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Apple TV 4K - yes please
- Thread starter MalooNZ
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As cheap as they are in comparison to the rest of Apple's line up, I don't see why you would even consider skipping the aTV 4, the features it provides to the Apple TV are well worth an upgrade from any previous model. Also consider that since they have added apps to the TV, it's going to be a little longer before the processor is up to the challenge of displaying 4K. As for reference, Intel i7 broadwells (5th gen) have a difficult time displaying 4K.
Mainly due to bandwidth issues in the CPU, but a newer CPU with better equipped architecture would do fine. Even with a smaller GPU aid this could be done.
I disagree. You're right ATV's are cheaper than most of Apple's other products. That still doesn't mean there's a ton of value to be had in the $150-$200 it costs for a new one though if you have a gen 3. What do you get? Universal search? Admittedly handy, but hardly worth the price of entry. App store? Maybe if you want to use your Apple TV for a lot of casual gaming. As far as TV channel apps go, I don't know of any that I want from the app store that aren't already on the gen 3. Personally for my usage cases, there's not enough separating the ATV 4 and the gen 3 to justify purchasing a new one.
I haven't really kept up with processor architectures, thanks for the clarification. I was under the assumption that 4K would be extremely difficult in the aTV since they want to throw Apple mobile processors in the box.
You just stated it... for you. To each their own.
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It's not, after all 4k is just a series of consecuential mathematical formulas being solved in an ordered fashion. A GPU like the ones in the iPhone 6 to 7 can easily handle that. Hence, why we have 4K recording now. Playback is even simpler.
My Nvidia shield from 2 years ago plays 4k 60fps flawlessly. Gaming in 4k, and streaming content in 4k are 2 different things.
I ended up getting the top-end aTV. Universal search is nice, especially when you have to revert back to tapping through menus on an aTV 3. The screensavers actually a good selling point, it brings life into the room during family get-togethers. I know this sounds like a gimmick but it brings a nice feel to the room. The App Store is much like the iOS App Store, not a lot of real winners in it, however, when you tie in a game controller for intensive games, play a party game with family who have iPhones such as Song Pop or monopoly, it really enhances the experience. With the new look of Netflix it's harder than hell to find movies I want to watch, but universal search really shines. For instance the other night I was wanting to watch a classic movie with Audrey Hepburn. I found a movie to watch in about 10 seconds. On the aTV 3 I would have been searching for at least 10 minutes. Admittedly, I don't use universal search that much, but overall I think the amount of money I paid for it was just about right.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/25/google-to-pause-its-fiber-rollout/
FYI looks like Google is reconsidering its fiber business.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/25/...lay-off-employees-as-it-moves-away-from-fiber
Seems like engadget only gave half the story. They report that back in June Google bought wireless ISP, Webpass. Looks like Google is shifting to a fiber/wireless hybrid strategy for it's future rollouts. Wireless coverage for most parts of cities and suburbs linked to a fiber backbone perhaps?
Anyway, this doesn't change that Apple isn't waiting until 2019 or 2020 to release the next Apple TV.
While this is true, it doesn't mean cities with Fiber on it will suffer under tyranical ISPs anymore. Google Fiber is a great project that simply needs to be cost-effective. It'll take longer, but the long term benefits of this can not be underestimated.
I wish Alphabet could simply keep rollout.
[doublepost=1478775397][/doublepost]I unfortunately no longer use my ATV since getting a 2016 model 4K/HDR tv. I'm kinda miffed about it because on my 1080p set I used the ATV 95% of the time.
With stuff like Netflix and Amazon releases in 4K dolby vision, you pretty quickly get addicted to this level of image quality. The WebOS 3 running on this OLED is actually surprisingly well designed, in some ways a lot quicker to navigate than tvOS. The main shortcoming is lacking app support.
Regarding the whole bitrate discussion. Most of the UHD blurays I've bought run around 40mbps, with only Lucy averaging 90mbps (and looking spectacular).
Netflix's 25mbps looks very good. I invite anyone to see The Crown or Chef's Table and still find the 4k undeserving.
Amazon's Goliath in HDR10 is beautiful too, and I look forward to The Grand Tour which I expect will be a pristine production and a showcase for 4K and HDR.
I agree. I just went 4K and HDR with a Samsung 8 series UHDTV and a PS4 Pro, my Apple TV sticks out as non-4K outlier as the centerpiece of my upgraded home theater. What's ultimately disappointing is that Apple offers no options for 4K.
Even if Apple had the hardware they don't have the content. None of the tv, movies or apps available on the iTunes Store support 4K.
When the time is right Apple will make a transition to offering 4K content but not before the ISPs make realistic data caps. All you can eat internet is dead and most data caps would be deviststed by 4K content delivery in a matter of days.
Don't expect a refreshed Apple TV until there is at least an iPad Pro with 4k that will motivate 4K Ann and content development.
H.265 is here and efficiently compresses video to a file no larger than a 1080p file, which Apple has used since iPhone 6 in 2014. I think the soup of 4K standards will solidify with PS4 Pro and Microsoft building consoles for the masses using specific 4K and HDR standards. The difference between today's AppleTV and a 4K ready version is an H.265 decoder chip and licensing fees (which are pretty high for H.265 compared to H.264).
I thought I read that Apple could "unlock" 4K on ATV4, perhaps with a firmware update. Is that just wrong and wishful thinking or a possibility?
What I hear was the Apple TV has the same specs as the Amazon 4K. IE. 4K at 30FPS. In others words limit 4K capability. Apple would never do it in my opinion.
The real truth is that everyone has blown 1 GB way out of proportion. Netflix streams are about 15 Mbps for 4k content. Gaming streams need about 1 Mbps per 16 players. Unless you are hosting content or really like to download files, you won't notice much of a difference. I have 300 Mbps right now, and the only thing I notice is that the buffering is slightly faster than it was at 50 Mbps. It all comes down to how good the DNS servers and routers are between you and the content provider. When you finally reach the content provider it's all about their upload speed. Citrix streams required 100kbps per user 3 years ago, I'm not sure if this has been more optimized since then. I used to work for a cloud provider with 700 servers all which were web-facing and we had a 200 Mbps connection, this never peaked out even with 3000 users potentially downloading files at any given point in time. Having 1 GB is just a bragging right, and I think Google has more than fairly priced it at 70 Mbps considering the cost of implementing it.
More speed the better though. I agree that at this moment in time 1 gbps is overkill. However the lowest common denominator speeds are bottlenecking innovation.
If more people had access to super high bandwidth internet then there is nothing stopping companies from streaming 4k Blu-ray quality videos. I also read that in the future broadband speeds could exceed the speeds of internal storage making accessing files from the cloud faster than getting it from local storage.
It is pretty cool that netflix will still stream the same content to a person with 1 Mbps DSL, as they will to someone with a gb fiber line.
I am lucky enough to have a fiber internet connection right now. I personally wish they would go even higher quality right now. I was very impressed with their 4k streams. Then my friend brought over a uncompressed video he shot in 4k with a pro camera. It is shocking what the native file looks like. It is like looking out the window.
If more people had access to super high bandwidth internet then there is nothing stopping companies from streaming 4k Blu-ray quality videos. I also read that in the future broadband speeds could exceed the speeds of internal storage making accessing files from the cloud faster than getting it from local storage.
It is pretty cool that netflix will still stream the same content to a person with 1 Mbps DSL, as they will to someone with a gb fiber line.
I am lucky enough to have a fiber internet connection right now. I personally wish they would go even higher quality right now. I was very impressed with their 4k streams. Then my friend brought over a uncompressed video he shot in 4k with a pro camera. It is shocking what the native file looks like. It is like looking out the window.
The norm will be 5k or 8k before Apple announces a new "state of the art" 4k AppleTV for $800.00.
The worst is that they drop 4k as a buzzword everywhere. 4k video shot on iPhone, easily edit 4k with iPad pro etc.
When it comes to the device people will actually use for 4k in 2016 the apple TV (crickets chirping)
It's not like this is a niche anymore. The BF ads are selling 55 inch 4k sets for the $5-600 range. It is time for a refresh.
I refuse to buy one until it is 4k
It certainly is niche. Current estimates suggest 4k wont reach 50% + of NA home until 2020. the numbers are very similar in the UK if not a little behind NA adoption rates.
An interesting, albeit misleading statistic. What's the rate of 4K display adoption among homes that have or are in the market for a streaming appliance like the Apple TV (1080p), Fire TV (4K), Nvidia Shield (4K HDR), Chromecast (4K), or Roku (4K)? Apple is way behind the curve compared to competitor devices and their target market for the Apple TV is much more likely to have or want 4K than the general public.