Apple is said to be in the process of phasing out the third-generation Apple TV, according to 9to5Mac.
A source who spoke to the tech news site has indicated that Apple is pulling the device from its brick-and-mortar retail stores, with staff instructed to remove any remaining models from store shelves.
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The claim comes despite the fact that the third-generation device is still available to purchase under the TV heading of Apple's online store, albeit at the bottom of the section page, with the option to compare the model with the fourth-generation device also still listed.
The third-generation Apple TV was released back in 2012 and received a spec bump the following year, but the model lacks the App Store native to tvOS, which also benefits from deep Siri integration and a touch-based remote that doubles as a controller.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)I can see myself keeping it for a long time too.
I still don't even know what the 4th gen does that my 3rd gen can't. Games? Ha.
Plex.As far as apps are concerned, I don't think that there is anything the 4th gen does that an iPhone w/AirPlay + a 3rd gen can't do.
Meanwhile, VUDU support is still awful. No native app and no AirPlay support.
I'm still using a 3rd gen. It does everything I need it to do.
Same. We've had ours since 2012 and it continues to provide everything we need. We're not heavy aTV users: so long as it does YouTube, Netflix, and AirPlay, we're good.I can see myself keeping it for a long time too.
However in reality, the aTV3 hits most of the big requirements for a streaming device.