4K Apple TV Could Feature A10X Fusion Chip and 3GB of RAM

[cerote]

I avg 800gb a month and I'm one person and I don't even think I stream that much - but you download a couple of free games on your console and binge a 4K season and it adds up quickly. There's no way ISPs can survive if they DON'T start doing bandwidth caps and tiers. I'm pleasantly surprised Xfinity hasn't started yet, but I can see them doing it in a few years. I know they are testing it in a few markets.

They have been expanding the data caps. My area didn't have any till this year and it was 1tb cap. But they offer unlimited for extra monthly fee. I had to go unlimited because I regularly hit 1.2+ tb a month with our small family. My router showed iTunes alone from appletv was using 600+ gigs a month.

 

[simon lefisch]

I use the Infuse App to stream 1080p direct from my 2010 MacPro to the latest ATV over my wifi and it runs like a dream.

That's correct, since the ATV is playing the media directly. My previous post was about transcoding, which the ATV does not do and is dependent on the server CPU (at least with Plex).

 

[gnipgnop]

So the most popular "modern consoles" are the Xbox One and the PS4
Both of which are now around 4 years old.

So are we actually, honestly now saying Apple's BRAND NEW device will actually have the graphical/gaming power of these two 4 year old consoles?

If it really is the A10X, then it's going to be reasonably close in combination with Metal 2. Not saying that means they're going to start porting PS4/XB1 games to the Apple TV, but I think you will see some very impressive games on it for sure.

 

[DNichter]

Happy to hear it, should have a lot of capability. My main TV is 4K so I will upgrade here and give the old box to my parents. Maybe upgrade the bedroom TV come Christmas, but we'll see. I am wondering if this will allow me to stream 4K movies from my media server through Plex. Hoping Apple has an Apple TV service lined up as well for around $50 per month.

 

[haruhiko]

New Remote! Really needs a new remote ....

I always grab on the touch pad and press on the body on this thing

 

[lkrupp]

Wonder how many people actually have the bandwidth for 4K content.

Not many, and not much content either. But the techie wannabes scream and holler about it so...

 

[budselectjr]

Not many, and not much content either. But the techie wannabes scream and holler about it so...

Tons of stuff on Netflix. Was just watching Fire Chasers, which is 4k Dolby Vision/HDR10, last night.

 

[lkrupp]

So sorry for you rippers. The TV is a streaming device, NOT a media server for you to load your thousands of ripped DVDs into. No internal or external SSDs.

 

[tipoo]

Nice. Seems overkill for a streaming box, so I hope this means they'll also push its microconsole side. A few years of X series updates and it could be well near the 8th gen base consoles.

Edit: anyone saying it's already there, naw. Shader ops, pixel fillrate, texture mapping, it's still closer to half of a PS4, but its still impressive in the wattage. FP16 nor Metal 2 aren't magic GPU performance doublers, FP16 is good for ~20% gain when you can use it (not everywhere), and Metal 2 is CPU overhead, not GPU performance. And GNM was already low overhead, so that's parity at best.

Two years in with an A12X? Maybe it will have surpassed it.

 

[gnipgnop]

New A10X powered 4K AppleTV with a BUNDLED GAME CONTROLLER.
Now that would be dynamite.

I don't think it needs to be bundled due to the widespread availability of bluetooth controllers that work with iOS and Apple TV. The same controllers that worked with the ATV4 or your iPhone/iPad will also work with the ATV5.

 

[budselectjr]

So sorry for you rippers. The TV is a streaming device, NOT a media server for you to load your thousands of ripped DVDs into. No internal or external SSDs.

Have you heard of Plex? Lol.

 

[scott911]

Because 1 HDMI goes to the projector/TV and the other one to the AV amp for best image performance.
Every good Blu-ray reader has 2 HDMI outputs.

could you explain this more? wouldn't the Projector TV go to through the AV receiver anyway?

 

[2010mini]

So sorry for you rippers. The TV is a streaming device, NOT a media server for you to load your thousands of ripped DVDs into. No internal or external SSDs.

I can just feel the sarcasm oozing out of this post. Lol

 

[darkarn]

Now let's see if this upgrade will lead to a Lightning to 4K HDMI adapter!

Am really hyped for the launch event now!

 

[facemeat]

If you're going to direct play, then it's fine. The current ATV can do this. If you're transcoding, Plex is dependent on the server to transcode. ATV will not transcode anything.

Not all, but som I need to transcode. That’s why I haven’t been able to rely on my current Apple TV. Don’t think the new tv would be able to?

 

[RogerWilco]

I want a new TV just to run a daemon that wakes my headless Mac Pro from sleep when it's accessed remotely. Right now it runs 24/7 burning 160W. Thanks Apple -- for your technical prowess and attention to OS X.
/sarc

 

[simon lefisch]

Not all, but som I need to transcode. That’s why I haven’t been able to rely on my current Apple TV. Don’t think the new tv would be able to?

What media needs to be transcoded? If you have h265 media then the new ATV will be able to directly play it without transcoding.

When it comes to Plex, the server will do all the transcoding.

 

[McTool]

Nice, maybe the 10th aniversary version of GTA IV runs in this thing. Would buy it

That'll be the 10th anniversary in 2018.

 

[guzhogi]

I'm scared to see how much this thing cost. We'll find out tomorrow. This could also be an awesome "stealth" casual gaming console like the Switch. 4K Games at 60 FPS. If only mobile games got rid of that fremium crap - I'd rather pay $10 or $13 for a full experience then some freemium crap which is why I stopped getting mobile gaming apps.

I agree. Every once in a while I play Star Trek Online, which is full of that freemium ****. Sure, you can play for free, but they nickel and dime you everywhere. Oh, you want that nice ship? $30 on the store. Oh wait, that's a special edition ship? You can get one of these packs or get the item drops, which you'll have to buy a key to unlock. Also, there's less than a 0.1% chance these packs will give you that ship, so you'll have to pay several $100 to have. decent chance, or grind a lot of missions to get the energy credits to buy it on the Exchange. Freemium is such bull****.

Like you, I'd be willing to spend a bit of money upfront for the full game. I could see something like "Upgrading/finishing this object will take 5 hours, or spend $0.99 to finish now," as long as the wait times don't get too ridiculous.However, I know they will. Anything to make the game developers money.

 

[tipoo]

Uh, does anyone realize the Apple TV will now have a more powerful CPU than the Mac Mini? o_o

 

[fokmik]

triple core?? this will be A8X since its the only apple chip with triple core...so un upgrade from A8 to just A8X for 4k ???
this will work like worm

 

[jhfenton]

I avg 800gb a month and I'm one person and I don't even think I stream that much - but you download a couple of free games on your console and binge a 4K season and it adds up quickly. There's no way ISPs can survive if they DON'T start doing bandwidth caps and tiers. I'm pleasantly surprised Xfinity hasn't started yet, but I can see them doing it in a few years. I know they are testing it in a few markets.

Data caps are completely unnecessary--they don't even address the key issue of peak traffic--and don't exist in competitive Internet markets. If you live in Cincinnati, you have never seen a cap--and never will--because you can choose between fiber (up to 1Gbps) from the phone company (about 80% coverage now, building to 90-95%) or cable Internet from Spectrum/Charter.

Xfinity does it to me.. or I can pay an extra $50 for unlimited. I’ve gone over twice but they don’t charge extra until the 3rd time.

$50 extra for unlimited? Man, do they need some competition.

Yes, but are they streaming 4K? I'm streaming 4K on YouTube, Netflix and other services and like I said, it's only 2 or 3 hours every couple of days and on the weekend I'll binge 8 or 9 hrs of 4K tv. Not to mention the avg Game Download these days is 50GB and PS+ and Xbox offer 2 or 4 free games a month. That's 200GB right there.

I suspect we sometimes hit 200GB in a day. Heck, when we first signed up for our cloud backup service, we uploaded 8TB in the first couple weeks. We only have one 4K TV at the moment, and we generally can't stream 4K video to our computers with 4K monitors; but bandwidth usage is growing fast. And we stream outbound too--both live OTA TV and stored video--from two home Plex servers to our mobile devices and remote PCs. I don't know how ISPs with caps count outbound data usage.

No and that's my point, 4K is not the norm yet. Most houses don't have 4K TVs, let alone 4K monitors or the hardware needed to access 4K streams (or don't want to pay higher subscription costs for 4K programming), which is what makes your usage an outlier. That means there is plenty of time for the technology evolve for the demand where 4K is 'normal' usage in the next 5-10 years, hopefully meaning we won't live in a world of bandwidth caps.

No doubt the average monthly household bandwidth usage is much higher today than it was 10 years ago, but there's no way even 200GB is normal. In fact in many cases it's probably not even possible due to slow internet speeds.

I believe Internet data caps will eventually fade away, as we are gradually seeing in the wireless universe. Cable ISPs in particular have issues with peak demand, and data caps do little to address that.

Hope all you salivating for 4k have the bandwidth and no data caps for it.

1Gbps Internet and no data cap. Competitive Internet markets don't have caps.

 

[tipoo]

triple core?? this will be A8X since its the only apple chip with triple core...so un upgrade from A8 to just A8X for 4k ???
this will work like worm

What?
A10X is tri-core, at least to the OS. There's six cores, but only three visible to the OS at any time.

 

[gnipgnop]

triple core?? this will be A8X since its the only apple chip with triple core...so un upgrade from A8 to just A8X for 4k ???
this will work like worm

A10X has a six-core CPU that is split between three high performance and three energy efficient cores. That may be what the "three core" tweet is referencing.

 

[mmm1345]

No and that's my point, 4K is not the norm yet. Most houses don't have 4K TVs, let alone 4K monitors or the hardware needed to access 4K streams (or don't want to pay higher subscription costs for 4K programming), which is what makes your usage an outlier. That means there is plenty of time for the technology evolve for the demand where 4K is 'normal' usage in the next 5-10 years, hopefully meaning we won't live in a world of bandwidth caps.

No doubt the average monthly household bandwidth usage is much higher today than it was 10 years ago, but there's no way even 200GB is normal. In fact in many cases it's probably not even possible due to slow internet speeds.

True. But I just don't see it, even if the streaming tech catches up, I think the business opportunity is too "good" to pass up and people are streaming more general 1080p content these days as well. Couple that with people cutting their cable and going to streaming apps, Cable Companies are going to make up that revenue somewhere.