Netflix Will Drop Support for Old-Gen Apple TV Models Next Month: Report

Netflix – the popular video streaming service – may soon drop support for older Apple TV models, according to claims on Reddit. Users on the social media forum reported receiving emails from the streaming platform about “sunsetting support” for several older-generation models. Instead, Netflix is said to focus on the newer models and provide the latest features, such as redesigned icons and a new home screen, both of which were introduced in recent months.

No Netflix on older Apple TV models

In a post on the Apple TV subreddit, a user shared a screenshot of what appears to be an email from Netflix, informing about the end of support for older Apple TV models. As per the details, the streaming platform will stop supporting Apple TV (2nd generation) and Apple TV (3rd generation) starting July 31.

The email read, “You’re receiving this email because you’ve used Apple TV (2nd generation) and/or Apple TV (3rd generation) with Netflix in the past. Unfortunately, we’re sunsetting support for these devices on July 31, 2024.”

Netflix says this move is to ensure that viewers maintain the “best possible viewing experience”. Below the post, one of the users speculated that it may be a complete shutdown. “My guess would be complete shutdown, since I believe the ‘apps’ for these generations of Apple TV are just web apps either hosted by Apple or just the home screen launch icons/URLs are hosted by Apple.”

List of Obsolete devices

Notably, all the Apple devices that Netflix is dropping support for have already been termed “obsolete” by the Cupertino-based tech giant, according to its official support page. Apple says this term is given to devices whose distribution stopped more than seven years ago. The company does not offer any hardware service for obsolete products and service providers cannot order parts for repair.

Apple TV (2nd generation) was launched in September 2010 and offered viewing in up to 720p resolution. On the other hand, Apple TV (3rd generation) debuted in 2012, powered by an A5 chip. It supported content streaming at up to 1080p resolution.

Notably, both devices ran on an early version of iOS instead of tvOS, which was introduced later in 2015 with support for third-party applications.