The last improvement that this third generation Apple TV comes with would have to be the better video performance but don’t get your hopes up too high because you’re in for a rather big disappointment. Keep in mind that the 1080p branding will only appear if you are using the device in 1080p mode and in the iTunes Store settings you have 1080p enabled. The bad news is that there isn’t a lot 1080p content available on iTunes, but hopefully Apple will work on this and more fullHD content will be offered.
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Until it does this, you will mostly use the Apple TV (third generation) for 720p videos, just like the predecessor. There is another problem related to the 1080p content as the Apple TV needs a lot of time for streaming such content. Even though the company has implemented the H.264 profile for reducing the size of the 1080p files without compromising the quality of the video, these full HD videos need a considerable buffering time. For this reason, some of the third-gen Apple TV users will prefer to download 720p movies rather than getting the 1080p movies and waiting for these to be buffered.
We also have to mention that this latest generation of the Apple TV does not come with support for fullHD AirPlay streaming, which although might not be very important to some people, other users will be disappointed, especially if we take into consideration that with the soon-to-be-released OS X Mountain Lion, Mac users will be able to share the screens with the help of AirPlay. Let’s not forget that most Mac laptops and all desktop Macs offer resolutions higher than 720p. Most likely, Apple will release an update for the device will offer support for fullHD AirPlay streaming but nothing is certain at the moment. All things considered, it is up to you to decide if the third generation of the Apple TV is worth considering. Most likely, those who own the predecessor will not opt for this new version since it doesn’t really bring anything new, except for the 1080p support which right now is rather limited. One of the advantages of the new model would have to be the potential software evolutions which will probably make the device more attractive. We still recommend the Apple TV since it works great as a NetFlix performer, an AirPlay receiver, as well as a standalone device for viewing Mac/PC iTunes content on your HDTV.
What Apple has to do in order to make the third generation Apple TV better is improve the support for 1080p content since right now you don’t get a lot of full HD videos. In addition, with future software updates we hope that the streaming time will be shortened, because otherwise lots of users will still prefer to download 720p movies that don’t have these issues. One of the assets of this device would have to be its affordable price tag which makes it more appealing than a lot of other similar devices, especially if you own an iPhone, iPod Touch or an iPad with which you can improve the Apple TV experience.