I'm done with Apple TV. The device is essentially bricked if you have have authentication issues with their servers(I have an earlier model thats bricked at the moment and I have had multiple issues with it over the years with the same issue).
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Apple Announces New Apple TV 4K with A12 Bionic Chip and Upgraded Siri Remote
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No one should be happy about the GPU in the A12 (a 2.5 year old chip) and its barely measurable increase over the A10X (A 4 year old chip). For the same price we should have got an A12X at minimum but even an A13 would have been better (both are on a similar 7nm process as the A12 so supply constraints should be about the same).
For a product that is only updated every 3-4 years we should really expect the latest hardware so that it isn't out of date as quickly however we've all been conditioned to accept the Tim Cook doctrine of "selling old stuff at new prices" for years now. Really I'd argue we should boycott the thing out of protest of the hardware but then the other Tim Cook doctrine might kick in, "update things sporadically and with lacklustre specs so that people don't want them so we can discontinue them"...
For a product that is only updated every 3-4 years we should really expect the latest hardware so that it isn't out of date as quickly however we've all been conditioned to accept the Tim Cook doctrine of "selling old stuff at new prices" for years now. Really I'd argue we should boycott the thing out of protest of the hardware but then the other Tim Cook doctrine might kick in, "update things sporadically and with lacklustre specs so that people don't want them so we can discontinue them"...
Sure. Why have it in the first place when even Apple can reinterpret a "Standard"? On a different note, does Apple's version of USB4 supports DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0?
And if that’s all you need that’s fine. You don’t have to buy anything. My needs go beyond yours which is why I buy it.
Also, did they fix the lip sync issue that plagues so many AVR users that plug their ATV into the AVR and use match frame rate ON.
I’ve had to plug ATV into my TV and use eARC to solve it.
Hm, I use an AVR and have no issue. Didn't even have to use the AVR's delay compensation function.
It appears to be denon and a few others. I think Yamaha AVRs don’t seem to have this as much
huge threads on this on AVforums and Reddit
I asked upthread but checking in again now: Is one supposed to run the color balance calibration every time you have different lighting conditions in your viewing room, or is it a one-time thing for your TV?
Just like with the current Apple TV 4K, the remote will control the volume on your audio device via IR and will sleep/wake your TV if connected by HDMI.
This is part of tvOS 14 and works with current Apple TVs.
Maybe I'm mistaken about picture calibration, but shouldn't it really be independent of lighting conditions, except for maybe having different settings in a bright vs. dark room? Logistically, there's no way that Apple TV would be able to know about a change in lighting conditions without re-running the calibration, as Apple TV doesn't have a sensor, hence the need for the iPhone. Maybe Apple TV will let you store several settings...
Also, the feature is coming to current HD and 4K models next week, so we'll be able to try it out.
Only just found this thread so don't know if this has been posted yet? Worth the upgrade?
www.whathifi.com
New Apple TV 4K 2021 vs old Apple TV 4K: should you upgrade?
There's a new Apple TV 4K for 2021 that boasts a faster processor, improved HDR support and a new Siri Remote
If you only have the HD yesOnly just found this thread so don't know if this has been posted yet? Worth the upgrade?
New Apple TV 4K 2021 vs old Apple TV 4K: should you upgrade?
There's a new Apple TV 4K for 2021 that boasts a faster processor, improved HDR support and a new Siri Remote
I would just keep that one if you are not using it for games. I will upgrade my HD one eventually
I stopped reading when I got to this false claim: "offers high-end features such as advanced far-field microphones for hands-free voice controls."Only just found this thread so don't know if this has been posted yet? Worth the upgrade?
New Apple TV 4K 2021 vs old Apple TV 4K: should you upgrade?
There's a new Apple TV 4K for 2021 that boasts a faster processor, improved HDR support and a new Siri Remote
Exactly - this is the first feature I think of when I think about TV remotes. In the past few years, I've repurchased two of them due to the couch monster (both later found, but too late). I loved my old Tivo with a simple button on the console that made the peanut remote play the Tivo jingle. It could be so much simpler and more elegant with Apple - find it via my iPhone with a directional pointer and sound from the remote (does Apple have a theme song?)
Apple today announced a new version of the Apple TV 4K, simply called the new Apple TV 4K, with the A12 Bionic Chip and an all-new Siri Remote.
The addition of the A12 Bionic Chip provides a significant boost in graphics performance, video decoding, and audio processing. The set-top box now supports high frame rate HDR and Dolby Vision video, enabling fast-moving action at 60 frames per second.
This allows content to play more smoothly and appear more lifelike than on the previous generation of Apple TV 4K. Apple said it's also working with leading video providers as they begin to stream high frame rate HDR, like NBCUniversal and Fox Sports.
There's also a new feature that allows the Apple TV 4K to work with iPhone to improve your television's picture quality. The Apple TV 4K uses the light sensor in iPhone to compare the color balance to industry-standard specifications.
With this data, Apple TV 4K can automatically tailor its video output to deliver more accurate colors and improved contrast tailored specifically to your TV set, and all without having to go into the TV's settings.
One of the biggest additions to this new generation of Apple TV 4K is a newly redesigned Siri Remote. This device features a new clickpad control with five-way navigation, which Apple says provides better accuracy when browsing content on tvOS.
Users can also scrub their finger along the outer ring of the clickpad to access a "jog" control, helpful for finding a specific scene in a show or movie. Hoping to address issues with the current Siri Remote, Apple mentioned that the new version sits more comfortably in hand.
Additionally, there's a separate power button that controls a TV's power, a separate button for mute, and Apple moved the Siri button to the side of the remote. You'll also find the usual buttons for volume, play/pause, back, and home.
The new Apple TV 4K will be available at $179 for 32GB and $199 for 64GB. Pre-orders open up on April 30, and the device launches in the second half of May in more than 30 countries and regions.
Apple is also planning to sell the Apple TV HD with the new Siri Remote for $149, and the new Siri Remote will be available separately for $59. It's compatible with the previous generation of Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD.
Article Link: Apple Announces New Apple TV 4K with A12 Bionic Chip and Upgraded Siri Remote
Everything in this report leaves me stone-cold. In the first place, I don't give a hoot about the new remote since I use my LG Magic instead. More importantly, Apple has developed a dismaying tendency to turn its back on new technologies. I give you three examples:
Apple today announced a new version of the Apple TV 4K, simply called the new Apple TV 4K, with the A12 Bionic Chip and an all-new Siri Remote.
The addition of the A12 Bionic Chip provides a significant boost in graphics performance, video decoding, and audio processing. The set-top box now supports high frame rate HDR and Dolby Vision video, enabling fast-moving action at 60 frames per second.
This allows content to play more smoothly and appear more lifelike than on the previous generation of Apple TV 4K. Apple said it's also working with leading video providers as they begin to stream high frame rate HDR, like NBCUniversal and Fox Sports.
There's also a new feature that allows the Apple TV 4K to work with iPhone to improve your television's picture quality. The Apple TV 4K uses the light sensor in iPhone to compare the color balance to industry-standard specifications.
With this data, Apple TV 4K can automatically tailor its video output to deliver more accurate colors and improved contrast tailored specifically to your TV set, and all without having to go into the TV's settings.
One of the biggest additions to this new generation of Apple TV 4K is a newly redesigned Siri Remote. This device features a new clickpad control with five-way navigation, which Apple says provides better accuracy when browsing content on tvOS.
Users can also scrub their finger along the outer ring of the clickpad to access a "jog" control, helpful for finding a specific scene in a show or movie. Hoping to address issues with the current Siri Remote, Apple mentioned that the new version sits more comfortably in hand.
Additionally, there's a separate power button that controls a TV's power, a separate button for mute, and Apple moved the Siri button to the side of the remote. You'll also find the usual buttons for volume, play/pause, back, and home.
The new Apple TV 4K will be available at $179 for 32GB and $199 for 64GB. Pre-orders open up on April 30, and the device launches in the second half of May in more than 30 countries and regions.
Apple is also planning to sell the Apple TV HD with the new Siri Remote for $149, and the new Siri Remote will be available separately for $59. It's compatible with the previous generation of Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD.
Article Link: Apple Announces New Apple TV 4K with A12 Bionic Chip and Upgraded Siri Remote
a. The gentlemen who more or less invented mesh routing were originally Apple employees. I bet when their project got s**t-canned by management they quit the company and founded Eero. Apple responded by dropping out of the router business altogether
b. Siri hasn't shown me any significant improvement since the day it was first introduced. Half the time it still fails to understand me. I it lies at the root of HomeKit, which surely has had a chilling effect on potential developers, the reason why only a small number and variety of HomeKit-friendly devices are available compared with with the competition. Amazon Alexa and Google Nest counterpart are eating Apple's lunch.
c. Then we have the dismal example of the Home Pod. It was a great-sounding speaker implemented in the worst way possible. Lack of Bluetooth and/or an audio jack meant that we had to use it only in the ways Apple saw fit to allow rather than in all the ways we end users wanted to use our speakers (most notably, perhaps, the Home Pod never had any place in a sound system or home theater setup). Now it was Sonos' turn to eat the lunch.
This time around, Apple is doing the same once again by ignoring Dolby Atmos in this new version of Apple TV (and matching the competition by offering a cheaper dongle version). So once again other companies rush in to fill the vacuum by offering products that consumers actually want. What exactly is the incentive to buy an Apple TV when an Atmos-friendly 4k Fire Cube costs a lot less? (Okay, I'll grant you that thanks to its upped processor speed the Apple TV is no doubt a better product for high-end gamers, but how large a slice of the potential market is that?) If Apple had climbed aboard the Atmos bandwagon when it first came to town the story of the original Home Pod might have had a very different ending. For everyday viewing of streaming programming I can't imagine that these higher stats will make a damn bit of business. Give me a home theater with two full-size HP's in front (I still have a pair, they're currently on a closet shelf), two Minis in back and a sub capable of handling Atmos and I'd ditch my current Sonos Arc setup in a heartbeat. (And what's the point of bringing out a super-expensive set of Atmos-friendly headphones at the same time their usefulness remains so limited?)
Apple used to be a leader in the home/small electronics industry. It used to put out innovating products capitalizing on new technologies and the competition was forced to put out inferior imitations. When's the last time that's happened?
Fish, we are told, rot from the head downwards. Tim Cook has a lot to answer for. It requires a new generation of management with a lot more imagination in sussing out new technologies and Steve-like courage to gamble on bringing them to the marketplace, and a willingness to give the end user what he/she wants rather than what Cupertino's navel-gazing top brass condescends to let us have.
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Reality: none of the three Eero founders had worked at Apple before. Neither did they invent mesh Wifi. They successfully screwed their employees though when Amazon acquired Eero.
Reality: the Apple TV (and the iTunes store) have supported Atmos for over 2 years.
As nearly as I can tell the ATV supports Atmos in a very limited way. The problem lies in streaming an Atmos signal from the ATV to a television receiver. As per Apple's instruction page devoted to Atmos,you need to have one HDMI cable leading to your soundbar or receiver and a second one leading from that to your t. v. Which is fine if you don't happen to own a soundbar with only a single HDMI port such as the highly popular Sonos Arc. Possibly the problem could have been addressed by adding a second HDMI port to the ATV but the new version still has the same old single one. The Arc -- and presumably a lot of other soundbars as well -- doesn't support Bluetooth streaming so there's no possible help there. (Don't bother reminding me about the HDFury signal splitter, I tried it but never could get the damn thing to work properly, partially because the instructions that came with it were so unhelpful and contacting the mfr. got me nowhere.) Surely somehow Apple could have recognized this problem and addressed it. If it had, I would have been happy to buy one. Since it didn't and since I'm not a gamer, I have no conceivable use for the new model. Reading other posts in this thread, I see that plenty of folks agree with me.
Maybe Bluetooth would solve the problem. Or some further exploitation of Air Play technology? If so, and maybe if Apple had put Bluetooth in the original Home Pod,* they would have sold a lot more of them and Apple wouldn't have felt the need to discontinue it. In some way or other the Home Pod, Home Pod Mini and a matching sub could have been combined into a fine home theater setup, ideal for handling spatial audio. So I think I'll stick to my original point: Apple had the capacity to come up with a first-rate home theater setup, They were sitting on a potential gold mine but they completely blew it thanks to corporate lack of imagination and indifference.
* - Actually it did have Bluetooth, useful only for the original setup routine. For a long time I hoped that this situation could have been changed by a simple firmware update but eventually I gave up and replaced my Apple speakers with Sonos ones which did everything I wanted right out of the box.
There is nothing limited about it.
The only way for the Sonos Arc to receive an Atmos audio signal is through eARC. This means you connect the Apple TV 4K to an eARC-capable TV, which routes it back to the Sonos through the return channel of its eARC port. Other streaming boxes, including the "Atmos-friendly 4k Fire Cube" you lauded above, work exactly the same way.
Just like every other streaming box.
