For me a four letter word decides it for me...... KODI
Both of them had the worst possible remotes, Shield seems to have fixed it.
The cost of the apps on ATV 4K, Shield allows side loading of apps.
Horses for courses.
The shield has far far far more features available. I don't game all the time but being able to every so often is a great option.
I just switched from the Shield TV to the Apple TV 4K. It's the only Apple device I have but I did it because I like to collect digital movies and for some reason, codes for iTunes movies are always cheaper than Vudu or any other service. If the Shield added the Apple TV app, it would be king. But I wanted something that could play movies in DV & Atmos as well as access iTunes. The ATV is the only one that fit. It all depends on what your priorities are, if you like to stream from your GeForce PC and don't care about Apple TV, get the Shield. If you want access to cheap 4K movies in DV and Atmos, get the Apple TV.
Apple TV has A7 or A8 cpu which is very under powered if Apple came Apple TV with bionic 13 chip I will def buy it so for now Nvidia shield is the most powerful device for TV
The best box is the “Cheetah Tencent MediaBox”
I don't care what they say, I have been using Apple TV for 2 years (the 4k version for 1 year) and I think they are crazy to say Nvidia Shield is better. I Bought the Nvidia Shield TV last week and just returned it.
To me it is not even close. You have many more choices of apps, it is much more responsive and even though reviewers say the Nvidia Sheld is the fastest thing ever, I think they mean for the type of streamer it is, which is for Android TV. I can tell you my Apple TV 4k is faster and easier to use.
By the way as a side note, trying to open the battery compartment for the Nvidia Shield Remote control is the craziest thing I have ever seen. I almost broke my thumb trying to open it. I swear the video you can look at makes it look easy, it is not.
I have no axe to grind with Nvidia but honestly you are better off with Apple.
Also I spoke to 2 people at Nvidia, they were both very nice and had no clue about anything.
The only negative I can think of with Apple is a lot of people hate the remote (my wife is one of them) but they make it real easy to pair almost any other remote to use instead of their remote. I use a Panasonic Blu_Ray remote and it works great.
Just my opinion.
The Apple TV 4K is still the most powerful media streamer on the market. I really do not know what reviewers are smoking.
The Shield's Tegra chipset is 4+ years old and has a comparatively slow 4 core 1.9 GHz ARM CPU package vs the ATV 4K's 6 core ARM that runs at 2.38GHz
The Shield still does have a fast, beast of a 256 core Maxwell GPU tho.
2019 Shield - AI upscaling is limited to 30fps or less video content and it does not work with all Apps.
There is already high quality upscaling in the Apple TV 4K thanks to it's more modern GPU and there are no limitations. It also runs a cleaner looking 4K encoded user interface - something Android TV's - Leanback interface can only dream of because it still lives in 1080p land.
Apple have been at the forefront of pushing 4K HDR DolbyVision tech forward, as such they have the biggest, most affordable (often on discount) library of 4K HDR DV Atmos rentals vs anyone else. Accessible thru the Apple TV App.
I live outside the USA, in a 25fps/50Hz territory. As such I need auto Frame Rate Switching for 24p Apps like Prime Video, Netflix, Infuse, MrMC, Apple TV, Disney+ & more. Only the ATV 4K Apps offer that sort of widespread functionality for smooth video playback.
Where I live the Android TV Apps eco system is not as comprehensive vs Apple's tvOS, the Android TV Apps support just seems to not be there.
Yes the 2019 Shield will be better for complex gaming because it's still got a fast, beast of a GPU & GeForce Now.
Android Nerds also love it too because they can tinker.
Yes it has directly installable Kodi, and all the great Skins and Addon functionality that comes with that App. But Apple TV 4K has the most beautiful, simple media player App around called Infuse that does DolbyVision single layer .mp4 video playback.
The Shields can do lossless Bluray quality Atmos & DTS:X audio passthru, the Apple TV 4K cannot.
I still really do not like the ATV 4K's touchpad remote, luckily you can use any Infra Red remote and Bluetooth Harmony's with the ATV 4K.
Nvidia have now finally release a much more sensible, easier to use backlit programmable remote.
In the end pick what features and Apps you need.
And there will always be those that have to use Android and those that are already in the Apple eco system. That will never change.
Be happy with whatever device you pick.
:D