New Apple TV Has A5X Chip and Single WLAN + Bluetooth Antenna

[MacRumors]

AnandTech has found that new Apple TV will use the same WLAN+Bluetooth antenna/chip combo that the iPhone 5 uses as well as an A5X processor rather than the A5.

The unreleased Apple TV revision was first suggested by an iOS 6.1 firmware release for a previously unseen AppleTV3,2 model. Then, a new FCC application revealed that the new Apple TV would have slightly smaller dimensions than the currently shipping model.

AnandTech writes:

Instead of the A5R2 SoC (S5L8942) inside the Apple TV 3,1, this new device contains an A5X SoC (S5L8947) as shown in the screenshots I've taken of the Restore.plist file, though there are numerous others. It's entirely possible that Apple is again using different bins of the A5X, it's not possible to tell whether CPU or GPU cores are fused off at this point from my digging through the IPSW.

The A5X chip (with Quad-Core graphics) was originally introduced to power the new Retina Display screen of the iPad 3.

It was in the current Apple TV that Apple first used the 32-nm (die shrunk) A5 chip. It was believed at the time that Apple had used the Apple TV has a test platform to start ramping up that new 32-nm A5 processor before they started using it more broadly to power the still-for-sale iPad 2.

It seems likely that Apple will follow the same pattern with this new A5X -- first ramp up production in the Apple TV, and later extend its use to the new iPad mini. The next iPad mini is believed to include a Retina display. Apple will need to upgrade the iPad mini's CPU/GPU in order to be able to accommodate the extra pixels of such a display.

Article Link: New Apple TV Has A5X Chip and Single WLAN + Bluetooth Antenna

[naveah]

I think I am finally sold on the Apple TV. No more cable! Now, if only Netflix would start adding more choice.

[kjs862]

i use a mac mini with my home theatre and i use an air server app to for airserver functionality.

this with plex is the best solution, i think.

[Chundles]

A5X?

Hopefully it's a die-shrink, cooler version otherwise that thing is going to melt through some TV cabinets.

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Originally Posted by Chundles

Hopefully it's a die-shrink, cooler version otherwise that thing is going to melt through some TV cabinets.

Some of us have oft-posted for the resurrection of some features & benefits from the 1st gen TV. The ability to fry an egg, space heat an apartment and/or jiffy pop without a stove was not one I've seen. But maybe Apple wanted it anyway?

[SilentLoner]

instabuy for me

[reallynotnick]

Wasn't the A5 in the Apple TV also a single core? So basically this would have double the CPU and GPU power?

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by HobeSoundDarryl

Some of us have oft-posted for the resurrection of some features & benefits from the 1st gen TV. The ability to fry an egg, space heat an apartment and/or jiffy pop without a stove was not one I've seen. But maybe Apple wanted it anyway?

True - nothing fried bacon like a 1st generation apple tv.

[basesloaded190]

Originally Posted by kjs862

i use a mac mini with my home theatre and i use an air server app to for airserver functionality.

this with plex is the best solution, i think.

But is at least 5 times the cost.

[M-O]

Originally Posted by basesloaded190

But is at least 5 times the cost.

plus 20 times the power consumption.

[newdeal]

Originally Posted by kjs862

i use a mac mini with my home theatre and i use an air server app to for airserver functionality.

this with plex is the best solution, i think.

Windows media center on a pc with an xbox 360 as an extender is by far the best solution nothing on mac comes close unfortunately

[ZZ Bottom]

Originally Posted by newdeal

Windows media center on a pc with an xbox 360 as an extender is by far the best solution nothing on mac comes close unfortunately

Had this going for a while. The 360 had problems caching files all the time. Often I'd get persistent freezes in video, with audio still running fine, and then the video would catch very quickly like in fast forward...

MS has a great "solution" but its frought with bugs.

iTunes + Apple TV is not a perfect solution, but at least it does what it's sanctioned to do without absurd problems.

[newdeal]

Originally Posted by ZZ Bottom

Had this going for a while. The 360 had problems caching files all the time. Often I'd get persistent freezes in video, with audio still running fine, and then the video would catch very quickly like in fast forward...

MS has a great "solution" but its frought with bugs.

iTunes + Apple TV is not a perfect solution, but at least it does what it's sanctioned to do without absurd problems.

Can't say I ever had that issue, only problem I would have from time to time is when scrolling through my movies it would not stop scrolling and just keep going and going and going for some reason. Regardless the codec support, and TV tuner support, with associated free guide content for OTA HD broadcasts and built in DVR in my opinion make it better than any Apple offering. Just my opinion

[JuicyJones]

Originally Posted by newdeal

Windows media center on a pc with an xbox 360 as an extender is by far the best solution nothing on mac comes close unfortunately

I totally disagree. WMC runs as well as most PC's do. Its laggy, buffers, takes forever just to load the menu with all my movies. I have both and use AppleTV because I never have the headaches with AppleTV that I do with WMC. My network is > 100mbs too, there's no reason anything streaming should lag on my network at all.

[bedifferent]

Be great if it handled DTS-HD/MA for my Blu-Ray encodes (now supported in M4V thanks to Handbrake), access for NAS devices for media libraries. Until then, my 2012 Mac Mini makes for a great HTPC. The AppleTV seems to be a throw away device for consumers to purchase iTunes content unless your encodes follow the specific "approved" media codecs for "Home Sharing".

My suggestion: get a first gen aTV and for $35 $10 replace the WiFi card with a Broadcom Video/Audio Hardware Decoder. Connect using the RJ-45 to your router, and you have a powerful media device that takes NAS's, full 1080P rips with DTS, and toss in a larger HDD for more room in addition to your NAS. I have my Mac Mini with XBMC in my media room and a first gen modded aTV in my bedroom, with a Synology DS212j server holding 4TB's of movies and music.

[flottenheimer]

Originally Posted by kjs862

i use a mac mini with my home theatre and i use an air server app to for airserver functionality.

this with plex is the best solution, i think.

Could you say which air server app you use? And perhaps even describe your setup in more detail?
Thanks.

[kjs862]

Originally Posted by flottenheimer

Could you say which air server app you use? And perhaps even describe your setup in more detail?
Thanks.

Sure, the air server app I use is: http://www.airserverapp.com

I have that running on my i7 Mac mini with 4GB of RAM. Attached to the Mac mini is a 4TB USB 3.0 Western Digital external HD.

I have dropbox, Plex, the airserver app, and utorrent running on the Mac.

I use my Macbook Pro to screen share the Mac mini or I use my iPad as a trackpad with: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobi...363573369?mt=8

My utorrent is setup where it will automatically start downloading a torrent file that is added to a folder in my dropbox. This way I can download a torrent if I'm on my phone mobile.

When I want to watch a movie, I use the Apple remote to control my Mac mini to navigate through the Plex menus. If I loose the remote, I can use my Macbook Pro via screen sharing or my iPad with mobile mouse.

The Mac mini is connected to a 55" Samsung D8000 via a HDMI cable.

What I really like about this setup is that I have access to all my files via Plex on my iPad or any computer in the house. I can even use their web client to access my files from friend's computers.

[D.T.]

Originally Posted by kjs862

My utorrent is setup where it will automatically start downloading a torrent file that is added to a folder in my dropbox. This way I can download a torrent if I'm on my phone mobile.

Dude, that's outstanding!

[mrsir2009]

Looks like there's finally going to be some progress with the TV

[Mackan]

Originally Posted by mrsir2009

Looks like there's finally going to be some progress with the TV

Finally, yes, after a series of lousy and well planned incremental updates to milk money.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by Mackan

Finally, yes, after a series of lousy and well planned incremental updates to milk money.

Ha maybe, but then again, knowing how Apple thinks, this a a spec bump, they will throw in a new OS upgrade with some nice feature that COULD easily run on the Apple TV 3 and make it exclusive to the Apple TV 4 to incent upgrades. Heck, I am shocked they let the Apple TV 2 have the BT upgrade.

[mex4eric]

Originally Posted by mrsir2009

Looks like there's finally going to be some progress with the TV

Is there a date? I am ready for a new one but would like to know the one I am buying is the "latest", of course. Is there a product number change?

[Stuipdboy1000]

Originally Posted by mex4eric

Is there a date? I am ready for a new one but would like to know the one I am buying is the "latest", of course. Is there a product number change?

Yeah, the new model is numbered 'A1469' vs the previous 'A1427'. I think your best bet would be to go to an Apple Store (if possible) and check what model number is on the retail box. If you need to order online, it'll probably be a bit more unpredictable and might be worth waiting until you've heard of others who ordered online receiving the new model.

[chiefsilverback]

Originally Posted by naveah

I think I am finally sold on the Apple TV. No more cable! Now, if only Netflix would start adding more choice.

Macworld had a piece today about trying to 'cut the cable' and when all was said and done they got a better deal on a bundle with TV than trying to go it alone with internet only from their provider.

I'm in the same boat with Verizon, I'd spend more subscribing to Hulu Plus and Netflix and buying content from iTunes than I would save by dropping the TV from TV/Internet FiOS bundle!

Until Apple can come up with a viable alternative for data delivery than the incumbent cable companies 'cutting the cable' is something of a pipe dream!

[Tilpots]

Originally Posted by chiefsilverback

Until Apple can come up with a viable alternative for data delivery than the incumbent cable companies 'cutting the cable' is something of a pipe dream!

3 years in with my Mac Mini HTPC. I'd beg to differ. I've saved thousands even factoring in equipment purchases. And those purchases still hold value if I sold them, unlike a cable box rental.