Yesterday’s “Hey Siri” event went impossibly well. Apple revealed one phenomenal new shiny after another. Since the original iPhone release back in 2007, I don’t remember an event with as much heft, as much magic, and with such terrific stage presence. To me, this was Apple in absolute top form.
Though there were a number of moments that vied for second place, by far my favorite part of the event was the announcement of the new Apple TV. Before the event started, I thought the only way a new Apple TV could differentiate itself from competition like Chromecast, Roku, etc., would be via new exclusive content, some blockbuster deal with TV networks and movie studios that could create a new ecosystem, walled off from the competition.
Somehow, Apple hit the ball out of the park, created a must have product based purely on the product itself, without the helping hands of a 3rd part content deal.
This from John Gruber, writing about the event for Daring Fireball:
The new Apple TV seems great for both video consumption and casual gaming. The MLB At Bat demo during the event was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Not just because I’m a baseball fan, but because it presented a revolutionary way to watch live events, period. I think Apple TV might be the most disruptive product from Apple since the iPhone. Not the most lucrative, necessarily, but the most disruptive — in the sense of defining how all TVs will work in a few years.
Just so. This is the first TV experience that treats the content as an embedded element, sitting alongside search results and other embedded content, much like the windowing system on a computer. This is a big leap forward for TV interfaces, and I expect this approach will only get better, more sophisticated, over time.
As to gaming, I don’t see this as a direct challenge to the consoles, in that the new Apple TV controller is better suited to casual gaming than hard core first person shooters. That said, Apple TV will support 3rd party controllers that adhere to the MFi (made for iPhone/iPod/iPad) standard.
Short term, I’d expect Xbox, Playstation, and Wii to keep their place (and HDMI slot), working alongside the Apple TV. But there is already some creep between the two universes. For example, this from the Activision blog:
Guitar Hero Live is also coming to a wide array of devices, including consoles, mobile devices and Apple TV. Guitar Hero Live’s GH Live mode brings you closer to the live stage experience with live-action, first-person gameplay with crowds and bands that react dynamically to how you play. There’s also GHTV, the world’s first playable music video network, which lets you play along with a continually updated collection of official music videos spanning a variety of genres. Guitar Hero Live for Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices will come with the redesigned six-button guitar controller, which connects through Bluetooth so it be used across all supported Apple devices.
This post appeared yesterday, clearly in response to the Apple TV announcement. Short term, the consoles are safe. Long term, I’d expect there to be a slow migration, as developers explore Apple TV compatibility. If a complex, rapid fire controller is required, MFi compatible controllers already exist and are making improvements with each new release.
Bottom line, the Apple TV is definitely tops on my Christmas list, right alongside an iPhone 6s Plus and an iPad Pro. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a banner sales year for Apple, Inc.
I think that Apple TV has a very real chance to do some serious damage to the traditional console market. Its users already have App Store accounts and a willingness to download games, its processor is powerful enough to run some pretty good looking games, and being able to use the MFi controllers potentially makes games as easy to play as any console title.
Nintendo in particular ought to be worried about this announcement. As much as I love my Wii, the ATV’s spec level and Apple family friendly attitude is gunning straight for it.
Not so sure about this. The traditional gamer (sorry in advance for very generic terms) won’t find enough of value here to move from a PS4, XB1 or gaming PC. Apple TV can’t offer a better experience in those ‘core’ games and what it does offer won’t be enough to replace them. Supplement maybe but not replace.
Nintendo lost the casual audience with the Wii U, though the 3DS still retains a nice mix of casual and core. While it’s possible they’ll recapture them with whatever NX turns out to be they’ll do fine just being a Nintendo first party machine so long as they can get the volume of games produced high enough to make that viable.
For me Apple TV is more likely to expand the games market rather than replace bits of it. It’ll encourage more users who currently game only on mobile to sit down and play on the TV. Some, not all but some, will try the more traditional titles like Rayman and move on to the more traditional core titles. And of course there’ll be some who already own the consoles that buy Apple TV and enjoy the unique titles it can offer. Ultimately it’s main mission is to expand the existing ecosystem and give those invested in iOS another reason to stay while encouraging those on the outside to join.
I don’t see the big deal of this AppleTV. Google could easily come out with a powerful Android streaming box that runs every Android app and game without any modifications and be miles ahead of AppleTV. I can’t imagine why Apple would hobble AppleTV with some crippled tvOS when iOS is already available. Forcing developers take an extra step to modify games and apps for AppleTV doesn’t make any sense to me.
Any Android box will offer far better hardware support with USB, SATA, microSD cards, 4K video support, S/PDIF, etc. for half the price. Even the cheapest Android streaming boxes offer that much. Apple seems intent to deliberately cripple AppleTV so as not to cut into other product sales. I’m not complaining. I’m just pointing out how it appears to me. I can use AppleTV along with any other streaming box so it isn’t really hurting me at all. As it is, I’m very satisfied with my Roku 3 and I’m looking forward to trying out AppleTV.
The traditional gamer didn’t like the original Wii, either, yet for a time it ran away with “next generation” (at the time) console sales.
At the AppleTV’s price point and wide range of (simple) games, I could easily see it becoming the “…and an AppleTV” of the current generation like the original Wii was to the last generation. And the exclusive game system to non-gamers who found a game they already play on iOS interesting enough to pick up a AppleTV, too.
iOS is a touch screen UI.
OS X is a “mouse” based UI.
It’s immediately obvious why AppleTV needs something else, isn’t it? It’s not about specs or what you can hang off the box, it’s about the experience using the damn thing.
I very much doubt that tvOS is a radically different beast all the way down. It’s probably limited for now in weird ways, but in time will become closer to the “ideal” OS for a TV box. That will drive it further away from iOS and OS X, but it’ll certainly keep the same underpinnings.
Because AppleTV doesn’t do all the same things as your iPad or iPhone, but it does have features that would be pointless on those devices. Same goes for WatchOS. I’m fine with not junking up iOS with a bunch of code that doesn’t have any place on my phone or tablet.
Amusingly, I was convinced of voice in the living room last week. By Comcast. I redid the plan I’m on (short story, it’s very little more than the high speed internet alone for the cable stuff) and ended up with the X1 box. One of the things it does is enable you to talk at the remote and have the box respond. I can simply say “ESPN” and it goes to ESPN but I can also do Siri-like things and say ‘Show me movies with {ACTOR}” and it will do that along with a short bio of the actor.
What the Apple TV does that this, of course, does not is show you all of the various sources where I can watch a program. Based on the demo, Apple TV is also smoother and not surprisingly the user interface is better. But the two are surprisingly close in feel (again, going just by the ATV demo).
Comcast is leaving a HUGE door open by giving people the low end, old style boxes on the basic plans. They should push out X1 ASAP to raise the bar. I’m a big fan of Apple but the X1 is to the new ATV as Windows 3 was to the Mac – good enough for many. If Comcast doesn’t do this I think they’ll lose living room share to Apple surprisingly quickly.
“…Google could easily come out with a powerful Android streaming box…’
FUD. They could do this, they could do that – but none of it exists and to date Google’s TV efforts have been laughable. You can always spot the trolls by the fact that they talk about some future where their side ships the mythical perfect thing. Meanwhile, the ATV 4 is here, now.
I don’t see the issue here. Cue named the apps/providers universal search works with and clearly stated more will be added in the future. This is fairly standard practice these days, and very easy to do with a minor OS update push.
The interesting thing here is whether the content providers are really content with being the second tier down. Right now you go to the provider’s app (Netflix, whatever) then find the show or movie. This is obviously not great for the user but it gives the provider the opportunity to gain mindshare. This experience puts the user desires in charge – “I want to watch X, let me find that… ok now where can I watch it”. I wonder if this, rather than financial terms, has been the sticking point with networks.
Lost in the discussion about Apple TV and gaming consoles, I think the gaming aspect of Apple TV does 1 really big thing that nobody is focusing on: putting even more money in the pockets of developers. There’s a ton of people who don’t have consoles at all and now there is a mechanism for developers to get them to buy games/upgrade games they own to Apple TV. Even if it’s a short term boom, it will drive even more energy into the iOS developer ecosystem. And as the hardware improves and developers push the boundaries of Metal, don’t be surprised if the FPS games come faster than we expect.
I just wish they delivered 4K. I’m probably going to wait 1 more year to upgrade my Apple TV. Luckily Apple gave me plenty more things I still want to spend money on.
yyyyeah, if you could just go ahead and come back after they’ve actually implemented that, that’d be greaaaat….
if only software got better over time…. oh wait, it does!
thankfully Cue also stated that it would get better when more providers were implemented. so, nothing to be concerned about, right?
Or, they might take it as an opportunity to get mindshare and more customers. “Where is that movie? I can rent it one time on iTunes or watch it on Netflix and the subscription brings me a lot more. I think I’ll subscribe.” Or “Well, look, that’s a Hulu exclusive. I think I’ll subscribe.”
Considering these places either already have an open API to search their catalogs or provided Apple with on, I suspect they have already signed on to get more mindshare. CUe said they will add more in the future, so they are working out details with the rest. The App Store setup could even finally bring Amazon Prime to the AppleTV, which a lot of people have wanted. I suspect even Amazon will want their name up there with iTunes and Netflix as a possibility to watch a show.
Why use the A8? The A9 would have opened the door to superior gaming graphics while also allowing 4k output to compatible TVs, no? Obviously cost is the answer, but when your new phone shoots 4k video, it’s odd that your brand new Apple TV won’t be able to display it. 4k TVs are only just gaining penetration, but Siri and controller aside, this felt like last year’s warmed over hardware.
What gaming device couldn’t benefit from a 2x improvement in graphics? Why offer 4k video on the IPhone if it doesn’t offer a ‘real world advantage?’
New Apple TV will not play content from my Mac’s iTunes library, which is stuffed full of pirated content.
This is a deal breaker.
iFlicks won’t work with the new model? That’s news to me.
Yeah, so if it’s already in iTunes why on Earth would it not be streamable. I’ve just looked around for confirmation for your point and can’t find anything.
Actually, this has been amended I think. Or I made an error.
http://www.apple.com/uk/tv/compare/
But there are changes!
Look down at iTunes Store comparison
iTunes Music is on Apple TV 3 but not Apple TV 4. So it’s music from your iTunes library you cannot play it seems, not films. My bad.
But I am still keeping an eye on this!
The ability to quickly stream a movie from my Mac to Apple TV is one of the greatest things about my setup.
I think you’re getting a bit hung up on nomenclature. “Apple Music” is the new name for what iTunes Music is on the older box. Or at least it’s a comparable thing. There’s some debate in the comments section here: http://www.macworld.com/article/2982330/streaming-hardware/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-apple-tv.html
But, long story short, I think we’re fine.
With “content treated as an embedded element on screen…”, now think about the possibilities this function enabled for the future of TV and movies…