Persistent Subtitles

i missed the announcement you refer to about Apple no longer supporting 1st gen Apple TV---looked on web and couldn't find it--do you have a link to that announcement ?

I haven't seen that announcement. If that's true why doesn't Apple's support make that point clearly in their correspondance? Even better, why not offer a warning about incompatibility on the purchase screen for 1st gen AppleTV users. I agree the technology is evolving quickly. My problem is with Apple's response (or lack thereof) to the issue. If my device is incompatible, just tell me -- don't waste my time telling me how to set up closed captioning options or to contact Apple's paid tech support.

To be honest I feel a lot better now with this rumored “Apple TV(1st gen) no longer supported” notice.

(and I agree, why not just come out and say it, instead of asking me to pay for a premium technical support phone call for a legacy product)

I made a joke about spending either $59 to “talk” about my problem with Apple or $109 (new apple TV) to fix it. I’m glad that I spared myself the extra expense.

A Message for Apple:

If you are not going to reward loyalty of the Apple brand by releasing new services/products that make concessions for older hardware then maybe you could consider the following:

There is an Audio Hardware/Software manufacturer that I have dealt with for years called Digidesign (now Avid).They used to have a Hardware Exchange program, that if you had a registered legacy product you could trade that in against the latest greatest version...(the credit was nominal, but it was something)

My house is littered with Apple products (Iphone 4s, Iphone 5, Mac Pro, Imac, Ipad2, Apple TV and my old Powerbook).

At the price point of ALL Apple products, I (We) deserve better than a 2 year window of normal operation.

I couldn't find an official proclamation from Apple, but ArsTechnica had a blurb when the new Apple TVs came out...

We confirmed with an Apple spokesperson that the maximum HD resolution of the Apple TV is 720p, consistent with recent rumors. Additionally, there will be no software update to bring the new features to older Apple TVs. Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2010/09/hands-on-photos-questions-answered-about-ne w-ipods-apple-tv/

NOTE, however, that last part Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point...

And take note that the Apple TV 1st generation is still featured in all the support pictures for Apple TV. Will the 1st generation get any NEW features that the current models get? No. However, does it still function with current features? Yes. Is this an oversight on Apple's part (the title display sticking)? Absolutely. Have they officially cancelled support for it...not at all (not officially).

People are still renting and buying movies through it, and as long as that part is working Apple has a vested interested in keeping people happily purchasing. The new Apple TVs are almost loss leaders for Apple anyway (not a high margin item for them I believe). At $350 (whatever) price I got my 1st gen from them at, they better keep in running for a long time (to be fair, it's been since 2008)

Same problem here and it is really a poor showing for apple. Their solution for me was spend $59 talking to support or $100 to buy a new device.

My Family: 1 - Mac Pro (the desktop), 1 - iMac, 3 - iPads, 2 - iPhones, lots of iTunes purchases and 1 Apple T.V.

This is no longer the Apple I know.

2013 resolution is divest in Apple.

Sad

Have had this issue on a few films. Became so annoying on Argo that I had to play with the Audio & Vidio setting to try to fix it. Changed Subtitle Language setting from "Off" to "English" which seems to have fixed the problem and didn't bring up any extra subtitles.

depacec is right! I have had this problem for the last several movies..really very frustrating....I restored the apple tv to factory settings and it didnt help...

but after just changing the subtitle language to "english" instead of "off"...and also setting the main language to "english" instead of "default" the subtitle boxes went away! THANK YOU!

I couldn't check this on Argo as my rental has expired but this work-around does work for The Hobbit but does not resolve the issues with Dr. No or Taken 2. Not sure what the underlying problem is ... it would be nice if Apple actually got engaged with solving the problem.

I have sent the Apple Supervisor a reminder note this morning--he was in training last week--we'll see if "training" includes any customer support for first gen AppleTV. I will let all know if he responds.

Wow--the Apple Supervisor just called me, twenty minutes after receiving my email--not bad. He said that Engineering has been able to duplicate the problem but do not yet know why it is happening--they will look at whether it's a "First Generation AppleTV" hardware issue or whether it's the encoding process for recent movies. He said he did not know how long this would take but would keep me updated if Engineering figured it out. I told him i would check back in a couple weeks if i hadn't heard anything. So--stay tuned

That's good to hear because what I posted earlier about it being fixed with changing subtitles to english only worked temporarily. The persistant titles are back!

I took my Apple TV to the apple store/genius bar to have them look at it...and super frustrating...the subtitles did not come on at all! After i hooked it back up at home and turned it on...it seemed like they were gone for good and then all of a sudden they started again. Im losing my mind trying to figure this out...meanwhile...wont rent/buy another movie until I know its resolved.

I am adding to the many who have the old Apple TV, subtitles, location captions, stick when playing movies as well, e.g., Argo, Savages... Apple please support and fix. It would be a real shame if I have to contribute to more electronic junk by having to get rid of a perfectly working Apple TV, and upgrade, just because of sticking subtitles. Please be green.

The work around seems to work on some movies and even then only in part. For example in The Hobbit the work around eliminates the persistant subtitle issue untill the very last subtitle in the movie ("Kill him") which remains on screen unless the movie is stopped and restarted. Maybe that has something to do sith the encoding: since there's no "next" subtitle in the film that one sticks. I don't know but it remains frustrating.

Please add me to the list of people annoyed and do not want to purchase another Apple TV and please keep us updated on this. This has only started happening to us recently for Taken 2 an the Hobbit. Apple refunded my money on Taken 2 and said they would get the problem fixed in three weeks and I could repurchase the movie. I have not heard back from Apple with any details though and didn't like the movie enough to repurchase so I am unsure if they actually did anything.

This is ridiculous. We were early adopters of Apple TV. We all said, “Oh well” when you did not support Netflix or airplay on Gen 1. Which is BS because we know the hardware WILL support it. But…. You are screwing us on renting movies????????!!!!

I am voting with my pocketbook this time. No more new Apple products in my house.