Any A5X ATV spotted in the wild yet?

[BiscottiGelato]

Waiting for this before buying the 'yet another Apple TV'.

[smkmn13]

Checked BBY on Saturday after I got a $50 GC from the Mastercard deal fiasco. They didn't have any new ones, but they had an old one open box for $90, and a 10% open box deal on top of that...so even knowing a new one was coming out made it too good of a deal to pass up!

Somebody posted that they might limit the capabilities of the new chip anyways to minimize performance differences (ie they're only changing as a way to simplify production), so I suppose I'm hoping my choice won't matter in the long run anyhow.

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

Waiting for this before buying the 'yet another Apple TV'.

Since we really can't do any Gaming on the ATV, what would the A5X add that the A5 doesn't already do? Processor wise, they would be the same. Video wise, they both can do 1080P and render a GUI just the same.....

If they aren't adding any new ports and we don't have an App store for adding games or anything else, then the GPU in the A5 is already under utilized with the AppleTV3 (let alone the A5X). I'm sure Apple just has a crap load of A5X's from when they stopped production of the iPad 3 so they are just trying to use them up. I'm sure this is why they aren't calling it the AppleTV4, since there won't be any real advantage.

Think about it, if there was any advantage the Apple Marketing Machine would be all over trying to get us all to upgrade to the NEW AppleTV4 would they not? Go with whatever you can get cheaply is my opinion.

[bearcatrp]

Like anything apple does down the road, something will get unlocked later. I'm needing another one but not until I can get the newer one.
BTW, does the new jail break that just came out, will it work on the apple tv3?

[The-Pro]

what difference is it gonna make?

[mic j]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp

Like anything apple does down the road, something will get unlocked later. I'm needing another one but not until I can get the newer one.
BTW, does the new jail break that just came out, will it work on the apple tv3?

Per Appletvhacks.com, it doesn't even work for the aTV2.

[dgalvan123]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp

Like anything apple does down the road, something will get unlocked later. I'm needing another one but not until I can get the newer one.
BTW, does the new jail break that just came out, will it work on the apple tv3?

This.

I expect at some point down the line, some firmware update will bring a feature to the ATV, and the fine print will say (*only available on Apple TV models from Spring 2013 or later).

With this new one coming out now, just wait a bit and get a new one.

[AlabamaSlammer]

I have just been going to the apple website and looking at the tech specs of the to see if they have updated it there.

[BiscottiGelato]

Yeah. I expect them to unlock features down the road. Just turn on App store for ATV and bam, the A5X runs faster than the A5 on all these apps.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

Yeah. I expect them to unlock features down the road. Just turn on App store for ATV and bam, the A5X runs faster than the A5 on all these apps.

Does it? I thought the only difference between the A5x and A5 was the GPU.

[kiranmk2]

If they were going to enable A5X-only updates in the future they would have to make this a 'proper' update - i.e. pull all the old single core A5 models off the shelves and stock only the A5X model otherwise how can they describe which version you need - there would be no clean "January 2013 model" swap. Imagine if you bought your unit a few weeks after someone else but your model couldn't handle a new update...

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by kiranmk2

If they were going to enable A5X-only updates in the future they would have to make this a 'proper' update - i.e. pull all the old single core A5 models off the shelves and stock only the A5X model otherwise how can they describe which version you need - there would be no clean "January 2013 model" swap. Imagine if you bought your unit a few weeks after someone else but your model couldn't handle a new update...

Agreed if they enable some features for the a5x how would people know what they have since the model is the same. My guess is they would only release new features on a new model (ie Appletv 4). While apple has a history of dropping support for older models, I've never heard of them dropping support for "some" of a particular model. That would be like only supporting the late 2011 MacBook pros but not the early 2011 MacBook pros (the late 2011s were a slight spec bump over the early 2011s)

[bearcatrp]

Was considering waiting on getting the updated version but now am considering going another route. Getting a rented movie through the apple tv is seriously slow. Just tried to rent one today and for a 720p movie will take over 2 hours before watching. Sucks. Am on DSL so should be allot faster. Pretty sure its apples slow servers.
Anyone now of a real good, not buggy, system that doesn't require itunes or anything else to run on a computer to stream? Tried my xbox but that was worst. Can't believe someone hasn't come out with something to challenge the ATV. Hard to beat itunes ecosystem but wish there was something else.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp

one today and for a 720p movie will take over 2 hours before watching. Sucks. Am on DSL so should be allot faster. Pretty sure its apples slow servers.

If that was the case then people with faster connections would also have such slow load times, yet a 1080p rental can start playing within seconds.

[BiscottiGelato]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp

Was considering waiting on getting the updated version but now am considering going another route. Getting a rented movie through the apple tv is seriously slow. Just tried to rent one today and for a 720p movie will take over 2 hours before watching. Sucks. Am on DSL so should be allot faster. Pretty sure its apples slow servers.
Anyone now of a real good, not buggy, system that doesn't require itunes or anything else to run on a computer to stream? Tried my xbox but that was worst. Can't believe someone hasn't come out with something to challenge the ATV. Hard to beat itunes ecosystem but wish there was something else.

What? Doesn't it start streaming immediately? not too sure about the 720p vs 1080 distinction. But it streams immediately for me.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

What? Doesn't it start streaming immediately? not too sure about the 720p vs 1080 distinction. But it streams immediately for me.

The 1080p files are bigger and need more bandwidth than the 720p ones. 1080p streams immediately for me.

[kristoffer4]

I wonder if there be an event for this with more new features announcent?

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by kristoffer4

I wonder if there be an event for this with more new features announcent?

There's a rumor of an event in March that will expand the number of content partners (think HBO Go) and maybe announce an AppleTV SDK.

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by bohbot16

There's a rumor of an event in March that will expand the number of content partners (think HBO Go) and maybe announce an AppleTV SDK.

It's already been refuted by more "reputable" sources. Front page talks about maybe this Fall now.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by paulrbeers

It's already been refuted by more "reputable" sources. Front page talks about maybe this Fall now.

It makes sense for the SDK to roll out with iOS 7 (developer preview at WWDC, release in Fall). I expect that we'll see a few content partners available in the meantime, just like Hulu Plus was rolled out.