Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Bad Apple, Apple TV
Confession: I hate my Apple TV
I can be silent no longer. I have tried for nearly a year to love my Apple TV; yet every time I try to do anything beyond playing music with it, I begin to unconsciously claw my eyes out. I think that Apple TV is the worst product I have purchased that has come out of Cupertino -- and in many ways, one of the worst products I have purchased at all. Read on for the sordid details of my hate-hate relationship with my Apple TV.
Setting up the Apple TV was a pain because I had to use that tiny little remote to input a 16 character wireless password that includes mixed-case and special characters. But surely it couldn't have all been that bad, right? Once you get the thing connected you shouldn't have any problems at all, right? Wrong. The Apple TV is essentially a computer, so just like your other computers you can expect it to drop inexplicably off the network from time to time. This results in another maddening trip to the configuration panel.
Then there's the whole matter of playing video content. Abysmal. It's true, there is no pleasant way to enjoy video using the Apple TV. If you manage to wrangle your content onto the Apple TV (good luck) from an iTunes library you can play the videos back. But for a device that only has HD connections (HDMI and component) the quality is really awful. The standard definition (SD) content looks so pitiful; it is blocky and not colorful. I wish I could say the high definition HD content makes this product worthwhile but it really doesn't. The colors and contrast are more lively, but the bitrate of the video is such that it looks worse than 480p content from Comcast. Seriously.
At one point I would have killed for an HD-capable device from Apple that could rent/play digital movies in glorious high definition. Now, however, I simply want to kill my Apple TV. Whenever I have tried to rent an HD movie or purchase an HD TV show, the content acquisition literally takes hours. Using BitTorrent I can grab a higher quality video file and have it playing on my screen before I see the first frame on my Apple TV.
Even when I purchase the content on my Mac using iTunes, the download completes long before it ever does on my Apple TV. Don't even think about streaming HD content over an 802.11g network, though. All of your bandwidth will be sucked dry and other household members are left twiddling their thumbs while trying to download email.
So you might be saying to yourself, why not just Patchstick the Apple TV and use XBMC or Boxee to play content? Well, I tried that, and it too is abysmal. You see, XBMC and Boxee do not have the ability to use the hardware video encoder for playback of the more common HD files that exist. For this reason, playback of HD TV shows with XBMC is a bag of hurt that I always regret trying to open.
And then there's Hulu. A great service, for sure. I have no problems watching commercials during on-demand content. But I do have problems with crummy video quality and lossy stereo audio. It's 2009 and with all of this technology at our fingertips we're still watching 1990s quality footage with commercials to boot! Many people love Hulu, I am just not one of them.
I think the only experience that comes off as "Apple-esque" with the Apple TV is the fact that it severely limits the types of files that can be sent to the unit. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Apple TV's hardware decoder is a little beefier than my Mac mini's Intel-based video card. And yet, because Apple locks the device down (as if anyone is surprised) the true power and potential of the Apple TV is completely lost.
Well I've had enough. I'm tired of fighting my Apple TV. The only thing it is used for now is to stream audio to my receiver when I have company. I have an Airport Express that can do that and I worry a lot less about it dropping off my network. I also don't have to turn my TV on to diagnose any problems as I can manage it from my Mac.
I imagine this will come as a surprise to many, but this TUAW blogger hates an Apple product. A product that could be great, could be so much better than what it is. For some unknown reason, this "hobby" is left to wither and die a slow, painful death. The real tragedy is that when Apple TV does die, I suspect Steve Jobs will never venture to create another, similar product even though the Apple TV has so much potential.
Goodbye, Apple TV: your promises were enchanting but your lies were enraging.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 14)
MadHat said 10:10PM on 8-05-2009
I hate mine too.
It looks great but it's soooooooo freaking slow, I've read every forum, tried every hack and the damn thing is so laggy.
Only Apple product I wish I never bought!
Reply
badweasel said 11:30PM on 8-05-2009
I agree that there is a lot wrong with it. I don't even think that the video looks great.
I got mine hoping that my pre-K daughter could easily access all the kids videos that I've collected from her. (educational videos I assure you and all from legal sources! ;) ) Of course she can't read yet. So you'd think apple would have a super kid-friendly mode where she can pick shows from icons and just play them. Nope. There's still a text menu and once you're in the movies or tv shows area you have to go through lists. On the other hand if you're looking for trailers or videos to buy from apple there IS a nice clean icon only view. Hmmm..
One day I decided, hey let's rent a movie for her (us) to watch. COULD - NOT - GET - IT - TO - AUTHORIZE! We spent about an hour of trying to enter in our apple id and password, it being rejected, trying my wife's, trying mine again, UG! Finally I just rented it using my mac pro. Figured we could then just stream it to the apple tv. Nope.. have to transfer it.. trouble getting it to sync. NO I don't want to sync all my movies.. That took 20 minutes. So by the time we actually got the movie playing on the apple tv it was LATE and too late for her to stay up and watch the whole thing. Of course 24 hours later the rental period is over.
The best thing about apple tv is the air tunes speakers and the ability to use the iphone remote app to play music to it.
Brandon said 11:56PM on 8-05-2009
Lmao Aron, this was written as if you just had a shifty occurrence with it.
Well, I had an Apple TV for a full day before I returned it. I liked that it took advantage of my 802.11n router and I could control it with my phone but when I broke it down to myself that what I wanted was an ability to play my music and podcasts on my TV, I realized there mightve been some solution to do so by way of my PS3. Lo and behold a piece of software MediaLink is able to create a media server that I can access from my PS3.
Media Link is from Nullriver btw.
Alan said 3:26AM on 8-06-2009
Consider Apple' latest model, the Apple TV S, the fastest, most powerful Apple TV yet. Produces up to 3x better quality video than it's predecessor, and includes a digital compass to align itself with your entertainment studio setup. It's faster processor now allows most functions on the Apple TV S to act more responsibly, meaning no more lagging and waiting. Apple TV S also includes a DVD slot, so you can now rip your Digital Copy-enabled movies to your iTunes library with ease. Starting at $249 for 120GB hard drive.
Ross said 7:13AM on 8-06-2009
I disagree. My Apple TV has issues occasionally (wireless dropping out etc) but generally I'm very satisfied with it. I encode my videos using HandBrake (or VisualHub), tag them in MetaX and then sync with iTunes.
I agree that the Apple TV isn't a completed product, but rather a "hobby" as El Jobso said. But that isn't to say it isn't good.
I have friends over, we want to watch something. Nothing good on TV, so I turn on my Apple TV and have 200GB's worth of TV Shows to choose from. All tagged with artwork and descriptions for each episode. It is a fantastic thing to use when you get to that stage.
Once you get it fully working and all your content onto it, I love it. Not to mention YouTube and Podcasts.
Mine has just come out of warranty, so I'm considering upgrading the hard drive, as streaming isn't a possibility really in my flat (traditional flat with high ceilings and incredibly thick walls - WiFi just can't hack it).
Dion said 7:52AM on 8-06-2009
Maybe you folks have a slow internet connection? All I know is all of my HD TV shows stream perfectly and look great on my HDTV. Also, the AppleTV is my preference for renting HD movies! I've tried Netflix via my XBox 360 and the PS3 store, but the PS3 takes forever to even start streaming and cuts out constantly. As for the Netflix/360 streaming, I absolutely hate it! Everytime I try to watch a HD movie, it stops every frew minutes "reconfigures my connection" and then displays it in a less-than-regular-tv-quality. I have never been interrupted or had a audio or video problem watching HD movies on my AppleTV. Ganted, I Apple needs to do some tweaking and work on the unit if they want it to be a huge success, but I actually enjoy it and how well it works for me. Once again, I'm sure people have different experiences depending on their network speeds and configurations, but when compared on the same network to Netflix and PS3's network, AppleTV is far superior. Just my two cents!
bioadam said 10:14AM on 8-06-2009
If you are looking to sell your hated AppleTV, I'll give you half for it. I'd offer 60%, but I've heard too many bad things about.
Aaron said 10:57AM on 8-06-2009
You want to know the key to its slowness?
I'll let you in on the secret.
1GHz Pentium M
Nvidia 7300 Go.
There, now you know.
Nathan R. Cowger said 5:51PM on 8-06-2009
I have never hacked or otherwise messed with my apple TV and it works wonderfully. I do have an Airport Extreme network. My only complaints are that there aren't enough movies available to purchase and Netflix won't stream to it.
doug said 7:48PM on 8-06-2009
I bought one of the first ones on a lark about 2 years ago. I bought it to watch podcasts on and as a toy basically. I had pretty low expectations and it lived up to them. The problem was basically just a lack of available content. BUT fast forward to when apple released a new version of the software and the rental store. That update gave the product new life and now I rent all my movies on apple tv and it is wonderful on-demand product. I prefer it to my directv pay-per-view. I have not experienced the issues with the hardware that the author seems to be speaking of. I think the problem with the product is that it fills a very narrow niche. I have a feeling that the new tablet or super-sized ipod with a docking station could replace this product.
Eric said 10:17PM on 8-05-2009
What the hell are you talking about? Hulu looks great on my Apple TV with Boxee. And both Boxee and XBMC play every format I've thrown at it, including "common HD files that exist" such as MKV files at over 720, and AVI files.
And the Boxee/XBMC are in constant development, so, you have to make sure you stay up to date, which is easy. Hulu is known to be actively preventing Boxee from connecting via Apple TV.
I personally LOVE my Apple TV, and with Boxee on it, it is way better. I use it all the time to watch Hulu or "common HD files that exist". We all know what you mean by that last one.
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WS said 11:20PM on 8-05-2009
XBMC is a joke. Plex is not sufficiently better. Impossible library. Spiking CPU usage (on idle it uses more CPU than when playing 1080p! How exactly do you code that?) and abysmal usability. Everything is every which way. I've used Plex for a while and I still have to hunt and click to do things. I figure how to do them, then a few weeks later, what? How did I do that? What menu was that in... terrible.
Apple TV is probably the biggest reason why Front Row is not even close to XBMC. If Apple axed the TV and put their efforts in on Front Row (together with an improved Perian), they would dominate...
It's the 21st century. Let's stop fighting over codecs and get moving!
MadHat said 11:35PM on 8-05-2009
I've tried to different patch sticks in the last month to replace the gui with XMBC, both install fine, later on during normal use they'll error and it will revert to the orig firmware.
As a product from Apple, Without modification it is horrid, minus Airtunes which is handy - but laggy.
THJ said 2:08PM on 8-27-2009
I respectfully disagree, XBMC is a great way to watch non-HD downloaded content. With my imac running XBMC as a UPnP server, I can instantly access my 1TB+ collection of AVI and other misc. formats on my TV.
I have not had much luck with HD content, or Handbrake'd DVDs on the TV preset - w/o hardware help, they are too much for the TV to handle.
Nevertheless, being able to put 'kids shows' on random = days on end of commercial free content for the kids; or 'documentaries' on random when I'm home alone, or cue up the latest episode of Weeds for when the wife is around is freaking awesome.
cdogg said 10:17PM on 8-05-2009
Slow day in the TUAW offices again.
Reply
D.J. said 10:53PM on 8-05-2009
Did we ever give you that second G back? I must confer with the council.
peej said 11:15PM on 8-05-2009
Slow news indeed.
Seriously, could we get some more app news, tips/tricks, new iphone apps, and hardware information here? Although, with that said the TUAW reviews of late have been fairly disappointing. I feel they've been written by people who have only used the software in a very superficial way.
This is an awesome blog that has really been suffering lately.
puhsitch said 12:13AM on 8-06-2009
Ha, I enjoy the posts that inevitably provoke the "slow news day?" comments. They give soul to TUAW.
andrew said 9:58AM on 8-06-2009
Perfect response.
Jorn said 1:54PM on 8-06-2009
Slow witty and/or constructive comment day?