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Apr 12, 2001
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AppleInsider claims to have nailed down the specs of the recently-announced Apple TV. Along with previously known specifications, the Apple TV is said to include the following hardware assortment:

- 1 GHz Pentium M, 2 MB L2 Cache
- 350 Mhz Front Side Bus
- nVidia G72M with 64MB DDR2 VRAM (GeForce Go 7400)
- 256 MB DDR2 400 Mhz RAM

Also mentioned is that the unit does in fact contain a cooling fan.
 
It's a Mini Mac Mini.
Hmmm..... There's got to be somethingnI do with that...
 
say what?

I know we can hack this and install mac os x on it or windows for a full blown media horse. PLay any type of video holy **** i might just buy it


The possibilities are endless-those specs actually make the apple tv a little more attractive
 
For reference: Apple's tech spec page
Intel processor
40GB hard drive
HDMI (video and audio)
Component video
Optical audio
Analog RCA stereo audio
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
USB 2.0 (for service and diagnostics)
802.11n wireless networking
Built-in IR receiver (works with included Apple Remote)​
 
say what?

I know we can hack this and install mac os x on it or windows for a full blown media horse. PLay any type of video holy **** i might just buy it


The possibilities are endless-those specs actually make the apple tv a little more attractive

They really don't. If you hack it to run OSX or Windows, it then won't run the Apple TV software. Why not just buy a media center PC from Dell that would have vastly better specs? The lack of 802.11n streaming? Don't count on being able to do that if you just install Windows, but I guess you could wirelessly transfer it to the hard drive. Is that really worth a crippled machine? Or the price? You can buy an older PC for the price of the Apple TV.
 
that makes me not want it. too bad

Why?

The Core Solo/Core Duo chips used in the first gen of intel macs are all based on the Pentium M architecture, and the Core Microarchitecture in C2D and Woodcrest is for all intents and purposes the direct male-line descendant of that.

It's probably the Pentium M ultra-low-voltage Dothan 723, or something like that. It'd be interesting to see if it's socketed or soldered. Probably soldered, but if it were socketed....

I'd also look see if RAM could be jacked up
 
It's got to be running OS X already... maybe stripped down, but still OS X.
 
It seems to have the lowest-cost chips that do the job. Makes sense to me.

Don't count on being able to hack it do do much more... but then again, they have iPods dual-booting Linux these days!
 
Dud

I love most Apple products. I am also the target market for this device. I will most definately not purchase it... it's a complete dud from what I can see. Hopefully they go back to the drawing board and give me a reason to replace my Tivo or prevent me from getting a Slingbox.
 
Hopefully they go back to the drawing board and give me a reason to replace my Tivo or prevent me from getting a Slingbox.

It's not meant to replace your TiVo. From what I see it's just another piece of hardware to work seamlessly with your iTunes library.

If it had DVR capabilities, great, but why would Apple include DVR software when most the TV shows that would be recorded are on the iTunes Store.

Apple's approaching this the say way they approached the iPod. They're just trying to pitch the iTunes Store, not necessarily the hardware that runs the media.

I think these specs are just fine for what the Apple tv will do for me. :)
 
dude, its not like you're going to use final cut or logic on it.

i use a 350 mhz sawtooth to do a similair thing.

The Pentium architecture has always stank. I would have hoped that Apple would never have used it. Imagine if they had put Pentium 4's in the MacPro's.
 
I love most Apple products. I am also the target market for this device. I will most definately not purchase it... it's a complete dud from what I can see. Hopefully they go back to the drawing board and give me a reason to replace my Tivo or prevent me from getting a Slingbox.

I'm not just refering to you here, but would you have bought it before you knew the specs? :rolleyes:
 
For this thing to work you have to have 802.11n right?

No. It will work with "g" or a wired connection

I actually expect almost 1/2 the unts will use the wired connection. People who get their Internet connection over the cable TV would have a router near the TV set. Would need only a two foot cat-5 cable

The device can work by either playing from the internal disk or streaming over the network. To play from the HD a slow network would be OK.
 
You guys are all missing the real question.

Why does this $299, thin, internally cramped machine have a better GPU than both the MacBook and the Mac mini?
 
If it had DVR capabilities, great, but why would Apple include DVR software when most the TV shows that would be recorded are on the iTunes Store.

Well, probably because most people (read: me) aren't willing to give up the ability to channel surf just for the "privilege" of using the iTunes store. If I'm going to buy an Apple TV, it really does have to replace my Tivo. I'm not going to purchase a show to check it out; I'd only purchase a show I already know I want to watch.

Now if ITMS comes through with a subscription model for their TV shows, then I might consider it. But I suspect most people watch TV differently than they listen to music, given that TV viewing habits have been ingrained for decades (while portable music was never truly mainstream until the iPod came along).
 
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