Best Uses for an Old Apple TV

Now that the new Apple TV is available for purchase, users need to start making room in their living room for the new set-top box, which means finding a new place for their old Apple TV. Here are some of the best uses for an old Apple TV.

The new Apple TV is quite the overhaul over the Apple TV 3, coming with all sorts of new features, including an all-new remote with a built-in trackpad, gaming support, a native Apple TV App Store for third-party apps and games, and even Siri functionality.

Overall, there’s so much more that you can do on the new Apple TV than previous generations, and it’s pretty much an instant buy for those that heavily rely on their Apple TVs every day.

However, this begs the question: what should you do with your old Apple TV? Now that your new Apple TV is the king of the living room, the old Apple TV is now dethroned and must find a new habitat.

If you purchased the new Apple TV and are thinking about what you should do with your old one, here are some of the best uses for an old Apple TV.

Jailbreak It

If you have a second-generation Apple TV, you can actually jailbreak it and install some pretty cool apps that you wouldn’t normally be able to install.

Using the Seas0nPass jailbreak tool, you can break into the Apple TV 2, which will allow you to do all sorts of stuff, like adjust and change around settings that Apple normally doesn’t let you access, as well as install awesome apps like XBMC.

Plus, jailbreaking your Apple TV lets you play pretty much any kind of video file you throw at it, which is really useful since Apple doesn’t let you do this with a non-jailbroken Apple TV.

Move it to a Spare Bedroom

This is perhaps what most users will do when they buy a new Apple TV. Moving your old Apple TV into a spare bedroom or other room that has a secondary television can be really nice.

This could  be your own bedroom if you wanted it to be, but if you already have an Apple TV in your bedroom, moving the Apple TV into the guest bedroom or other spare bedroom where there’s a television will give overnight guests a really cool amenity that they can enjoy while they fall asleep.

This is a terrific option because more likely than not, you have more than one television in your house, and it’s possible that you have more than two. So if you buy the new Apple TV, there’s a good chance that there’s a television in your house that’s in need of a old Apple TV.

Use it for Presentations at Work or School

The Apple TV makes for a great presentation tool thanks to its AirPlay capabilities. Hook it up to the projector at work or school (if you can) and then beam your presentation from your MacBook or iPad to the Apple TV.

Sometimes you can plug your MacBook directly into the projector, which is great, but it’s a bit more difficult to do with an iPad or iPhone. Plus, plugging in the Apple TV instead allows you to leave it there and never have to worry about it.

Another great thing about using the Apple TV as a presentation tool is that you can use the remote as a clicker to move to the next slide and such.

Sell it or Give it Away

Perhaps what most users might do with their old Apple TV is sell it or give it away, and that’s probably your best bet if you have no other use for it.

In fact, if you have an Apple TV 2, selling it is probably the best thing you could do. Since these models are able to be jailbroken, they’re usually selling for a premium on eBay. I’ve seen them sell for as high as $130 in recent days. That kind of money could easily buy a new Apple TV or at least get you there quicker.

If you have the newer Apple TV 3, it won’t sell for quite as much, but you could still get some cash for it. However, if you want to be a nice guy, why not give it to a friend who’s been wanting an Apple TV for a while? There’s probably a close friend that doesn’t quite care about having the latest technology, and an old Apple TV could be a great addition to his home entertainment setup.