Apple Discontinues Third-Generation Apple TV
In a move that should surprise no one, Apple has discontinued the third-generation Apple TV. Apple has been phasing out the four-year-old streaming device for months, and it has been a long time since Apple updated its pre-tvOS software. You may still be able to buy a refurbished third-generation Apple TV, but with no future support planned, we can’t recommend it. Those looking for a streaming video box should instead look at the fourth-generation Apple TV or a streaming video device from Amazon or Roku. We hope Apple will reduce the price of the fourth-generation Apple TV to make up for the loss of the $69 older model and get it into more homes.
I use à 1st generation Apple TV, the sole one having a hard drive. With my minimal ADSL bandwidth, it takes about one to two hours to download to the hard drive the first 30% of a hired movie. Should I stop using it ? What should its replacement be ?
It all depends on what your bandwidth really is. Here's what Apple recommends for streaming content:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203422
And what Netflix recommends.
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306
I'd say that if you don't have at least 2.5 Mbps download speed, you should probably stick with your existing setup as long as you can.