Apple Announces New Apple TV 4K with A12 Bionic Chip and Upgraded Siri Remote

[vipergts2207]

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.

I have zero issues with my Denon receiver playing Atmos content from my ATV. Thankfully I don’t have to deal with ARC, but it sounds like something in your signal chain doesn’t support it properly. It seems like the only thing limited here is your setup. Does your TV support eARC? And how many other streaming media players out there have 2 HDMI outputs?

 

[Erik Humphrey]

This makes no sense. The iMac has "spatial audio" because they control the audio controller/amp and the speaker configuration. AppleTV doesn't have its own speakers, so you can't create a controller for spatial audio for an infinite variation of speaker configurations.

Your speakers are AirPods Pro.

 

[oryan_dunn]

I believe the issue with Atmos (and DTS:X) is with locally streamed content (PLEX) in Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD:MA. The AppleTV decodes those and doesn't send the spatial audio to the receiver. Atmos from internet streaming providers works fine.

 

[AcesHigh87]

Don’t now how anyone went this long on an ATV that old. I skipped the 4, but jumped on the 4K day one. Will be getting this day one as well, but am only replacing one of my ATVs.

Well I don’t have a 4K TV so I didn’t need that (I’ll be getting this one just to figure proof and not be buying super old) and until the last couple of years it did what we needed it to. Plex was really the only thing missing that needed to be airplayed. But now it’s Plex, Disney+, YouTube, etc with the list just growing by the week basically.

I’ve wanted to upgrade for at least a year now but it always seemed like a new one with a less terrible remote was right around the corner so I held off. Mid-May can’t come soon enough.

 

[compwiz1202]

Still 5AM Pacific? A time would be nice instead of us just assuming based on the past. They have changed the time once before. Don't want them changing it back to midnight out of nowhere and then it's backordered five hours later.

 

[compwiz1202]

mute button so I can mute youtube ads?
HOLY COW I'M IN!

And not just YT. And especially when they play the same annoying ad every cycle *cough*Dr Rick*cough*

 

[compwiz1202]

just buy an airtag for that

Would have been cool if they would have made a chamber to put in an airtag.

 

[compwiz1202]

Post removed because I'm a dumbass and can't read.

LOL if I do that I just add to the post I missed the part and list the answer.

 

[ClaveMan]

Does the remote really not have ultra wide band... all that talk about find my. My remote is the thing I lose most often.

Agreed. First thing I shouted. But.. within a week or so there will be silicone cases for the remote with Airtag slip cases or a loop to attach a lanyard. Here is a TWiT host showing this idea for the current remote.

 

[Neil Harrison]

Apple stores won’t let me pre order yet

 

[AVBeatMan]

I've caved and ordered. I think I can get £100 (at least) for my 2017 4K ATV so the cost of the upgrade isn't so bad.

 

[cardfan]

I've caved and ordered. I think I can get £100 (at least) for my 2017 4K ATV so the cost of the upgrade isn't so bad.

I would have ordered one. But old Apple TV is 4K hdr. So is this one. No difference that I will notice. Remote isn’t used anyways. Maybe next time. 8k? It’s just so underwhelming.

 

[Neil Harrison]

I would have ordered one. But old Apple TV is 4K hdr. So is this one. No difference that I will notice. Remote isn’t used anyways. Maybe next time. 8k? It’s just so underwhelming.

yeah I was same but Disney+ is not 4K on my Sky box so decided to go for it

 

[marvin_h]

Did they fix the Dolby Vision black level problem?

Well, first they have to admit there’s a problem....which they haven’t. And since the two boxes share the same OS, I’m not hopeful. But I hope I’m wrong.

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.

Guess I’m a broken record.....because....... first they have to admit there’s a problem....which they haven’t. And since the two boxes share the same OS, I’m not hopeful. But I hope I’m wrong.

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?

No in theory the sensor is so close to the screen it isn’t influenced by the rooms lighting conditions in a significant manner.

To be safe I’d still run it with my room lit like I have it for my most critical viewing.

Most user reports seem to indicate the process adjusts color temp/white point/grayscale rather than gamma, so it would be less influenced by ambient light anyway.

 

[maratus]

No spatial audio? What? Pass. They gave the iMac spatial audio, but not the Apple TV? Is this a joke?

To be honest, the spatial audio that iMac has is just related to its built-in speakers. Which is in "who cares" category. iMac, from what I can see, doesn't support spatial audio on Airpods Pro / Max, the stuff that actually matters.

 

[yukari]

With all the smart TVs out there, do you really need Apple TV?
Serious question

 

[_Spinn_]

With all the smart TVs out there, do you really need Apple TV?
Serious question

I prefer “smart” boxes that can be attached to my TV. That way I can upgrade the smarts without having to throw out the TV. I don’t trust TV manufacturers to support the software as long as I keep TVs - I have one that is 10 years old and another that is 6 years old.

 

[Canyda]

With all the smart TVs out there, do you really need Apple TV?
Serious question

I have a perfectly functioning 11-year-old Samsung Smart TV that hasn't had a firmware upgrade in probably 7 years and has a Netflix app at least that old. I'd rather keep my old TV and upgrade my Apple TV than have to replace my TV every 2 or 3 years to keep up on the apps.

 

[yukari]

I prefer “smart” boxes that can be attached to my TV. That way I can upgrade the smarts without having to throw out the TV. I don’t trust TV manufacturers to support the software as long as I keep TVs - I have one that is 10 years old and another that is 6 years old.

I have a perfectly functioning 11-year-old Samsung Smart TV that hasn't had a firmware upgrade in probably 7 years and has a Netflix app at least that old. I'd rather keep my old TV and upgrade my Apple TV than have to replace my TV every 2 or 3 years to keep up on the apps.

So basically, smart TVs don't upgrade softwares? But with Apple TV, you can upgrade softwares (e.g., Netflix, Prime Video, etc.)?

If so, that makes sense.

Thanks!

 

[cmaier]

With all the smart TVs out there, do you really need Apple TV?
Serious question

Judging by the shitiness of the smart features on my recent LG set, yes.

 

[Rob_2811]

Bordering on Homepod levels of pointlessly overpriced.

It was a flip of a coin as to the biggest problem with the Apple TV, the silly remote or the price, it looks like they fixed one but not the other.

Some estimates had Apple at 2% share in this market last year, this announcement won't do much to change that I don't think.

 

[oryan_dunn]

With all the smart TVs out there, do you really need Apple TV?
Serious question

Yes.


Smart TVs are cheap now because they monitor everything you watch (everything, not just via their apps), and then sell that data. I never connect Smart TVs to the internet.

 

[Canyda]

So basically, smart TVs don't upgrade softwares? But with Apple TV, you can upgrade softwares (e.g., Netflix, Prime Video, etc.)?

If so, that makes sense.

Thanks!

Yes, essentially. Like, there’s no way my old Samsung TV is ever going to have Disney+ Or even Amazon Prime Video supported on it. So I would have to buy a new TV for that. An Apple TV would cost me less money and supports those apps and so many more.

 

[iSunrise]

Even though I am still disappointed that the new ATV 4K is a bit of a letdown when it comes to the SoC, I ordered the 64GB on Amazon, since it will at least have HDMI 2.1, the new Wifi 6 and the most important, the new remote, which I am actually excited about.

This must be the first product I’ve ever bought where the remote will actually make a significant difference.

 

[cardfan]

Even though I am still disappointed that the new ATV 4K is a bit of a letdown when it comes to the SoC, I ordered the 64GB on Amazon, since it will at least have HDMI 2.1, the new Wifi 6 and the most important, the new remote, which I am actually excited about.

This must be the first product I’ve ever bought where the remote will actually make a significant difference.

Still looks like a crappy remote to me.