Having just bought an Apple TV unit and am very happy with it, I'm finding it difficult to understand why Apple charge extra for an HDMI cable when this is the only cable that connects the unit to a TV and without the box is useless. This is why it's taken me 15 years to buy an Apple anything! Comments welcome.
AppleTV 2
D*ck move on Apple's part. Didn't realize it didn't include a cable, and now I have to go shopping again??? In the chaos surrounding Christmas...ugh...
Apple could have kept the running price and included a basic HDMI cable. The price is already jacked up
Apple deleted/censored my reply...related to the fact that TVs and DVD players can use s-video, component cables, dvi, or coaxial for example (which ARE often included).
Apparently Apple doesn't want criticism on here...
It would have been nice to have a simple Apple's own cable included instead of having to buy one to be able to actually use it straight away. Oh well it's history now.
I doubt anyone can answer that with any certainty, but there are several reasons that spring to my mind.
Many users will already have HDMI cables, they will likely feel upset that one is included and hence reflected in the cost.
How can Apple be expected to know how long the HDMI cable should be.
HDMI cables can cost from a few pounds ($) to as much as a thousand (believe it or not), which one would Apple include.
The cables Apple sell aren't exactly cheap, I think they are about £ 20, I'd not be very happy thinking every Apple tv cost £ 20 more than it needed to and I already had a draw full of cables that would have done, I'd be even less happy if that cable turned out to be too short.
I understand your point but I think it's likely impractical.
We'll have to disagree on that, the economics of adding something that you otherwise sell for £ 20 for free just doesn't work. But putting that aside, what length would you make the cable you include bearing in mind longer cables than necessary should be avoided.
Apple TV's instructions are unclear on the HDMI cable. As if not including the cable was bad enough , they don't say explicitly in Apple TV's instructions that the cable is in fact SOLD separately NOT INCLUDED . It doesn't say it anywhere! Why would they leave that information out?
I had to search online for people's complaints about Apple not including a crucial cable in order to figure this out. I wouldn't have been annoyed had Apple just been honest in their set up manual about omitting the HDMI cable, but they're vague. Customers could start messing around with other cables on their TV thinking that the necessary cable might already exist with their HD TV. Jobs would've been ******.
Digitalpainr wrote:
Apple TV's instructions are unclear on the HDMI cable. As if not including the cable was bad enough , they don't say explicitly in Apple TV's instructions that the cable is in fact SOLD separately NOT INCLUDED . It doesn't say it anywhere! Why would they leave that information out?
They didn't leave it out, they state clearly on the box that cables are sold separately.
Apple has no idea what length you may need for an HDMI cable. Also, HDMI cables can be found at a much cheaper price at places like Best Buy etc. If people are very concerned about the inclusion and/ or cost of an HDMI cable, they should possibly reconsider purchasing an Apple TV.
Over the last decade plus some years, nearly every piece of equipment that I have purchased that connects to my TV has come with an HDMI cable. I know have somewhere in the range of 10-15 HDMI cables in a storage box in my attic. The last, and only time, I purchased an HDMI cable was 2 years ago, and that was because I needed an HDMI cable that was 30 feet long; other than that, I have never purchased an HDMI cable in my life. Apple probably realized that the market was saturated with standard sized (6ft-8ft) cables and thought it best to lower the production cost, sale cost, and quite possibly the packaging cost. I may have dove too far in-depth, but that is my take. Enjoy your new product, I love my Apple TV.
You may wish to read info at the link below. The requirement of an HDMI cable is mentioned several times.
Almost no one includes the HDMI cable. I have bought TV's DVD, BluRay players etc. and none of them included the HDMI cable.
Why isn't an HDMI cable included in the Apple TV box and price?
