Apple TV is Dead

No, I don’t mean the product is killed off, but that in 2020 the Apple TV is serving virtually no purpose anymore. This will only get more prevalent as time goes on. Let me explain

Airplay

Airplay was once one of the key selling points for the Apple TV box. You can play almost all kinds of media like music and movies directly from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac wirelessly. This feature alone makes Apple TV desirable. However, nowadays there are so many ways to mirror your iOS device’s screen and your Mac’s screen to your TV. Either through 3rd party apps or simply an HDMI cable. Furthermore, A couple of years ago Apple begins to support Airplay on other TV manufactures like Samsung, LG, Sony, and VIZIO. Apple is continually supporting newer generations of TVs from these TV manufactures, it is only a matter of time before the average consumer has a TV that comes with Airplay natively.

Apple TV library

Another potential selling point for Apple TV was that you can rent a movie from iTunes on your iPhone and watch it on your Apple TV. You had access to your whole iTunes library. I will not get into the specifics of why you would want your movies in the Apple ecosystem, but it was a distinctive feature of the Apple TV box. This is not the case anymore. We know that Apple has introduced Airplay on more high — end TVs from some selected manufactures. However, there is a huge amount of TV’s now that support the Apple TV app. The Apple TV app includes all of your previous iTunes libraries along with Apple TV plus shows. In addition to the previous TV manufacturers that support Airplay, you have big players like Roku and Amazon Fire TV supporting the Apple TV app. If you have a huge library in iTunes, it is starting to get less likely that you will need an actual Apple TV box to consume your content on the big screen.

tvOS gaming

In the beginning, Apple TV was advertised as a potential gaming device. Maybe not levels to compete with an Xbox or Playstation, but as a light gaming device where you can play your favorite mobile games on the big screen. In 2020, there has already been a huge amount of games being either pulled off the app store for the Apple TV or simply don’t support it anymore. With Apple Arcade and the support for Xbox and PlayStation controllers, the Apple TV gaming space might be getting better. However, many prominent developers with the likes of Mojang have strayed away from the platform due to low sales, and new games aren’t being added regularly to the platform. tvOS gaming started off bright but is now facing a slow death.

Integration with the Apple Ecosystem

If we assume that Airplay or other Airplay alternatives and the Apple TV app will become more mainstream. Then we can expect that you will no longer need an Apple TV to access a lot of the features that once connected the Apple TV with the rest of the Apple Ecosystem. For example. Want to show your photos on your Apple TV? Simply use Airplay. Want to stream Apple Music to your TV? Airplay is there again. Have a huge library of movies on iTunes? Again you can use Airplay or even just use the Apple TV app which is a lot more available. To be fair, I wouldn’t say that there are no exclusive features for Apple TV that connects it to the Apple Ecosystem. There is the design language of tvOS which morphs along with the rest of your Apple Devices. It is still really nice to be able to use HomeKit on your Apple TV if you have the supported accessories. It is also nice to be able to use your iPhone as a remote for your Apple TV as well. However, all of these other features are small and brings no incentives for the average consumer to purchase an Apple TV just because they are in the Apple Ecosystem

Conclusion

I want to end with some positives about Apple TV. It has a good UI, does integrate somewhat with the Apple Ecosystem, and still has some good apps in its App Store. However, with most TV’s nowadays coming with your basic streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu and exclusive features like Airplay and the iTunes library being expanded to more TVs. Apple TV is seriously losing its specialities. Along with the dying gaming space and less exclusive connection with the Apple Ecosystem, Apple TV’s future is not too bright. And I think that is why Apple has made Airplay and Apple TV app less exclusive. Apple doesn’t see the potential in Apple TV either but still wants to capitalize on its subscription services like Apple Music and its Apple TV app.