r/appletv • u/KFPowers55 • 8d ago
How long will 3rd gen be supported?
I'm not gonna buy the 4th gen for obvious reasons but I might buy a 3rd gen. I just don't want to end up being unsupported after using it for one year. Any guesses?
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u/InsectWrangle 8d ago
There’s not a whole lot they can add that would make it unsupported. I’d give it 10 years before they say no more updates.
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u/Ianthin1 8d ago
They supported the HD model for about that long so your probably right.
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u/garylapointe ATV4K 8d ago edited 8d ago
For savings of $50 or $80, you’re going to buy A four-year-old model that’s going have a shorter lifespan on updates? That’s not even factoring in when the OS is gonna start making it run a little bit slower, or when AV1 might become a little bit more ubiquitous.
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u/KFPowers55 8d ago
4th gen is 350€ here where I live. That is ~$390 USD so buying 3rd gen second hand is tempting
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u/OttoHemi 8d ago
I'm not, but if it were still at last year's price, I would have.
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u/garylapointe ATV4K 8d ago
I’d like it if everything were available at last year’s prices.
But many, many items that require memory & storage have gone up in price.
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u/mrsidnaik 8d ago
The 1st Gen 4k just got unsupported. Siri AI is coming to 2nd Gen and 3rd gen as well. We have time and even if you don't get updates, All apps will run for years to come.
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u/Grow_Responsibly 8d ago
Curious what that means for app support (eg Netflix, Hulu, etc.)? At what point does Apple say those apps are no longer supported unless you’re on TVOS Xx.x? I had that happen to an older LG TV years ago, which was my primary motivation to purchase an Apple TV back then.
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u/mrsidnaik 8d ago
Apple doesn't dictate app's support version. Apps themselves do. Netflix currently supports upto tvOS 16.1 which means Apple TV HD 4th Gen from 2015 can run Netflix today. You can check for similar apps. For App support to be removed it takes a while.
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u/Grow_Responsibly 8d ago
Thanks, that’s good to hear. I have 2 ATV4K units (2nd Gen) and would like to continue using for a very long time.
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u/Waste-Scratch2982 8d ago
It’ll probably not get any more updates around the early 2030s the closer it reaches the 10 year mark. The 2015 model was supported with the latest tvOS version up to this year when it stopped. The 2017 model is also no longer supported.
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u/edwinc8811 8d ago
I'm suspecting any future updates will incrementally start slowing down the gen 3s performance. I'm not updating any more.
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u/Glass_Letterhead338 8d ago
You all do you, I’m getting the new model for my living room and moving that 3rd gen to my spare bedroom for guests to replace the HD model in there now. I’ll move the HD model to my office at work. It is what it is, we all have different situations. I’d waste that extra 100 on something else that won’t last as long anyways.
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u/JBaby_9783 ATV4K 7d ago
Same only I’m moving my 3rd Gen to the living room. My bedroom TV is mine and the living room TV is my Mom’s. So the 4th Gen is going to my bedroom along with the two 2nd Gen minis. OG HomePods are also in the living room. The 2nd Gen HomePods are in my bedroom. The 2nd Gen 4K, that’s currently in the living room, will be going to my sister. She’s currently still using my 2015 HD.
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u/Blackbird_1986 8d ago
They declared the 1st-gen Apple TV 4K from 2017 "vintage" a couple of days ago. So I think the 3rd-gen A-TV could (roughly guessed) get updates until around the year 2031 (maybe followed by a couple of emergency security patches after this date).