Amber Neely
Apple has discontinued sales of its fourth-generation Apple TV after unveiling the new Apple TV 4K at its Take Note event on Tuesday.
Apple announced two versions of the Apple TV 4K on Tuesday, which feature an A15 processor and varying network and storage options.
The introduction of the new device has seemingly bumped off the Apple TV HD, which was introduced seven years prior. The 2015 Apple TV HD was the first Apple TV to run tvOS and the first that came with the Siri Remote.
While the Apple TV HD was priced at $149, the new Apple TV 4K starts at $129.
As 9to5Mac points out, Apple will still provide software updates for the fourth-generation Apple TV, but it's possible that the device may not be supported much longer.
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8 Comments
Considering the new pricing tiers, this makes perfect sense to finally have a replacement to the base model.
Too bad it means the 2015 models probably only have 2 years of software support left.
That explains the recent fire sales.
Trouble is the HD equivalents of chromecast and firestick are about USD$30. Can’t imagine building an ATV HD for even twice that, and then you might as well get the 4K versions of the competing products. I doubt anyone would buy an ATV HD for anything but steaming after all. You would just get the cheaper chromecast 4K with Google TV or firestick 4K max for that.
on longevity, Apple still updates my ATV 3 every now and again. The problem is that apps are no longer supported, updated, or even ever arrive, even for major streaming services, I think I bought it ten years ago.
The biggest benefit of the Apple TV HD for me is the optical audio port. I have a DAC plugged into the optical audio port so I can listen to my Apple Music collection on my old analog receiver and speakers. It works great. I know you can buy an HDMI audio extractor to get back to optical audio but I always wonder whether those devices muck with the HDMI video signal in any way. I suppose Apple doesn’t worry about supporting these offbeat scenarios with 40 year old analog HiFi systems, but I’ll keep enjoying it for as long as I can and for as long as my ATV HD is around to serve my needs.