Apple Announces New Apple TV 4K With A15 Bionic Chip and HDR10+ for $129

[HDFan]

Blurays with plain TrueHD or DTSHD tracks get unpacked to raw mulichannel LPCM and are lossless... What is lost is the height channel metadata if it is an TrueHD ATMOS or DTS:X track. You still get the lossless base TrueHD or DTS-HD in raw PCM though... it isn't sent as lossy DD+.

Data source?

From Technical Specifications:

HE-AAC (V1), AAC (up to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV; AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1), E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound), and Dolby Atmos

No mention of PCM, TrueHD or DTS-HD.

From Infuse:

Infuse does support DTS-HD MA and TrueHD, and the full lossless audio will be sent to your receiver as LPCM.

They can do it because they are using their own code and have purchased the appropriate licenses.

"There is currently no support for DTS audio on Apple TV hardware."

I can't get DTS sound to work on my 4K Ap… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

"Apple TV 4K doesn’t support Atmos TrueHD natively. Instead Apple TV 4K supports Atmos Dolby Digital+ for input, as that is what streaming services use."

Does the ATV 4K support TrueHD Atmos? - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Since transcoding generally results in quality loss and we don't know the ultimate bit rate it's hard to tell what the native player does.

Do you have a receiver which displays the apple TV output audio bitrate? I haven't been able to confirm what happens during the conversion since Apple TV won't play MKV's which have the full audio with the native player. Do get better results with Plex, Infuse, or of course NVidia Shield which plays the tracks without any conversions

 

[HDFan]

Right, but the new iPads have 6e. So I’m wondering how AirPlay mirroring would be with ATV on ethernet and iPad on 6e.

The specifications for Airplay say that both devices have to be on the same network. If your network supports 2.5, 5 and 6 GHz all with the same name and router it should work. iPad (6e) > Router > 5 GHz Apple TV. Obviously can't test right now.

 

[Flood4]

How do y'all lose the remote so easily come on it's probably in your couch cushions or somewhere near the TV.

You clearly don’t have young kids to say something like this.

 

[Flood4]

Ouch!
That does not make sense that Apple will be able to sell AirTag to put on a remote which should have ability by itself.

I did request "find my remote" / U1 chip on their product feedback website.

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

Probably won't change anything, at least I tried!

I did it too when I bought it last year!

 

[elmateo487]

Not sure to understand. I have atmos sound and an Apple TV. What’s the problem?

Only a few versions of Atmos work right now, in certain formats. But it does not work for things like Plex, self hosted material, because Apple won't do audio passthrough.

 

[elmateo487]

Only a few versions of Atmos work right now, in certain formats. But it does not work for things like Plex, self hosted material, because Apple won't do audio passthrough.

You are correct

(Lol I quoted the wrong person and quoted myself. Oh well)

Quick Media Switching (QMS)

QMS eliminates bonks by using the VRR mechanism to change frame rates, allowing rapid, smooth changes from a nominal 60Hz rate to any media rate below it (down to 24Hz). HDMI 2.1b

www.hdmi.org

 

[vairi]

Always complaining!
But do not forget the fact that this new version - even the top model - is WAY less expensive than ever!
Whether you need so much memory or not - forget it! Has Apple's configuration and pricing policy ever been comprehensible, and haven't we gotten used to it in the last four decades anyway? And: Is there a serious alternative to the Apple ecosystem? - I mean no! So shut up and just enjoy

 

[Abazigal]

It seems like some here are actively looking for reasons to upgrade.
I don't think Apple markets this for people owning the 2021 Apple TV 4K...

This will replace the A10x version in my bedroom.

 

[monstermash]

They could hand out AppleTV units for free and people will still find something to complain about.

I mean, Christ, they sell it for $129 now. How much do you think they're possibly making on each unit? One site says the 4K version is sold at cost:

Gruber: Apple loses money on HomePod hardware, Apple TV 4K sold at cost - 9to5Mac

Update: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman refutes Gruber’s claims about HomePod and Apple TV. Gurman says he’s been told both are sold...

9to5mac.com

Others claim they're making maybe $60 on it at most.


I mean...shut up with the complaints already and be glad they bother making it at all so you don't have to buy a damned Roku or something.

 

[BuddyRich]

Data source?

From Technical Specifications:

HE-AAC (V1), AAC (up to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV; AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1), E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound), and Dolby Atmos

No mention of PCM, TrueHD or DTS-HD.

From Infuse:

Infuse does support DTS-HD MA and TrueHD, and the full lossless audio will be sent to your receiver as LPCM.

They can do it because they are using their own code and have purchased the appropriate licenses.

"There is currently no support for DTS audio on Apple TV hardware."

I can't get DTS sound to work on my 4K Ap… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

"Apple TV 4K doesn’t support Atmos TrueHD natively. Instead Apple TV 4K supports Atmos Dolby Digital+ for input, as that is what streaming services use."

Does the ATV 4K support TrueHD Atmos? - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Since transcoding generally results in quality loss and we don't know the ultimate bit rate it's hard to tell what the native player does.

Do you have a receiver which displays the apple TV output audio bitrate? I haven't been able to confirm what happens during the conversion since Apple TV won't play MKV's which have the full audio with the native player. Do get better results with Plex, Infuse, or of course NVidia Shield which plays the tracks without any conversions

Sorry I meant that the ATV will send multichannel LPCM if it is given it as a source. Infuse will remux TrueHD/DTSHD to multichannel LPCM on the ATV (maybe MrMC and VLC as well). Plex/Emby/Jellyfin will all do it on the server and direct stream it to the ATV client. One gotcha to getting multichannel LPCM over HDMI is that if you go through your TV you need eARC support and HDMI 2.0 regular ARC only supports enough bandwidth for 2 channel PCM (or a compressed lossless codec like TrueHD), otherwise you need to plug your ATV into your AVR first or use something like HDFury....

If you remux a TrueHD (or TrueHD ATMOS) or DTSHD track to get the raw multi-channel PCM, it is lossless. No data is lost in the unpacking. LPCM is technically the transport method, the codec of the audio is just raw WAV, which is supported above... (all of the above are technically sent via LPCM over HDMI... only when people say LPCM/PCM they mean WAV via PCM...)

The audio is straightforward enough, but ATV4K also has some funky Dolby Vision profile support (only Profile 5 officially, but Profile 8 as well as that is what the iPhone shoots in) but no Profile 7 which is what UHD discs use for the most part...

 

[Lahmy88]

Example
With HDMI ARC or eARC turned on, your Apple TV 4K (2nd/3rd generation) can receive high-quality audio from a supported TV and then play that audio through your wireless HomePod speakers or equivalent.

Is that actually something people do?

Because not saying they shouldn’t add it anyways but does that work even when you change HDMI inputs on the TV or does it only work when you go from using the HDMI input that your Apple TV is using and then use the TV tuner or other built-in app on the TV?

Lol I personally stay away from buying things like HomePods because I believe your get a better value experiencing investing in an AV Receiver and a good surround sound speaker kit but I guess each to their own.

I suppose it would allow AirPods use to stay connected to the Apple TV as opposed to connecting them between the TV’s Bluetooth an the Apple TV’s.

 

[GizmoDVD]

They could hand out AppleTV units for free and people will still find something to complain about.

I mean, Christ, they sell it for $129 now. How much do you think they're possibly making on each unit? One site says the 4K version is sold at cost:

Gruber: Apple loses money on HomePod hardware, Apple TV 4K sold at cost - 9to5Mac

Update: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman refutes Gruber’s claims about HomePod and Apple TV. Gurman says he’s been told both are sold...

9to5mac.com

Others claim they're making maybe $60 on it at most.


I mean...shut up with the complaints already and be glad they bother making it at all so you don't have to buy a damned Roku or something.

I;m glad I don't have an ad-ridden Roku/Fire thing connected to my TV. How does anyone use any of those? Ads EVERYWHERE.

 

[bp1000]

Do these units fix the raised blacks issue with lg OLED TVs?

 

[BuddyRich]

Do these units fix the raised blacks issue with lg OLED TVs?

The 2021 model fixed the raised blacks already....

 

[Banglazed]

My order started to ship and got the tracking number

 

[enigmatut]

My order started to ship and got the tracking number

Same. Mine delivers today!

 

[dan980]

My order started to ship and got the tracking number

Same. Mine delivers today!

Which country?

 

[enigmatut]

Which country?

US ... and I spoke too soon. Delivery tomorrow now (possibly a UPS issue). Oh well.

Samsung TV owner here; looking to see how well (or not) the HDR10+ implementation works.

 

[monstermash]

Mine delivers tomorrow.

5 years newer and lower cost than the one it replaces.

Apple soooooooooo greedy

 

[mikedvzo]

No 120hz, still. Why is this such a problem for them? It divides all formats evenly for super smooth playback. 24, 30, and 60. It's more about THAT than, "gaming." That's why we home theater nerds WHINE.

Why do you need 120 Hz for anything but gaming? There’s no content that is 120 Hz so there’s no advantage. TVs that do 120 Hz for sports creates such problems with soap opera effect that almost all hi-fi enthusiast. Turn it off immediately soon as they buy a TV.

No 120hz, still. Why is this such a problem for them? It divides all formats evenly for super smooth playback. 24, 30, and 60. It's more about THAT than, "gaming." That's why we home theater nerds WHINE.

 

[mikedvzo]

Thanks I am sure use mine over wi-fi

You really don’t need ethernet unless you have Wi-Fi range issues. Many people don’t have ethernet drops by their television, unless the house was wired. As long as you have a good signal strength the only time you’ll have issues with Wi-Fi is if your gaming in multiplayer where the delay time increases over, Wi-Fi are noticeable. But I agree whenever I can do ethernet, but I’ve never had a problem on my Apple TV’s doing Wi-Fi. Devices with cheap Wi-Fi - Yes, have problems.

 

[monstermash]

Mine came today.

very disappointed in "home sync". It doesn't seem to work as advertised at all. It only downloaded a couple of apps and didn't organize anything like I have it on my other Apple TV. They could call it "home suck".

it didn't keep login info for apps either.

Getting all my apps downloaded and organized is going to be a huge PITA.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

They could hand out AppleTV units for free and people will still find something to complain about.

I mean, Christ, they sell it for $129 now. How much do you think they're possibly making on each unit? One site says the 4K version is sold at cost:

Gruber: Apple loses money on HomePod hardware, Apple TV 4K sold at cost - 9to5Mac

Update: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman refutes Gruber’s claims about HomePod and Apple TV. Gurman says he’s been told both are sold...

9to5mac.com

Others claim they're making maybe $60 on it at most.


I mean...shut up with the complaints already and be glad they bother making it at all so you don't have to buy a damned Roku or something.

Not a chance any of Apples hardware is sold at cost.

 

[Armstrong72]

Hello. I have Apple TV4k2021 and LG C2 TV. With my TV provider i can stream 1080p Tv shows. But i want that the TV makes the upsclaing to 4k and not the Apple TV4k. Unfortunately there is not a "resuolution matching" option. I set in the options outpout to 1080p 50hz manually wehen i steam a 1080p content. Then i think the LG C2 makes the upscaling to 4k. My qeustion for this case: Does the Apple TV 4k in this case first all upscale to 4k and then downscale to 1080p and goes so in the TV and the TV makes the second upscaling?. Or does the Apple TV 4k directly gives the 1080p conentent signal to the tv in 1080p and then the tv makes the upsclaing? I have testet it and i find the picture qualilty on the LG C2 with this setting to only 1080p (when i play 1080p content) better than that the Apple TV 4k makes the upscaling ( when i set 4k 50hz to output). That would say the LG C2 has the better upscaler thand Apple TV 4k 2021.
How is ist with Apple TV 4k 2022. Has it the better upsclaing than Apple TV 4k 2021 or its the same? The upscaling from Apple TV 4k 2021 is good but not as good als LG C2. But i think the Apple TV 4k 2022 could be e step upwards.

 

[PhilBoogie]

I did decide to buy the now "old" lightning version of the Siri remote from Apple on Amazon today (as Apple Canada has already removed it from their online store on their own site) to replace the black glass remote that everyone hated. I'd been thinking of upgrading the remote on my original 4K Apple TV to the new one for a while, but seeing as basically all my rechargeable things use lightning, might as well get it now.

Turns out you got the right model; the latest version, with USB-C doesn't work with older AppleTV. Likely due to the pairing which is now done with NFC.