Apple Testing 4K Capable Fifth-Generation Apple TV For Possible Release This Year

[mattopotamus]

But there's not enough content.

-defenders

Just adding to what you said

There is far more content in 4K than there was in HD this early on. The biggest streaming service release most new content in 4K, and the amount of UHD blu-rays far excepts HD blu-ray at the same stage into its lifecycle.

Also, it is not about 4K and people need to realize that. It is about HDR and the audio formats you get with UHD.

 

[Paul Dawkins]

When it comes to 4K, they applied that exact idea to all of their other products... 'cept the ATV. The ATV got the zamboni treatment.

And?

 

[Eduardo1971]

What a great scoop! Very detailed-it's nice to see the wall of secrecy being chipped away at Apple.

As far as the AppleTV we just bought one more in within the past three weeks since we have got a discounted one by prepaying for three months of DIRECTV NOW.

Since we have plasma TV's this news doesn't bother me; besides these are a slight improvement over the previous generation of Apple TV's that we already have.

 

[iReality85]

Going 4K this year, meaning TV, receiver, and UHD player. Minimum requirements are HDR10 and Dolby Vision or Dolby Vision updatable. Betting that that there won't be Dolby Vision as it requires a license and Apple has shied away from those (i.e. DTS, TrueHD audio formats).

I agree, 2017 is going to be the year 4K in the living room finally takes off as all the pieces and standards have fallen into place, like the hardware you mentioned. I could see Apple not supporting DTS, TrueHD audio, etc but to not support Dolby Vision I think would be a huge error, since it's being just as widely adopted as HDR10.

 

[Paul Dawkins]

Also, it is not about 4K and people need to realize that. It is about HDR and the audio formats you get with UHD.

Why are you talking about 1% of consumers as if they reflect the real situation?

 

[69Mustang]

Also what does a 4K chip have to do with apps and an App Store? If the Apple TV had a 4K chip it wouldn't have apps and an App Store? What would have replaced the App Store with a 4K chip?

That's not what that quote is implying at all. How did you even come to that conclusion?

 

[brucewayne]

Tim has it wrong - the future of TV isn't Apps, it is content. The only reason to have all of the apps is because content has been divided up between so many places. People have been suckered into the myth that individually they can bargain with the content providers better than a large corporation, so now they are subscribing directly to those providers (at a higher individual cost and with overlapping libraries), and each one needs their own app. All of those ABC, NBC, HBO, Sling apps could be replaced with 1 Comcast X1 or Time Warner app if people and the companies would get out of their own damn way.

And if it is Apps, why isn't there a Amazon Prime app? Apple missed one of the hottest streaming shows (The Grand Tour) and Amazon missed another subscriber base because of their petty fight.

Not to mention Apple missing 4k - the company that brought us retina displays could not spend the extra few dollars to put in a modern chipset and be a leader instead of an also-ran?

At some point those of us who have bought into this ecosystem are going to find that it is more cost effective to break out than stay in.

 

[stanman64]

There still isn't. I happily bought an Apple TV 4 and I won't miss anything by not having a 4K version.

Not trying to 'defend' anything but I don't feel the remotest bit of concern by not having 4K.

I'm more irritated that most UK tv companies still haven't released tvOS apps.

Lack of content is a very real problem. I bought my first 4K TV a couple of months ago. Upgraded to the 4K Netflix subscription so I could make good use of it. Exciting right?! Wrong. There was only a handful of shows that supported it. The only show I liked that did was House of Cards.

 

[Paul Dawkins]

Tim has it wrong - the future of TV isn't Apps, it is content. The only reason to have all of the apps is because content has been divided up between so many places. People have been suckered into the myth that individually they can bargain with the content providers better than a large corporation, so now they are subscribing directly to those providers (at a higher individual cost and with overlapping libraries), and each one needs their own app. All of those ABC, NBC, HBO, Sling apps could be replaced with 1 Comcast X1 or Time Warner app if people and the companies would get out of their own damn way.

And if it is Apps, why isn't there a Amazon Prime app? Apple missed one of the hottest streaming shows (The Grand Tour) and Amazon missed another subscriber base because of their petty fight.

Not to mention Apple missing 4k - the company that brought us retina displays could not spend the extra few dollars to put in a modern chipset and be a leader instead of an also-ran?

At some point those of us who have bought into this ecosystem are going to find that it is more cost effective to break out than stay in.

Because making prime app fora tv is equal to shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[tipoo]

I always hope for a little more ambition from the ATV. They dropped the wand controller requirement for games which is a good step. If they stayed half a year behind the iPhones with the same chip (so, A9 by now), and had a little more storage, with updates each year they could become pretty powerful little microconsoles.

I’d also really love to see what Apple silicon could do with a heatsink and active cooling.

 

[Paul Dawkins]

Lack of content is a very real problem. I bought my first 4K TV a couple of months ago. Upgraded to the 4K Netflix subscription so I could make good use of it. Exciting right?! Wrong. There was only a handful of shows that supported it. The only show I liked that did was House of Cards.

Netflix has few films and few tv shows in 4K I thinks it's only their own tv shows like Dare Devil, Stranger Things etc, Really no reason to pay more for 4K TV.

 

[Thunderhawks]

An Apple TV with the A9X inside of it would be pretty interesting...

I think the remote control should get a large touchbar in it , so we don't have to lift our heads to look at the screen.

 

[nfl46]

Nice. I am looking forward to it, but lets be honest: there still isn't enough 4K content out there. It was kind of pointless to release a 4K ATV three years ago.

We're at the point where 720P TV's/Laptops/Smartphones should be a thing of the past. Here's the hoping the 4.7" iPhone displayed is 1080p in 2017.

 

[leroypants]

Far too little far too late.

 

[stickyd8]

There still isn't. I happily bought an Apple TV 4 and I won't miss anything by not having a 4K version.

Not trying to 'defend' anything but I don't feel the remotest bit of concern by not having 4K.

I'm more irritated that most UK tv companies still haven't released tvOS apps.

I have to agree that the amount of quality 4K content sucks. I have a 4K OLED and use my Xbox One S and Samsung 4K Blu-ray player to "try" and stream 4K content, but there just isn't enough content out there yet. There is a handful of original series on Netflix and Amazon Prime, but the amount of Movies and TV Shows is scarce. Hell, even many of the 4K movies released are post-production 4K and don't have the full 4K effect. With that being said, I do love true 4K movies that I can stream and buy, but I still use my 4th gen AppleTV daily to watch most of my purchased movies and shows along with streaming TV (via, Hulu, ABC, CBS, DirecTV Now, etc...). Where Apple can make headway is by releasing a 4K AppleTV that supports 4K apps, movies, tv shows, and can up-convert purchased content to near 4K quality. Bottom line, they need a 4K AppleTV sooner than later or they will find themselves falling further behind.

 

[G-News]

Apple TV is a neglected disaster of a stepchild. It is most definitely the least refined product in Apple's lineup, and that is saying quite a lot these days. Outside of the US, AppleTV 4 is so broken, it doesn't even deserve the Apple logo. Just a few examples:
-TV app is unavailable
-most cable network apps not available, no streaming services outside of US/English countries
-no Siri support and dictation is very, very poor even compared to the iPhone.
-at launch, apps needed to work with the rudimentary remote only, killing any gaming momentum
-no 4k was a missed opportunity
-tvOS is tied to the nationality of the AppleID you are using with it, this is an unnecessarily restricting move (and kills workarounds to be able to use Siri as an English Speaker with a non-English AppleID)
-keyboard support was added later, remote app support lagged behind, too

All in all, inside the US AppleTV 4 is basically a beta product and an alpha product outside the US, at best.
I got mine in the hope of having added Siri support a few months later, by now I'm certain it will never be added. As such, it's the most disappointing Apple product I've ever owned, it never got out of that "alpha" state.

 

[silentq15]

I saw an article on Polygon that mentioned something about Apple buying Netflix and I think Apple responded saying they would not. It made me think why not? I they were to do this it would probably bring Amazon to the table as far as a Apple TV app and solve this issue of having a box with everything on it. All Apple would have to do to get Amazon to the table is pull Netflix from Fire TV. Its aggressive but Amazon is essentially doing it now.

 

[Tinmania]

I used to think this didn't matter, but i just went to buy a new tv and literally 90% of the options at Costco were 4k UHD. Apple should lead not follow

Shhhhhhh.... You will spoil the "rare and way too expensive!" mantra.



Mike

 

[gim]

I don't care about 4k right now, but an upgraded chipset should also enhance the gaming performance..I am curious what an A10X Apple TV would be capable of.

 

[PalmiNio]

Lack of content is a very real problem. I bought my first 4K TV a couple of months ago. Upgraded to the 4K Netflix subscription so I could make good use of it. Exciting right?! Wrong. There was only a handful of shows that supported it. The only show I liked that did was House of Cards.

So having usb-c ports is stupid since less than 1% of accessories have it?

If 4K was a big deal in terms of price and complexity in hardware then i understand. But it is not since all built in chips in todays TV can do it and the competition.

When it comes to content, will there be more or less 4K this year? MORE.

Its cheapness...

 

[Fozziebear71]

I love the Apple TV's in my house. I have one Apple 2 TV's, one Apple TV 3, and 1 Apple TV 4. I will gladly buy the next version.

 

[BreadofWonder]

You don't say... In other news, Apple is testing new iPhone for possible release this year.

In all seriousness, though. I wonder if Apple will debut 4K iTunes movies alongside it. That's honestly the only reason I can think of that Apple waited this long to update the Apple TV. After all, what's the first thing people are going to do when they buy a 4K streamer? Watch 4K movies to test it out, of course. That means more $$$ for Apple if iTunes has a good selection.

 

[stanman64]

So having usb-c ports is stupid since less than 1% of accessories have it?

If 4K was a big deal in terms of price and complexity in hardware then i understand. But it is not since all built in chips in todays TV can do it and the competition.

When it comes to content, will there be more or less 4K this year? MORE.

Its cheapness...

We're on the same page here. I never said 4K was stupid, it's freakin gorgeous. It's just a downside right now that there isn't much content. The problem lies with content providers/makers, not the hardware. And yes, it's definitely on the upswing as 4K becomes cheaper and more widely adopted.

 

[Tinmania]

Why are you talking about 1% of consumers as if they reflect the real situation?

More proof that 98.62% of Internet stats are made-up, on the spot.


Mike

 

[blackcrayon]

Hopefully they'll include something like an A10X or even just an A10 to make it more capable and competitive with gaming. They're likely to also increase storage after they increased the app size limit.
I don't expect them to change their mind on a bundled controller because of their margins.

I don't think the controller is an issue of margins - if so they would just sell an unbundled one at a huge profit.

As others want, hopefully Apple jumps to an A10 class chip this generation to push it a little further in terms of the types of apps and games it can run.