Talk me into/out of it: Apple One & Apple Fitness+ on an old 720p TV

Hardware
1

Here’s the scenario. I’m currently only paying Apple for $3/month worth of iCloud, but I’m considering Apple One.

  • I actually want to subscribe to Apple News+. It includes WSJ and a couple other publications that I’d like to read, so it’s a good value to me. That’s $10/month.
  • I’d like to start using Fitness+ again. We had it before during lockdown and liked it, but switched to a legit gym membership. The gym is less convenient than it was, so we’re looking at switching back. That’s $10/month.
  • iCloud storage isn’t a selling point at the 2TB level, but I currently pay for the 200GB level. That’s $3/month worth of value at a minimum.
  • I think my girlfriend would enjoy Arcade. It’s not something we’d pay for otherwise, but if it comes with Apple One we’d use it.
  • Neither of us really cares about Music, but again - we’d use it if it were there.

By my math the “stuff I’d like” puts me close to the cost of Apple One. And there’s no way to get Fitness+ for the family without the big package.

The caveat is that to do workouts we’d want to get Apple Fitness+ onto a TV in a different room from where our nice TV is, and all we have laying around is an old 32" 720p TV.

Doing some looking around, I’m seeing that the 2021 release of the Apple TV HD is available for about $80 at the local Walmart. It’s not 4K, but I would think it doesn’t need to be as it would be going on a 720p TV.

I feel like this all makes sense, but I’m wondering if there’s anything I’m missing - particularly with the Apple TV situation. Is there any good reason why this shouldn’t work? Is there some “gotcha” that’s going to leave me disappointed if I try this?

I have to rearrange furniture to make this happen, so I just wanted a sanity check. :slight_smile:

2

I have a 2015 Model 1625 AppleTV connected to a soon to be 16 year old 42" 1080i Samsung Plasma TV. It has always displayed 720p video.

Can you switch your “nice TV” to 720p to get an idea what your 32" will look like?

3

720p is fine on a regular size TV. You really need a larger screen TV for 1080p or 4K to be distinctive to the human eye.

Also, viewing distance makes a big difference.

There are charts and tables available that show minimum distance for screen size and screen resolution if you want to dive into the specifics.

But - AppleTV’s are not that popular as media streaming boxes, in the overall scheme of things. If you look on eBay or other used equipment sites, you can get them super cheap versus the new price and they will work fine.

Apple fans upgrade to the lastest version and dump the older ones so great deals on only slightly older AppleTV’s abound online.

4

I took a look, and there’s no way to rejigger my main TV to 720p - but I can always move the 720p into the room with the other TV and try the cable. :smiley:

I think for me my thought is mostly “not having to look at an iPad from 4-5 feet away.”

Are there any specific sites you’d look on other than eBay?

1 Like
5

I use my Apple F+ on a 32 inch TV that in bought in 2011. Works just fine and makes me sweat

3 Likes
6

My guess would be that 720p will be fine for Fitness+: you are across the room doing exercises, grabbing a quick look at the screen to see you’ve got it right and seeing if you’ve closed your rings yet.

2 Likes
7

Thanks everybody! It’s not an issue of visibility for me as much as an issue of the UI not being all wonky or crazy or not visible properly or something (or worse, Apple popping up a message for God-only-knows-what reason that says I need a fancy TV or something).

Looks like I’ll give it a shot. :slight_smile:

1 Like