One of the reasons I updated was for HDMI 2.1/eArc. TV has it and hopefully will get a soundbar with eArc
you don't need eARC on the aTV if you have a sound bar with eARC
ARC (and eARC) is just a way to get audio out of a TV. It allows audio to flow "backwards" and come out an input on the TV. and it operates on different pins that regular HDMI audio. So on that one cable you could have either audio/video going to the TV, OR audio coming from the TV. The audio going to the TV is regular HDMI audio.
Most TVs also typically only have one ARC port, so you'll only be able to connect either the aTV or the sound bar to it.
all other ports just receive regular HDMI audio.
If you have a sound bar with ARC, and you're watching something on the aTV, The aTV will send audio over the regular HDMI audio channel, and the TV will send that audio over ARC to the sound bar.
having eARC on the aTV allows other inputs on the television to send audio to the aTV, which will in turn forward it to full size HomePods that are set up as default audio. So it would allow you to listen to audio from you cable box, bluray player, or the tuner in the TV on your HomePods.
the only difference between ARC and eARC is bandwidth. Regular HDMI audio is about 37Mb/s. eARC is also 37. but regular ARC is 1Mb/s. Which is why for the higher definition audio you need to have eARC, since it can handle the entire audio stream from your source. (just for reference, optical is about 1/3 Mb/s)
Did you find the remote worth it?
I upgraded the remote on my main TV to the new one.
I like it. it's definitely easier to hold, and if it does fall between the cushions having that big silver side makes it pretty easy to spot, and it being thicker helps to keep it from going too far down the crack.
And another big plus of the new remote is no glass, So zero change of it shattering when it hits the floor. I've lost one remote that way.
but there are a couple things
Currently only Apple's media player can use the scroll wheel. Some apps like Netflix use Apple's player, some like Disney+ have written their own, so the scroll wheel won't work there. I read that apple hasn't added the API for it, so other apps currently are unable to add it to the own players. Hopefully the next minor version of tvOS will add that, if not then the new version in the fall.
having the play/pause button moved is annoying for the first few days, but you get used to it. If you've got other aTVs using the old remote, it becomes a little more difficult to get the new layout into muscle memory. Now I'm hitting the wrong button on the old remote, but doing well on the new one. I'm actually doing a bit better on the new one that I used to do with the old one, since I would usually have the old remote the wrong way at least a couple times a month.
the new play location, is kinda where my thumb rests when holding it, so I see why they put it where they did, but if you've got a mix of old and new remotes it's annoying, maybe they'll give us an option in software to swap the position on the old remotes in the next version.
I don't use the bedroom aTV enough to justify the cost of upgrading there.
4) I really like that the new remote has a dedicated back button.
it works exactly the same way as the old menu button, it's just the image on the button is different. So if you want, you can add a back button to the old remote with a pen and sticky tape. It's always kinda been a back button, but I guess someone on the original design team thought menu made more sense, or an early alpha version of the OS worked differently than what was eventually released.
