Wow, I had no idea the prices more than doubled in the past year! I got my 1650 super in January or February 2020 for $185 on amazon. Now they are over $400!
I’ve used an AppleTV for 99% of my Zwift experience, and (mostly) very glad I did. Why do I like the AppleTV/Zwift experience?
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I have a 42" TV mounted to the wall of my garage/Zwift cave. It seemed only logical to use a device engineered to power TV screen content.
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I really didn’t want to take/leave a laptop or computer in the garage/Zwift cave all the time. The AppleTV has minimal power requirements, and - with an easily sourced mounting kit - fixes easily to the wall, and can be hidden behind the TV itself. This is, in all honesty, the most compelling reason.
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The AppleTV remote doesn’t provide 100% of the controls needed for Zwift. But using it conjunction with the Zwift companion app takes care of most everything you need.
Unless I’m very much mistaken, Zwift is unlikely to become a high-definition, high frame-rate first-person-pedaler sort of video game anytime soon. It simply doesn’t need the sort of graphical processing power that a gaming PC has. Conversely, Zwift is best enjoyed on a screen bigger than that of most phones and tablets. When you are working on Zwift, you really don’t have the time, energy, or limbs to be doing a lot of keyboard typing and/or mouse clicking.
With those facts in mind, the AppleTV seems to be the best solution.
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IME BT has been a Royal PITA. Granted it worked the last few times I used it last summer but the H3/BT fail thread has me leary (I use an H3). Also the remote is a GIANT ROYAL PITA…but that is Apple’s fault.
ANT+ FTW!
‘A device engineered to power TV content’ is a pretty elaborate way to describe an HDMI port, which virtually all PCs have too. 
Point 2 I totally understand, the rest aren’t ‘facts’ but your opinion which you’re fully entitled to. However, many people enjoy the vastly enhanced experience offered by devices more suitable for running a 3D game. You say it doesn’t need better graphics than what you’re getting (which is the lowest of four tiers), I’m entitled to disagree. Same as the point about not needing to type on a keyboard. Just because you don’t want/need to do it, doesn’t mean nobody else should. Where do you reckon the leader messages come from on a group ride, for example?
I appreciate and respect your answer.
For me, the biggest issue is that I simply didn’t want to have a “full-on computer” where I’m doing my Zwifting. I did use my MacBook Air for a few rides. But I was always worried about knocking it off the table besides my bike. It was a hassle to have to plug it in (because we all know how long laptop batteries last…) I guess I could cobble together some sort of HTPC solution that would work. But life, for me at least, is too short to spend on the sort of skills I’d need to make that happen.
Don’t get me wrong: There ARE downsides to the AppleTV solution. The limits on BLE connections being a big one. The dreadful remote. And (most recently) the bug that has caused many structured training workouts to “disappear.”
But even taking those shortcomings into account, the fact that I simply don’t have to drag another computer down into my workout area is - for me at least - a huge selling point.
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I’m just offering an alternative to the seemingly common ‘Apple TV is the best’ viewpoint. It may be for you, and that’s good. It certainly has its place as a very small, simple to setup and relatively low cost device for running Zwift. But it’s not for everyone, and I just disagree with people suggesting that others shouldn’t want/need better; something Apple TV owners seem to do quite often for some reason. No offence intended at all. 
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