTunes store is that nobody ever talks about how liberal DRM is between the platforms. I’m not an expert on all of them but Apple/iTunes seems to have a huge advantage in most situations. (although Google play’s system could work better for some). But Amazon is down right draconian from what I can tell. Someone should talk about the differences.