Apple buys itself some time with £59 Apple TV price cut
How long can the current Apple TV survive? The sleek streaming box has stayed the same, more or less, for just over three years now. Sure, there's been a steady stream of new apps and software features, but the components and basic experience have barely changed. Meanwhile, we've seen Roku, Amazon, Google and others bombard the market with rival hardware that offer new, modern takes on navigation and discovery. We're still waiting on a major Apple TV refresh, but in the meantime the company has dropped the price of its set-top box yet again; now, you can pick one up for £59 rather than £79 in the UK.
It's hard not to see this latest discount as a stop-gap measure. Price drops are always welcome, of course, but after three years even the most devout Apple fans will be hoping for an upgrade. Even so, the Apple TV is still a competitive bit of kit. If you compare it side-by-side with other sub-£100 set-top boxes, the list of features that it's missing out on is relatively small. Most of the major streaming services are there (Amazon's Prime Instant Video is a notable exception) and AirPlay streaming is still invaluable for Mac, iOS and even Android users, if you're willing to download a third-party app like AllCast.
At £59, it's also a tad cheaper now than most of its biggest rivals. It's an unusual tactic for Apple, which normally prides itself on offering a best-in-class experience with a luxurious price-tag to match. Settling for second-best and undercutting the competition just isn't its style. Nevertheless, it's a move that could shift a few more Apple TVs off store shelves. At least until the company launches its long-rumoured Apple TV successor, which some suspect is now cancelled or stuck in development limbo due to uncooperative TV providers. Alas, the wait for truly à la carte TV channels and programming continues...
