Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsWorst Apple Product I've Ever Purchased
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
I am a completely happy cord cutter and I have used this apple tv device for just over a year now on my primary watching TV. During that time, I have also used Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices on other TVs. Through that experience and comparison to other devices, I have come to this conclusion: APPLE TV IS THE WORST PRODUCT APPLE HAS EVER PRODUCED, HANDS DOWN. And I say that as an AVID Apple user. I am typing this review on a Macbook Pro, sitting next to my apple iPhone, having owned multiple generations of both. There are probably more apple products in my home than any other brand. Long way of saying I generally like apple products, even if they cost more, at a minimum for their reliability but also for their ingenuity.
My complaints about Apple TV are many, and the types of problems will ring familiar to regular apple users. First, let's start with the remote control. Apple just HAD to incorporate a touch pad, because that's what apple does -- less buttons, more touch stuff. Well that is generally unhelpful for many things you use a remote for: scrolling channel guides is an adventure; trying to navigate DVR content with a touch pad is an unmitigated disaster; and any time you move or touch the remote it pauses the tv or engages some other function. The size of the remote is tiny too, much like an Amazon Fire remote, but at least the Amazon Fire has buttons. Roku is old school in size and hand fit, and is easily the best among these three. Tiny remotes are a solution in search of a problem. Oh, and of course the Apple TV remote has to be charged using an apple charging wire. Batteries would be too old school and just work more easily I guess.
My biggest gripe about the Apple TV is its reliability and functionality in general. I would estimate that at least half the time when I turn my TV on, the Apple TV device is on (light on front showing) but the TV can't find it. So I have to go unplug the Apple TV device and replug it to restart it. This usually solves the problem. Then many times, I'll get a recurring message that says "no internet connection." Usually the picture is still playing, but sometimes the message will keep appearing and the playback will pause. I know I have a good connection because initially to try to overcome this problem, I HARD WIRED the Apple TV device into my router. I have an ethernet cable connection so this message is absurd, especially when I'm running a number of other internet devices on WIFI seamlessly. The worst thing about this problem is that when you google it, you quickly find a common Apple glitch scenario: many people have this same problem and there is no solution. Other playback problems include intermittent quality of picture like I'm experiencing currently as I type this, and sometimes the video will freeze while the audio continues, and then the video will -- in fast forward style catch up.
If you think these problems are just standard streamer glitches, the whole reason I'm writing this review is to assure potential buyers this is not the case. Using several other streaming devices, I have NEVER experienced the same consistent problems as I have with this garbage Apple TV device. I am at the point that I am going to throw this piece of crap out and buy a Roku or Amazon Fire device because I cannot stand the frustration of this awful, unreliable paperweight. Everything about the experience of Apple TV has felt to me like Apple decided they wanted in on the streaming TV device market, produced a device the way they make other Apple devices and with almost no regard to what works and is reliably functional, and turned out a glitchy, unreliable but sleekly designed Apple thing that they would sell for more than anyone else's device.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ROTTEN APPLE EVEN IF YOU ARE AN AVID APPLE LOVER. YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.
Edited to add: I swapped out this POS Apple TV with a Roku device I had on another tv that I use significantly less. The Roku device is a little slower in changing channels and the home menu is less sleek I guess, both things Apple does better. But in terms of streaming and basic functionality, I haven't had a single problem since switching to the Roku I already owned. I'm not an advocate or paid by any of these device people, just sharing my own personal experience, and I am incredibly disappointed in the Apple TV that I paid a premium for. And I'm not an Apple hater, I'm the opposite, probably an over-consumer of Apple stuff. In the meantime, I've ordered a replacement CAT-7 wire just to take all other variables out of the equation for a reasonable ~$15, but it seems pretty clear to me the Apple device is the weak link that is letting me down.
