So long, and thanks for all the streams. | Image: Apple
Apple appears to no longer be selling the Apple TV HD, a less expensive alternative to its 4K streaming boxes, in its store (via MacRumors). The HD was a long-standing product in Apple’s lineup, originally announced in 2015 as the fourth-generation Apple TV and becoming the budget option as Apple rolled out 4K models — such as the one it announced today.
In 2022, the HD didn’t make a ton of sense; starting last year, it came with Apple’s new remote, which was nice, but it was $149 and used Apple’s A8 processor from the iPhone 6. Meanwhile, the new Apple TV 4K starts at $129, has the much newer A15, double the storage, and of course, supports much higher resolution content (not to mention HDR). The HD maybe kind of sort of (but not really) made sense in a world where the 4K started at $179 like the 2021 model did, but there’s just no way it would’ve been a good buy after today.
I’d imagine that some people would argue that Apple should keep the HD around as an ultra-budget option — especially given that Google just introduced a $30 Chromecast HD, which it bills as a less expensive alternative to its 4K Chromecast with Google TV puck. And while I’d love for there to be a sub-$100 Apple TV, I just don’t think that would’ve been a good idea because of the ancient chip that powered the HD. Apple dropped support for A10 devices with iOS 16, so imagine if tvOS engineers still had to support a chip that was two generations older than that.
With that said, if you really want an Apple TV HD, you can still get it at places like B&H, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. (It’s currently on sale for $99 at the latter store.) But after an almost seven-year run, it’s probably time to let it go into a well-earned retirement.