With all the rumours again about aTV, can the current aTV run iOS?

MrMister111 said:

With the rumour mill again on about Apple TV upgrade, either software or hardware, I believe that it will indeed be a iOS based unit.

So the current AppleTV (which I have one), is the hardware capable/processor. graphics card etc etc in it currently able to run iOS if Apple ported it? ie is it compatible with iOS technically?

I know the current aTV is "old" hardware wise CPU etc, but I believe that Apple would do a new hardware unit, with a A4 CPU and iOS

I would love it though if Apple could get iOS on the current unit.

thoughts...

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Is it technically possible?? Absolutely?

Is it economically likely?? Not so much.

Had Apple sold many of these devices it might have been in there interest to get them all updated. But I suspect the "new" ATV won't be called ATV at all and the old ATV will be discontinued.

I can't imagine Apple will invest the significant resources to get an ARM based OS running on the Intel hardware of ATV.

I highly doubt it since iOS is currently not compiled for intel processors.

Considering you will need a new remote to do stuff like open apps and use stuff like turning back and forth for games and apps. So no.

VTMac said:

Is it technically possible?? Absolutely?

Is it economically likely?? Not so much.

Had Apple sold many of these devices it might have been in there interest to get them all updated. But I suspect the "new" ATV won't be called ATV at all and the old ATV will be discontinued.

I can't imagine Apple will invest the significant resources to get an ARM based OS running on the Intel hardware of ATV.

Click to expand...

Apple supported PPC for 5 years after they stopped making them, so I don't see why not. They would have a fair amount of annoyed customers on their cases, me being one of them. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

kemperman said:

Apple supported PPC for 5 years after they stopped making them, so I don't see why not. They would have a fair amount of annoyed customers on their cases, me being one of them. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Click to expand...

Two things:
1. Apple sold a lot more PowerPC's than Apple Tv's.
2. The PowerPC was a way of life for a lot of its customers, the Appletv is a Complement to a computer at its best.

Don't expect it to run the iOS since the processors are different.

I for one don't care, I just want new hardware as the current model is over 4 years old.

While I’m sure Apple has iOS running on x86 processors in their labs, I wouldn’t expect the current Apple TV to get the iOS upgrade.

It’s interesting that the NYT’s article mentions the new product was done outside the Apple TV group. The Apple TV team member that used to visit our Macrumors forums announced in April he was moving to iBooks.

The Front Row team at Apple became the Apple TV team. It sounds like this new product was a ground-up reboot for the product. Jobs has not been happy with the Apple TV. The 3.0 update was a large improvement, yet he didn’t even bother mentioning it at his September iPod event.

I have a feeling they are going to rename the Apple TV. What they will call it, who knows, iTV (although I think they would need to give CISCO more money), iTunes TV, iPod TV etc...

MrMister111 said:

With the rumour mill again on about Apple TV upgrade, either software or hardware, I believe that it will indeed be a iOS based unit.

So the current AppleTV (which I have one), is the hardware capable/processor. graphics card etc etc in it currently able to run iOS if Apple ported it? ie is it compatible with iOS technically?

I know the current aTV is "old" hardware wise CPU etc, but I believe that Apple would do a new hardware unit, with a A4 CPU and iOS

I would love it though if Apple could get iOS on the current unit.

Click to expand...

What would be the advantages of iOS (which is mostly a cut-down version of MacOS X with additions for touch-screen support) compared to the OS on Apple TV (which is mostly a cut-down version of MacOS X without additions for touch-screen support, which is fine because it doesn't have a touch screen) in your opinion?

OllyW said:

They would also get into trouble with ITV, the UK's largest commercial terrestrial TV network.

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Same as iOS, iPad etc. Or some other company having a trademark for "Apple" in the music industry. Not a problem that cannot be solved with money. The question is: For how many millions would ITV not mind Apple using "iTV", and how many millions would Apple be willing to pay for the name?

gnasher729 said:

What would be the advantages of iOS (which is mostly a cut-down version of MacOS X with additions for touch-screen support) compared to the OS on Apple TV (which is mostly a cut-down version of MacOS X without additions for touch-screen support, which is fine because it doesn't have a touch screen) in your opinion?

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To be able to run all the iOS apps. This is a huge advantage.

The main advantage I can see of running iOS on the current ATV is that it might be lightweight enough compared to 10.4 that we have at the moment to free up enough CPU power to enable 720p30 playback and allow standardised playback across the iDevices.

With regards to a follow-up machine I actually think we may see something akin to the Airport Express with an HDMI port - so it will extend your network (could be a benefit as more things around the TV have ethernet ports these days), allow you to stream music and video through the HDMI/optical/line-out ports and add a hard drive, printer or perhaps FaceTime camera through the USB. Throw in the ability to control playback via wifi/bluetooth, bundle a Bluetooth 4/Wibree remote and the whole thing hides out of site in the plug socket.

I usually don't come along to this side of the MacRumors forums (I don't have an Apple TV, nor am I interested in one).

However!

I figure this thread is just as good as any to post this (short of starting a new thread).

This was posted a few days ago on the Jobs page for Apple:
http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID=1&method=mExternal.showJob&RID=56168&CurrentPage=5

They're looking for Software Engineers to join the Apple TV team (multiple open positions!). The Mac OSX/BSD dev experience seems to point towards continued x86 development.

So something is a-brewing.

zedsdead said:

To be able to run all the iOS apps. This is a huge advantage.

Click to expand...

But 99% of iOS apps are useless without some form of touch screen input.

Definitely, but as there is a growing market for iPad-specific apps, there will probably be a section for ATV-specific apps. Given Apple have started allowing competitors onto their devices (Netflix, Hulu), this may be a way to get the studios on board if the studios were worries about giving Apple too much control.