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Apple TV 4 Timing?
- Thread starter Lysonic
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Seeing as to how they changed the internals of the ATV3 fairly recently I'm not so sure there will be an updated model in the near future.
I'm not even sure what good an A6 or better would provide aside from maybe 4k output?
I'm not even sure what good an A6 or better would provide aside from maybe 4k output?
In the future absolutely, I see no rush at the moment though.
AC hardware is in it's infancy still and the wireless N already is theoretically faster than the 100Mbps Ethernet port it already has. I use mine over Ethernet and I've never come close to saturating the 100Mbps myself.
And more bandwidth would only seem useful for resolutions higher than 1080p.
Apple TV is apple's hobbyist line
Mac Pro is Apple's pro workstation.
I doubt the Apple TV will be supporting 4K streams & TV's for at least a couple more years yet. Look how long it took them to embrace 1080p.....
Or to help congestion on local wifi network? I'm thinking of a household supporting 2-3 aTV's, couple iPads and 2-3 iPhones, maybe even a laptop or 2. Wouldn't the increased bandwidth help eliminate a potential bottleneck?
It definitely could. Usually the network will fall to the speed of the slowest connected device however. For example, if you had a G network with a B device connected to it you'd end up dividing B's total throughput (11Mbps) evenly amongst the connected devices. Even if all but one of them supported G.
I'm sure that MIMO and Dual Band mitigates this to some degree though... I'm not sure.
At my house we have 5 ATVs, 5 iPhones, 2 iPads, 2 Laptops, a Server, Game Consoles and various other WiFi connected devices. The approach I decided to take was to run wired ethernet to everything that wasn't moving around or wasn't too far away to reach.
Wired not a option at my house, as the aTV and AEBS are the only stationary objects we have.
Do you predominantly watch content hosted locally on a computer or streamed over the internet?
Either way I don't think Apple TVs would affect the throughput of your network THAT much.
If hosted locally I've found that the ATV will attempt to cache the entire video to flash as quickly as possible, on my network for a 30 min TV show this usually takes ~30 seconds or less depending on the quality of the TV show.
If streamed over the internet the bitrate of whatever you're streaming is most likely on the low side. I can't speak for iTunes rentals but netflix/hulu and the like I believe tend to use 5Mbps or less.
Out of 300Mbps on an N network that is rather trivial.
This would be the most important upgrade assuming they do not change the functionality. Slow WiFi currently makes HD movies stutter (if another program is using the WiFi as well).
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You might be right on this one.
I have an Apple TV 3, but it doesn't see much use. I am thinking of replacing it with a Mac Mini.
Well, it's far enough away that the corn I planted last week will be fully grown, harvested and eaten prior to it's arrival...
In the technology world - that's awhile...
2-3 added 1080p which was a big update. currently, there is nothing really to add to a 99$ box. 4K output won't be for a while, and the processor was updated a couple months ago. realistically there wont be an update for a while, except for maybe a rev 3, and well see them start to add content
Apple TV 4
While I also have a Mac Mini hooked up to my entertainment system, I would like to see an Apple TV have some features that frankly, I'm amazed haven't already been added to ATV3:
The ability to download and operate apps - including a browser. This one is just plain nuts, considering the money Apple makes selling apps for just about every other device. I had to recommend to my cousin that he NOT buy an Apple TV, since he needed to be able to stream Amazon Prime videos. Instead, I recommended he buy a Roku.
A larger hard drive to handle the apps (64gb flash should do it).
Fully-functioning and full-sized USB ports. Ideally, the ATV should be able to run a version of iTunes by itself and stream media via a 4GB usb hard drive, in addition to its other talents. This would make it something you could "take with you" without being tied to your media on your computer system.
Bluetooth - presumably to operate a bluetooth keyboard and mouse - this would make a much easier time of surfing and typing titles.
And I'd also like for Apple to allow us to create our own categories. We now can have "Music", "Movies", "TV Shows" and "Podcasts", but I'd love to be able to create a "Documentaries" and "Concert" category. It would be nice to be able to do this in iTunes as well.
It would be nice if they'd use the older format that condensed an entire TV series into just ONE icon with "sub-icons" only a click or two away. The newer version is just cluttering many who have so many titles to stream.
If only Apple would pay serious attention to this "hobby device" of theirs, they could corner the market.
C-Pup
While I also have a Mac Mini hooked up to my entertainment system, I would like to see an Apple TV have some features that frankly, I'm amazed haven't already been added to ATV3:
The ability to download and operate apps - including a browser. This one is just plain nuts, considering the money Apple makes selling apps for just about every other device. I had to recommend to my cousin that he NOT buy an Apple TV, since he needed to be able to stream Amazon Prime videos. Instead, I recommended he buy a Roku.
A larger hard drive to handle the apps (64gb flash should do it).
Fully-functioning and full-sized USB ports. Ideally, the ATV should be able to run a version of iTunes by itself and stream media via a 4GB usb hard drive, in addition to its other talents. This would make it something you could "take with you" without being tied to your media on your computer system.
Bluetooth - presumably to operate a bluetooth keyboard and mouse - this would make a much easier time of surfing and typing titles.
And I'd also like for Apple to allow us to create our own categories. We now can have "Music", "Movies", "TV Shows" and "Podcasts", but I'd love to be able to create a "Documentaries" and "Concert" category. It would be nice to be able to do this in iTunes as well.
It would be nice if they'd use the older format that condensed an entire TV series into just ONE icon with "sub-icons" only a click or two away. The newer version is just cluttering many who have so many titles to stream.
If only Apple would pay serious attention to this "hobby device" of theirs, they could corner the market.
C-Pup
If the current ATV does what you want, buy it. Regardless of anyone's don't buy rating (sorry, MRs!)
It's $100. If something comes outs, sell it. Probably lose less than $30 and buy the newest. To me 4-6 months of use for $30 is well worth it.
Be patient. The networks/ISP's are the ones holding Apple back. They already took a few baby steps w/ recently adding HBOGO & Watch Espn apps. The best is yet to come my friend....
Why on earth? Do you have speakers connected to your aTV?
DTS Passthrough would suffice to me.
PS aTV doesn't decode DD/AC3 either, just passes it through to digital out.