Josh OngSeveral discussion threads on Apple's support forums related to issues with HD rentals not loading and HDMI connectivity problems have reached hundreds of posts in length as increasing numbers of Apple TV owners report having trouble with the device.
Some users report that Apple TV displays HD rental wait times of hundreds of minutes, while other video, such as trailers, HD Netflix movies, and YouTube begin playing after just a few minutes. "At one point, the HD movie was going to take over 3,000 minutes to load," wrote one user.
Though a portion of the users have resolved the issue by upgrading to higher bandwidth Internet, others report the problem occurring even with high-speed connections capable of handling HD video.
Another Apple support thread details potential compatibility issues between Apple TV and a number of HD TV sets. Users report frequent "HDMI handshakes" between the TV and Apple TV, with the picture returning with inverted colors. A user-compiled list of TVs affected includes models by Philips and Sony.
The Apple TV 4.1 firmware update, which was released last week alongside iOS 4.2, does not appear to resolve either issue.
Apple unveiled the revamped $99 Apple TV in September with a focus on 'the cloud' and streaming media. With just 8GB of onboard storage, Apple's new set top box serves as a hub for content streamed from the Internet, computers, or iOS devices.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced in October that the company had sold 250,000 Apple TVs in "just a short amount of time."
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In other words, AI is here to escalate the solution by giving the forum users more exposure, right?
Some users report that Apple TV displays HD rental wait times of hundreds of minutes, while other video, such as trailers, HD Netflix movies, and YouTube begin playing after just a few minutes. "At one point, the HD movie was going to take over 3,000 minutes to load," wrote one user.
I'm assuming these people have filed radar issues with their current equipment and broadband configuration status, with any known or unknown performance issues for their backbone?
Getting in early here... Apple is D00med!!!
Afraid I did none of those things. All I can say is I have 12-14 megabit connection and experience no problems with my 1st gen apple tv starting a hi def rental in about a minute, but rentals on the 2nd gen takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes. While waiting, the ATV is reporting anywhere from 1-4 hours before the program is ready to watch.
I cannot eliminate the possibility that it's my wireless connection at home because I haven't done a full troubleshooting, but can say that I have never experienced any issues with any streaming services in the past, including Apples own 1st gen Apple TV.
I currently use an airport extreme base station with an Airport Express to extend the network. I use various security protocols including MAC address restrictions and wpa2. In other words, nothing particularly unusual. My guess is it's not on my end. I've also considered the possibility that my ISP is throttling my bandwidth but see no evidence of it.
There might be a problem with The ATV. Its definitely giving weird feedback on the delays.
In other words, AI is here to escalate the solution by giving the forum users more exposure, right?
I'm assuming these people have filed radar issues with their current equipment and broadband configuration status, with any known or unknown performance issues for their backbone?
Looks like a bit of rain in the Clouds.
There might be a problem with The ATV. Its definitely giving weird feedback on the delays.
I (sort of) agree. I am less than thrilled with the new AppleTV compared to the old. It is slower in its TV/movie downloads, photo/video/music syncing with the iPad and the Mac hangs for what seems like an eternity, photo streams seem to be of poorer quality, and there are a number of other minor annoyances (e.g., still can't get fully right the screen saver setting with photo albums when playing music, unlike with the previous model).
Overall, the only saving grace is the fact that it costs $99.
It's just not ready for prime time yet. As I've said before, 2.5/5.