I just started playing games on my new ATV 4k 2022. Unfortunately it runs super hot. I’m not sure how hot is too hot but it so hot I can’t touch it for more than a few seconds. The power supply is on top and the cpu is on the bottom. Not sure why they choose this option. Anyway, I put a heat sink on it and now it runs much cooler. I will take temperatures tests soon. Yes I know it looks kinda silly but I barely notice it since it’s black on black. If it helps the device last longer then it’s great. I doubt this thing can last when playing games on it for years.
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Cooling the ATV 4k 2022
- Thread starter Miltz
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It’s an old heat sink I found from my computer technician days. The bottom is lapped so it’s super flat and makes excellent contact. I was tempted to put thermal paste between the Apple TV and the heat sink, but I don’t think it’s needed since it’s so flat. If you don’t have an old heat sink order a new low profile heat sink with a flat bottom free of mounts and one that’s simple.
As inefficient as plastic to metal might sound in practice it works great. The heat sink gets burning hot. It’s doing the job just fine. The top of the Apple TV is perfectly flat and so is my lapped heat sink.
If i feel adventurous I’ll put some thermal paste between them but as of now I don’t think I need it. I wish apple kept the old heatsink and fan design.
If i feel adventurous I’ll put some thermal paste between them but as of now I don’t think I need it. I wish apple kept the old heatsink and fan design.
Oh dear , yet another timmy penny pinching design exercise backfires
I might tape a probe to the top and track the temp changes when I do various tasks.
I used to keep the ATV in an entertainment center, closed inside a cabinet, and never worried about temps with the previous ATVs (excluding the original ATV1 that could be used as a hot plate), but the 2022 ATV4K3 might be getting a little too hot if one kept it in a cabinet.
Not sure why Apple couldn't have kept the same body with the fan. Why make it smaller? Was the size and weight of the old one keeping people from buying it? Doubt it, most likely the price was, and Apple fixed that.
Doubt the fan made that much difference to the Apple TV's unit cost for Apple, they should have just kept it.
I actually modded the original ATV1, and attached a larger fan on it to keep it cool, I might end up doing something similar to the new one.
I used to keep the ATV in an entertainment center, closed inside a cabinet, and never worried about temps with the previous ATVs (excluding the original ATV1 that could be used as a hot plate), but the 2022 ATV4K3 might be getting a little too hot if one kept it in a cabinet.
Me too.
Not sure why Apple couldn't have kept the same body with the fan. Why make it smaller? Was the size and weight of the old one keeping people from buying it? Doubt it, most likely the price was, and Apple fixed that.
Doubt the fan made that much difference to the Apple TV's unit cost for Apple, they should have just kept it.
I actually modded the original ATV1, and attached a larger fan on it to keep it cool, I might end up doing something similar to the new one.
I bought and downloaded it. I will check it out. It have been nice to have an actual temperature, and not just "normal".
Here’s the update: after a 45 minute gaming session the Apple TV was 116°F that’s with the heat sink. The heat sink itself was 110°F so it seems to be doing a great job of drawing the way he from the Apple TV. I can’t imagine how hot it would be without the heat sink and I kind of don’t wanna test it. Lol.
I don’t think it’s a problem as far as apple is concerned. Like I doubt it’s just my Apple TV 4K. Especially since these have no heatsink or fan what’s to go wrong? I just wonder what the limit is for temperature on these things…
Convection. Right now the air gets pulled in from the bottom only to get trapped inside the plastic case.
At least on its side/vertical you have an opening at the “bottom” and “top” which may enable some convection.
The ATV4K3 definitely runs hot when playing certain games.
While playing Wreckfest, the performance was pretty good at first, but then it started having bad frame rate drops with increasing frequency.
At one point, it became unplayable. I checked the thermal state of the ATV, and it was "Serious: High Temperatures".
I really wished the 2022 Apple TV 4K had a fan.
While playing Wreckfest, the performance was pretty good at first, but then it started having bad frame rate drops with increasing frequency.
At one point, it became unplayable. I checked the thermal state of the ATV, and it was "Serious: High Temperatures".
I really wished the 2022 Apple TV 4K had a fan.
Don't understand the reason for obsessing about the Apple TV temperature. It's not sitting on your lap, there are no mass reports of failures due heat failure. Apple normally over designs things so unless you are running it out of spec (32 to 95 degrees) why worry about it?
Because it is thermal throttling.
On some games, the last ATV with the slower A12 can out perform the newest ATV with the more powerful A15 chip because the A12 model has a fan.
I can confirm that the A12 is more stable than the A15 when playing Wreckfest on the ATV. After searching YouTube, I found out that it isn’t just me.