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Apple TV 3 vs new Apple TV 3

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livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
This may seem like a dumb question but after doing some research I can't find a good ansewer.

Is there any real difference in performance between the two?

I know the chip is small, it has a different silicone and uses less power but what I'm wondering is between the two would I notice a difference.

Thank you for the help :)
 
lunaoso

lunaoso

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
1,332
54
Boston, MA
Not really. It's mostly an energy usage different, and even that it goes from $1 a year to like 50 cents a year or something like that. Most are thinking it was just a "test" of sorts to try out the smaller chip for other iOS devices.
 
GreatDrok

GreatDrok

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2006
561
22
New Zealand
livelongdienvr said:
This may seem like a dumb question but after doing some research I can't find a good ansewer.

Is there any real difference in performance between the two?

I know the chip is small, it has a different silicone and uses less power but what I'm wondering is between the two would I notice a difference.

Thank you for the help :)
Click to expand...

The same specs so you wouldn't notice any difference side by side. Take the chance to grab the older model through the refurb store like I did and you'll save a decent chunk of change.
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
That's what I'm thinking of doing but I wanted to make sure they are the same in performance. I doubt I'd notice a difference but I wanted to check.
 
GreatDrok

GreatDrok

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2006
561
22
New Zealand
livelongdienvr said:
That's what I'm thinking of doing but I wanted to make sure they are the same in performance. I doubt I'd notice a difference but I wanted to check.
Click to expand...

The ATV3 seems a little more responsive than the ATV2 (A5 versus A4 CPU) if that is anything. Don't think there's any speed bump with the die shrunk ATV3 so it should be the same other than using a little less power.
 
I

institute

macrumors regular
Oct 10, 2012
177
0
I have one of each and there is no noticeable performance difference. As mentioned, I have read that there is slightly less energy used by the newer model because of the physically smaller A5 processor.
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
Thanks again everyone. Now that we have that cleared away.

What’s a good DVD ripping software to rip DVD that will look great in HD?

It could be free or paid software.
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
I used to use handbreak and I loved it but lately it hasn't been ripping my DVDs or won't complete the rip and the quality isn't that great anymore. :/
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
I think am I. Each time I've installed it I've selected the lastest version. To me it just seem out dated, half the time it doesn't even rip the DVD, it will rip maybe five minutes then stop because the DVD has an encryption
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
Thank you, I might have to try out ivi or give handbrake another shot.

Here's another question. Is it possible for the Apple TV to pull its connect from an external hard drive? I ask because I may not want my computer on all the time to view my content. I know with home sharing all the devices you have such as an iPad or iPhone can access your movies, music etc but is it possible to use home sharing with an external hard drive or at the very least have the Apple TV pull from an external hard drive
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
I was also looking at the buyer's guide on this website. Do you guys think that now is a bad time to buy an Apple tv? Do you think a new one is one its way?
 
D

dgalvan123

macrumors 6502a
Feb 16, 2008
684
22
livelongdienvr said:
Here's another question. Is it possible for the Apple TV to pull its connect from an external hard drive? I ask because I may not want my computer on all the time to view my content.
Click to expand...

If you mean: "Can I physically plug an external hard drive directly into the Apple TV and play content off of that?"

The answer is: Yes for the "jailbroken" Apple TV 1. No for the Apple TV 2 and 3.

If you have a jailbroken Apple TV 2, you can use XBMC or Plex to play content that is sitting on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive. That's a drive that plugs into your router, not your computer.

Note that ATV3's cannot be jailbroken. ATV2's can, but are no longer sold by Apple. Which is why they are going for $300 per unit on ebay.

livelongdienvr said:
I know with home sharing all the devices you have such as an iPad or iPhone can access your movies, music etc but is it possible to use home sharing with an external hard drive or at the very least have the Apple TV pull from an external hard drive
Click to expand...

You can definitely store content on an external hard drive connected to your computer. Just have iTunes catalog that content (option + drag the content into iTunes will catalog it in iTunes library without copying the file to your internal hard drive). Then it will be available via home sharing. But in this scenario both the external drive and the computer to which it is connected must be on in order for your ATV's to access the content.

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livelongdienvr said:
I was also looking at the buyer's guide on this website. Do you guys think that now is a bad time to buy an Apple tv? Do you think a new one is one its way?
Click to expand...

I'd say it's a good time. The "updated" ATV3 just recently got released. So I wouldn't expect a new ATV version until next spring (2014).

*shrug*
 
O

opinio

macrumors 65816
Mar 23, 2013
1,171
7
livelongdienvr said:
This may seem like a dumb question but after doing some research I can't find a good ansewer.

Is there any real difference in performance between the two?

I know the chip is small, it has a different silicone and uses less power but what I'm wondering is between the two would I notice a difference.

Thank you for the help :)
Click to expand...

See:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/apple-tv/specs/apple-tv-3rd-generation-early-2013-specs.html

Quote:

The Apple TV (3rd Generation, Early 2013, AppleTV3,2) model was first discovered by Engadget via an FCC filing on January 29, 2013. As first reported and disassembled by MacRumors, it began to actually ship on or around March 10, 2013.

Although there are no differences between this Apple TV (3rd Gen) and the model it quietly replaced in terms of features or user functionality, it has a smaller 28 nm version of the Apple A5 processor (S5L8947) and different identifiers. Consequently, EveryMac.com has documented it as its own model, accordingly.

Like the earlier Apple TV (3rd Generation), it has 512 MB of RAM and is capable of supporting 1080p video.

Both third generation Apple TV models make it easy to rent or purchase movies and TV shows from Apple as well as stream or mirror movies, shows, photos and other content from an iPod, iPhone or iPad as well as from a Mac or PC. It has built-in support for iCloud, Netflix, YouTube and Flickr along with other services.

This model runs a variant of the iOS that powers the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad models, although it does not formally run the iOS and it cannot run iOS applications either.

Connectivity includes HDMI, optical audio, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, and a single Micro-USB port "for service and diagnostics" (and hacking) as well as 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking.
 
L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
That's what I was thinking, about the home sharing and storing the media on an external hard drive. I just don't like the idea of having the computer on so much.

What about airport? Does that offer any sort of solution to using an external hard drive to store media then stream it to the Apple TV?
 
GreatDrok

GreatDrok

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2006
561
22
New Zealand
livelongdienvr said:
That's what I was thinking, about the home sharing and storing the media on an external hard drive. I just don't like the idea of having the computer on so much.

What about airport? Does that offer any sort of solution to using an external hard drive to store media then stream it to the Apple TV?
Click to expand...

You need iTunes running. You can put your iTunes library on an external drive, but iTunes needs to have that drive mounted and set as the storage. I've used symlinks to allow me to split movies and music across drives since iTunes just sees it as a drive and shares it. Your best bet is to have a low power computer (mac mini or similar) running iTunes since that uses very little juice when running. I'm currently running a Windows 7 PC with iTunes but it is crap because Windows keeps wanting to update, the firewall is constantly in the way and the machine is simply sucking power so I'll switch over to the mini again when I get a chance to migrate the library.

There are NAS solutions that could share to iTunes (my father-in-law has one) but they don't seem to do Home Sharing so iOS and ATV doesn't see it like a computer running iTunes would as a shared library. I suspect the old ATV1 would though because it was much more like a Mac.
 
ritmomundo

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
I'm waiting for my aTV3 to be delivered. Is there any way to know which aTV3 I'm getting (the new one or the old one)? Like, is there a notification or a specific number to look for? I bought it from Amazon.

It doesn't make a huge difference to me, I just want to know. TIA.
 
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