I bought it yesterday, almost on impulse. I’ve done a modicum of research, and decided we should try it. Here’s my initial thoughts after setup and messing with it a couple hours. I’m sure there’s features I haven’t figured out yet.

I selected the Apple TV 4K wireless and Ethernet version for $149. We don’t have a 4K tv… yet. But we most likely will soon. Also, I’m running it wireless for the time being. I’ll be running some wired connections soon, just waiting for the weather to cool off a bit more before I go traipsing through the attic pulling wire runs. So going ahead and getting the wired option made sense for me.

Unboxing was the typical Apple experience many of us have come to grow and love. Nice packaging, minimal paperwork. You get the Apple TV box, power cord, and Siri Remote. If you don’t have an HDMI cable you will need to purchase one. Someone please fact check me here, but I think HDMI 2.1 is the preferred cable.

Setup was easy. Extraordinarily easy. Take the unit out of the box, connect the HDMI cable and the power cord and turn it on.

I kept thinking, “there has to be more to it than that.” Using my iphone to help with setup (prompts come up from time to time), it just worked - connecting to my home network without any fuss or muss and setting itself up to the correct resolution for my old Panasonic 1080 TV. The included Siri Remote, almost magically (I know it’s not magic but it feels that way) just worked to turn my TV on and control the volume without me having to train anything.

After setup one of the first things I did was update the OS to the latest version. That took a few minutes, but it works pretty much just like any other apple device.

I went about the process of adding our family members and creating profiles, and making sure everyone’s phone was functioning as the remote (accessible through control center), and logging into our various services like Apple TV+, Prime Video, Disney, YouTube, DirectTV, and whatever else we have.

And then we played. The kids thought it was great fun to FaceTime using the TV (you use your iPhone or iPad as your camera and microphone) while the party you are connected to shows up on the television screen. I don’t see us using that a lot, but sometimes we FT with relatives so we might…

Using the Siri Remote to switch between apps and navigate the menus is pretty intuitive but I did find myself hopping online a couple times to look up how to do a certain task. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I couldn’t find the Siri button on the remote and had to look that up. (Spoiler alert - it’s on the right side of the remote). Using the iPhone or iPad remote isn’t hard either.

Speaking of the Siri Remote. It feels good in the hand. It’s a bit small but not uncomfortably so. It has a nice weight to it. This version has a USB-C port for charging. The remote came 80% charged out of the box so I haven’t had to charge it yet. The controls are interesting to use but not complicated. If you have the latest OS you can use the “find my” app on your iPhone or iPad to locate the Siri Remote! With three children in the house, I quite like the sound of that. It’s a shame you don’t get an audible alert though, just a visual indicator on your iPhone similar to looking for your AirPods.

There are a lot of features we haven’t tried (Apple Arcade and connecting a game controller up for example). But we did switch between our streaming apps, played with the photo gallery and some other stuff. Switching between your iPhone or iPad screen and the TV is awesome. I know, it’s tech… but it feels magical…

My favorite experience of the night was mirroring my iPad screen to the TV. The kids and I looked through some photos and videos of our family, but the real fun was pulling up Google Earth and exploring parts of the planet with them on the big screen.

There’s a lot to Apple TV. More than I realized and I have a lot more to discover. Like this whole HomeKit thing. How crazy do we want to go? Some smart lighting? Sure. A smart thermostat? My nest died a few years ago and I put in a cheap dumb Home Depot contractor special. Maybe it’s time to give Ecobee or similar a go. Cameras, blinds, coffee maker…. The dreams are infinite but the wallet is not. So we have some thinking and planning to do.

I’d also like to cancel our DirectTV. I don’t think we need it anymore. The wife and I are discussing. 90% of what watch is available through streaming services we already have, and the Apple TV just made it extraordinarily easy to access those. The other 10% I think we can either do without or pickup a cheaper option.

And that’s the main reason I bought Apple TV. To see if we could head towards that path. And quickly found out it is so much more than just an avenue to cord cutting.

I imagine I’ll be adding it to our other TV’s soon.