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First Unboxing of New Apple TV Shows off Packaging, Device and Remote

CJM said:
Sounds like another crippled product then. Why doesn't it at least have an A8X? Apple are usually pretty good at putting future technology like ports and latest wireless standards into their products. The lack of ports and 4K support just means this is already due an update.
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4K support isn't essential at this point because the vast majority of content won't be in 4K for quite some time. By that time, Apple will probably have introduced 27 other updates to their various products so I'm fairly confident they'll update the AppleTV.
 
jetlife2 said:
No it's not that bad, but it's more difficult than before depending on your audio equipment.

The full audio (7.1 Dolby or whatever is available in the source material) is carried on HDMI.

So the best way is to run the HDMI into an AV system which has both HDMI input and output. Then the AV system drives the full audio and the HDMI out takes the video to the TV. Most new AV systems can do this: But many people (including me) have older AV systems that don't have HDMI input, only coax digital, optical, RCA, etc.

The second way (depending on your TV) is to run HDMI into the TV as normal. Then run optical out from your TV into your optical in on an older AV system. Many TV's offer this. I had never noticed on my TV that it had an audio optical output until I ran into this same situation with a Roku. Anyway this is a partial solution only , because due to the HDMI spec, it will only send stereo PCM48 on the optical out, not the full 5,6,7 channel audio.

Hope that helps. I don't like it either but there are these ways of doing it.
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Does anyone know if the USB-C connector can run audio out, if so you could always run a small USB DAC from that to your Pre-Amp. I'm hoping that could work.
 
vertical smile said:
While this is true, many people, like my self, have receivers and sound bars with optical being the only digital input.

There are solutions to this issue, but there is some cost involved, such as loss in functionality or money to purchase equipment.
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Costs are not high, about $20 dollars on Alibaba for HDMI to optical, or COAX converters (you can get them in bulk for a lot less ;-), you can get a box with more outs (and even switching) for about $35-40 I believe.
 
Avatar74 said:
4K support isn't essential at this point because the vast majority of content won't be in 4K for quite some time. By that time, Apple will probably have introduced 27 other updates to their various products so I'm fairly confident they'll update the AppleTV.
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such a short-signed viewpoint. I have a fair about of 4 k content I can watch now, but will need to route around the apple device, instead of using it as a true hub.

Maybe I'm unique, but the took three years to update last apple TV, I'm sure many people will be wanting to view 4K content long before then - including staff that they are creating on their other apple devices.
 
ksuyen said:
I would pay more for better quality HDMI cable. I had enough for those cheaply made rigid bad quality cables. Apple HDMI is more expensive but it saves me a ton not replacing them ne every few months.
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the quote you replied to reference monoprice cables. they actually do make good cables - cheap, but good.
 
scott911 said:
such a short-signed viewpoint. I have a fair about of 4 k content I can watch now, but will need to route around the apple device, instead of using it as a true hub.

Maybe I'm unique, but the took three years to update last apple TV, I'm sure many people will be wanting to view 4K content long before then - including staff that they are creating on their other apple devices.
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Where are you getting 4k content? Just curious
 
FoxMcCloud said:
Netflix and Amazon have a growing library of 4k. As does YouTube.
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I thought 4k TVs had their own apps for viewing content. And some of those sources you mentioned only work on certain brands of TVs. It's still a very young technology and I don't blame Apple for hanging back while it gets sorted out.
 
Some more info on HVEC decoding:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/h-265-hevc-encoding-explained/

"2015 will be a big year for HEVC on your home computer. Hardware-decode support will become more prevalent, and it’s likely that Intel will add some hardware support as a feature in sixth-generation Core processor. This will entirely solve the potential performance issues facing high-quality, UltraHD, HEVC video."

Maybe Apple is waiting on Intel to design a processor with HVEC decoding that will be appropriate for the TV form factor and the price point they want to be in.
 
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I wish they supplied a USB-C to lightning cable for the remote. Why have the port on the apple tv if you can't charge the remote from it.
 
vertical smile said:
For the people wondering about options for the loss of the optical ports, I quickly found these on Amazon.

HDMI to HDMI + Audio Adapter

HDMI Audio Extractor

I am sure there are others. I really don't like the idea of buying another thing to connect all my stuff, plus they are kinda big. But, they look like a solution to the ATV4 not having optical out.
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So, currently, I have my ATV2 connected to my TV via HDMI for video, and to my AV Receiver via optical for audio. Are we saying that I will need to buy the adaptor above to get the same arrangement working? My AVR does not have HDMI inputs.
 
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ksuyen said:
I would pay more for better quality HDMI cable. I had enough for those cheaply made rigid bad quality cables. Apple HDMI is more expensive but it saves me a ton not replacing them ne every few months.
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Well of course it makes sense to get the best quality cable you can, and I'm not saying Apple doesn't provide quality cables but I do feel they charge much more for the same quality cable that you can buy elsewhere. For example, I've bought many excellent quality cables that were longer in length for less money than Apple charges and they've lasted years at a time without wearing out. Monoprice has failed on the lightning cables but their HDMI cables are some of the best I've seen in the industry and the prices are much more affordable. Monoprice wouldn't have the great rep it has it their cables were junk.
 
laurim said:
Some more info on HVEC decoding:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/h-265-hevc-encoding-explained/

"2015 will be a big year for HEVC on your home computer. Hardware-decode support will become more prevalent, and it’s likely that Intel will add some hardware support as a feature in sixth-generation Core processor. This will entirely solve the potential performance issues facing high-quality, UltraHD, HEVC video."

Maybe Apple is waiting on Intel to design a processor with HVEC decoding that will be appropriate for the TV form factor and the price point they want to be in.
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I've asked about this before. Do we actually know for sure that the ATV4 does not have H.265 support? I know Apple haven't advertised it but the iPhone 6S has support for H.265 for Facetime so why not the ATV?
 
Dunk the Lunk said:
I've asked about this before. Do we actually know for sure that the ATV4 does not have H.265 support? I know Apple haven't advertised it but the iPhone 6S has support for H.265 for Facetime so why not the ATV?
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The specs on Apple's site says the movie formats it plays and 4k H.265 is not on the list.
 
HenryDJP said:
Well of course it makes sense to get the best quality cable you can, and I'm not saying Apple doesn't provide quality cables but I do feel they charge much more for the same quality cable that you can buy elsewhere. For example, I've bought many excellent quality cables that were longer in length for less money than Apple charges and they've lasted years at a time without wearing out. Monoprice has failed on the lightning cables but their HDMI cables are some of the best I've seen in the industry and the prices are much more affordable. Monoprice wouldn't have the great rep it has it their cables were junk.
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I'm in the AV business and we've had issues with Monoprice video adaptors (mini display port to dvi, for example). I suppose their HDMI cables are ok. I buy Aurum hdmi cables and have never had issues. Their prices are very good on Amazon and I like the way the braided covering looks.
 
laurim said:
The specs on Apple's site says the movie formats it plays and 4k H.265 is not on the list.
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That's not really an answer though. Apple does not list H.265 encoding/decoding support on the iPhone 6 spec list but we know it's included for FaceTime. I want to know if the chips on the ATV system are capable or not.

PS 4K and H.265 are different things
 
Dunk the Lunk said:
That's not really an answer though. Apple does not list H.265 encoding/decoding support on the iPhone 6 spec list but we know it's included for FaceTime. I want to know if the chips on the ATV system are capable or not.

PS 4K and H.265 are different things
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Considering none of the other devices at a similar price do 4k, I would think it would be a huge feature to advertise if the TV could.
 
sfrancis928 said:
Looks great to me, excited to finally be upgrading my ATV2.

One big issue though, you still need multiple remotes to operate your TV. In Apple's idea of a perfect world, no one would ever want to switch inputs because ATV serves all of everyone's needs. But that's just not the case for me, and especially for gamers.

The remote looks great, but universal remotes will have a tough time emulating its functionality.
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vertical smile said:
I would have loved 4K, but it is no surprise that ATV4 doesn't have it.

I wonder if it did have 4K, how many people would be hitting the forums complaining that Apple doesn't have any 4K iTunes content?
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I gave gigabytes of 4K from m'y cameras and my iPhone6s !
 
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