I know Smart TV privacy concerns are a big conversation here, largely because there’s practically no good way to jailbreak a Smart TV, but I wanted to ask about a specific use case.

How much better is it to disable all network connectivity on a smart tv (running Roku as its core OS) and hook an Apple TV box up to it?

More or less, I suppose what I’m asking is whether or not using an Apple TV is as private as it can get with easy-to-use streaming devices?

Yes. An Apple TV will be about as private as you can get for something that supports mainstream streaming apps (running a mini-pc won't allow better than 720p quality and you'll struggle to get remotes to work, it'll be a clunky experience via web browsers often). It will be a lot better than a smart TV, especially a Roku who are among the worst.

If you want a bit more privacy consider running a pihole and redirecting DNS traffic at your firewall to your pihole or blocking all DNS traffic not from your pihole. I run a firewall solution that includes DNS redirection and blocking and there are a lot of measurement endpoints for streaming apps that you can block without the app breaking so that's another little ounce. This doesn't require a ton more effort though it is more effort it can be a set and forget type of thing. Importantly this does not block in-app ads.

For me the fact they don't have any ads is what sells me on it. I don't want ads on my homescreen. I don't even want them in the apps but getting that peace and lack of clutter on the homescreen is so nice.

Apple TVs are also just so smooth. Smart TV's feel sluggish and pathetic compared to how well everything just works on a device that's properly powered for the task and not constantly sucking up all your data.

Apple TVs also have a lot of Apple privacy settings though obviously some of them apps may not allow like many streaming apps require a location check at least intermittently for licensing reasons to prove you're still in the country but you can limit it as much as possible.

If you have a decent wifi network and you know you're not going to be streaming say homemade BluRay rips the wifi entry model is excellent (currently it supports wifi 6 and has a really good wifi chip). I personally run Plex and a media server so I choose the wifi+ethernet model to have the reliability of ethernet and don't regret it but it's understandable if your situation precludes being able to use a wired connection or you want to save the $20 extra they charge.

I dump Blu-rays either directly to BDMV or MKV (TV shows) on a wired NAS; streaming to Apple TV via Infuse is super smooth.

Yeah they include a gigabit ethernet port which is really useful for full quality 4k, amazing how many cheaper streaming devices only have 10/100 ports which I suppose is adequate if all you do is stream Netflix.

But to me it's just cheaping out to save a dollar or two on the manufacturer's part that with ethernet & protocol overhead could result in problems potentially even for 1080p streams. Whereas gigabit even with overhead and lackluster conditions you're going to get 700-800mbps sustained. People think for 1080p bluray dumps for instance that oh bitrates are only around 40-50mbps average but if you fast forward, if you're seeking around the actual bitrate being consumed jumps to double or more at times and that 100mbps port will choke on that and buffer whereas the gigabit will not flinch. And though I don't use the playback speed option myself much Infuse does allow playing back at 1.5 and 2x speeds which consume around 1.5x and 2x the bitrate respectively.

But it's just nice to not have to deal with wireless hiccups too.

Even with fantastic WiFi I prefer to keep as much off of simply to conserve resources. And yeah Gigabit Ethernet at this point should be a minimum.

This is what I’ve been doing for years - since the Apple TV came out, actually. I detest “smart” TVs, but the world has decided that’s my only option now. The first thing I do with a new Tv (I actually just upgraded mine recently) is disable the internet and turn off absolutely everything I can in whatever shit OS they are using. I plug in the Apple TV, set the input to that, and that’s it. It just works️

I’m very concerned about privacy issues generally but am pretty comfortable with Apple’s stated and perceived privacy. If you’re paying for quality hardware and services through them, they have little incentive to sell you out – unlike pretty much every other tech company out there (I’m looking at you, Google).

The Apple TV is wicked fast (faster than any other TV OS or box I’ve ever seen) and has absolutely zero ads, zero cruft, and requires zero maintenance. If you are at all in the Apple universe with other devices, it’s perfectly seamless and tough to beat. I highly recommend it.

I know a bunch of Android/linux/Windows/Whatever-heads are gonna jump in and list a bunch of features or customizations the Apple to doesn’t have or can’t do… ya, that may be true but if that’s important to you… then don’t fucking buy it. Not everyone has the same use case as you. When I want to watch TV, I wanna watch TV – not update my Linux distro or whatever else I’ve hodge-podged together. I’ve built my own HTPCs and PVRs and, frankly, know this stuff inside-out. For me, and probably millions of others, nothing comes close to the Apple TV in terms of price, time commitment, simplicity, functionality AND privacy.