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New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Likely Launching Soon

tknelson said:
How does POE add ports? It removes them.
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There's also the point being made that wi-fi bands are becoming more and more congested as people have more and more wi-fi devices. For anyone serious about having smart home setups, and for Apple to be serious about effective smartphone equipment, it makes a lot of sense to have more smartphone devices to be wired rather than wireless. PoE means one cable, rather than two cables - network and power.

Basing a whole smart home setup on only wif-fi for networking, and having multiples of portable wi-fi devices, will negatively affect the performance of all those smart home devices. Pushing PoE rather than only wi-fi works in Apple's interest, if they are serious about expanding into the smart home market.
 
If Apple can get a good supply of A17 Pro SoC's, I think the new Apple TV could be announced as early as this week, timed to coincide with the release of TVOS 26.1.
 
MacRumors said:


A new Apple TV and HomePod mini could launch as soon as this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today suggested.

HomePod-mini-and-Apple-TV.jpg

In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple retail stores are planning an overnight refresh on the evening of November 11, where changes will be made after closing, such as refreshing displays and placing new products for the following day.

The timing of the overnight refresh could simply be related to the holiday season, but there is a possibility that it relates to the launch of new Apple TV and HomePod mini models. Gurman notes that inventory of current models has become tight, likely signaling that new versions are on the way. He added that even if they do not launch by the end of 2025, they "shouldn't be far off."

The new Apple TV and HomePod mini will apparently "help showcase the new Siri and Apple Intelligence features planned for next year." During its earnings call earlier this week, Apple seemingly suggested that any more new Macs are off the table for the rest of 2025, making the new Apple TV and HomePod mini the most likely candidates for any remaining Apple product releases this year.

​


Article Link: New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Likely Launching Soon
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Taking ages, man!!!!
 
Wakey87433 said:
Having read up about it the tech sounds great but it seems pretty niche for a home device, seems more aimed for places like gyms and sports bars and how many of them are using AppleTV's to run their systems?

And especially when they really only seem to care about apple headphones, having to go into settings to connect my Sony headphone when I want to use headphones every time and then back in to disconnect them when I'm done is so annoying where as it seems from videos I've seen its much easier to connect and disconnect AirPods and the likes. It should be something that you can do from the quick menu, maybe from the audio switch section but its not
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It’s also about accessibility for people hard of hearing.
 
I am a die-hard Claude user and believe it is consistently the most human-usable model. Note, I also pay for ChatGPT Pro and Gemini Pro, but I pay for the $100/mo Claude because it is that much more valuable to me.

That said, we don't need the bleeding edge of capability to have an excellent assistant. Show me that we retain the privacy (sounds good so far), get vastly more capability than Siri at all the most common requests, and has an Apple-built front end that can do special things like know your Home setup/local storage and media, and build Shortcuts with voice, for example, and I'm happy. Super duper bonus if all old HomePods have full Siri-Neo capabilities.
 
Stock watch: my local store was due to have models of the HomePod mini available tomorrow as they're currently unavailable but they now won't be restocked til Wednesday. Looks like stores in the US that don't currently have stock won't be restocking untll Wednesday either.

Could be something, could be nothing.
 
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My hunch is that these are the same device.

Following the tv (the streaming service) refresh, the Apple TV (the box) is de-emphasized in the FAQ.

IMG_0175.png

Apple goes pretty far to avoid mentioning the Apple TV 4K and talk about other devices.


Having three different things have the same name is beyond confusing and Apple’s home branding is shifting to “home” as in HomePod and likely HomePad.

With Apple TV 4k and HomePod mini getting depleted together, I suspect HomePod mini will merge the functions of both.

In order to support the new Siri, the HomePod mini will need to receive a chip upgrade that is far beyond what it’ll ever need for playing audio. Instead, it’ll be how you run homeOS on any TV in your home, via AirPlay. Virtually every new TV made in the last 5 years has AirPlay*. Remote sold separately if you want it but will work with any iPhone serving as a remote.

*For those that have an older TV without AirPlay support maybe Apple sells an AirPlay stick, but most likely keeps old Apple TV 4K in stock for the next few years.
 
@ipedro

So are you saying you think the ATV hardware as we know it is going away?

...and we'd be buying a HomePod Mini that Airplays to our TV?
 
turbineseaplane said:
100% horrible.
I would be completely out as I don't want to use any of the built in stuff of my TVs.

I don't even let my TV OSes connect to the network.
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Yup, when I got mine like 4 years or so ago I tried it out ... a few days later, TV wifi disabled and never looked back...
And if they kill the ATV hardware, I'd probably get a couple of the 3rd gen, the latest, and keep it for 10 years
 
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Wakey87433 said:
That's exactly what they need. As I've said above right now the current one is way too over powered for a streaming box, the spec is there for their constant 'This is also a console' pitch but there isn't enough users to get devs and publishers of big games to want to go through the hassle of porting (It's also part of the reason why in the UK the BBC has done the bare minimum that they are required to do when it comes to the iPlayer app. Things like 4K/HDR which due to Apple choosing to not Support DASH in their HLG implementation which would hence require the BBC to implement a different 4K/HDR implementation than all other devices for the AppleTV which just isn't worth it)

Get something under 100, ideally as close to 50 as possible and it would probably still be overpowered. The HD version has more power than the original Switch, if the original Switch can run games the level it could then it certainly can. Bump the processor up to even the 1st or 2nd generation 4K which would should be much cheaper and you have an overpowered streaming box and a decent enough console at a great price that might sell enough to persuade devs/publishers to port better games. And a better priced one absolutely would bring people in, if it was priced in the 50-100 range its at a point where the interface and power would be enough to get many of those who right now buy the sub 50 streaming devices to pay a bit more where as asking them to go from buying sub 50 devices to 150+ devices and it puts people off unless they are deep in the Apple eco system or they only have a single TV to buy a streaming device for
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Some great points, thanks.

Yeah I think the processor used have always been about Apple trying to make tv into a gaming device.

And gaming is something that Apple has been very hot and cold over in the past.

I’d be doubtful if there are many people who use their Apple TV to game. Yet if you like Apple TV, you’ve had to pay for a box that is like how it is mostly because of that.
 
bluecoast said:
Some great points, thanks.

Yeah I think the processor used have always been about Apple trying to make tv into a gaming device.

And gaming is something that Apple has been very hot and cold over in the past.

I’d be doubtful if there are many people who use their Apple TV to game. Yet if you like Apple TV, you’ve had to pay for a box that is like how it is mostly because of that.
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No-one in my gaming circles would ever use an Apple TV 4K to game on at this point for the bolded part above.

Now that’s not to say it shouldn’t be an option for people, but that’s just the reality of where we are. People are happy with their PC’s, PS5’s and Switch’s for their gaming fix.

You would have to see a fundamental shift from not only Apple but all the game publishers to put effort in to make it a thing and I don’t think they will.
 
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I want to use the Apple TV to game. But because the ATV 4K 2nd gen that I have is old, the game that I want to play, plays at 30FPS.

On my MacBook Pro, it plays at 60FPS. That’s why I’m waiting for the new ATV to come out.
 
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elvisimprsntr said:
It’s also about accessibility for people hard of hearing.
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How many homes have the need to have multiple people use headphones to watch tv at the same time though? When you consider that Apple's preferred setup is to be using HomePods as your tv speakers and AirPods as your headphones and you can connect both at the same time it just seems like something that would be niche to add and the most likely setup where one person needs headphones and the rest don't they already provide that ability in their own ecosystem
 
Manatlt said:
I want to use the Apple TV to game. But because the ATV 4K 2nd gen that I have is old, the game that I want to play, plays at 30FPS.

On my MacBook Pro, it plays at 60FPS. That’s why I’m waiting for the new ATV to come out.
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curious, what game?
 
Manatlt said:
I want to use the Apple TV to game. But because the ATV 4K 2nd gen that I have is old, the game that I want to play, plays at 30FPS.

On my MacBook Pro, it plays at 60FPS. That’s why I’m waiting for the new ATV to come out.
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Much of that though isn't the hardware but a combination of devs having no motivation to optimise it for the AppleTV and the overheads of the OS. The Apple 4 HD (Obviously the lowest specced of all the 4th gen Apple TV's) for example has spec that's better than the Switch 1 and that was able to do 60fps on many titles. Some titles were awfully optimised and couldn't maintain 60fps consistently, and many intentionally capped it at 30fps when not docked for power reasons but even some titles on the Switch 2 that are badly optimised struggle to maintain 60fps. And lets be honest her the games available for the Apple TV are nowhere near as demanding as the ones even on the original Switch let alone the Switch 2

So more power alone won't automatically result in a better frame rate. It needs a much more efficient OS for starters which obviously for a 'do everything' box is much harder than it is for a console, maybe a game mode that shuts down every process not needed for gaming or even switching to game mode logs you out of tvOS and switches to a second streamlined gaming OS. Even then though it needs to sell more boxes so devs have a reason to optimise their games as right now all they are motivated to do is the absolute minimum.

That has always been the issue with Apple when it comes to AppleTV. They produce a box that for the main use case is too powerful and hence too expensive based and then kneecap the very reason for overspec by not optimising the OS to help it run games and by stifling the user base of the device. What they need to do is

  1. Increase the user base. They need the device (or a version of the device that's still fast enough to run games) to be sub 100
  2. Need to buy a medium to large game studio with a desirable franchise (or multiple) that they can make them Apple exclusives
  3. Find a way to make the OS more efficient when running games
Although TBH at this point their best bet would be to do a deal with Amazon, Nvidia or Microsoft to bundle one of their game streaming services into Arcade. With all the processing done remotely they don't need devs to port and optimise their games for the AppleTV, they don't need make the OS more optimised for gaming and they have access to big games and offer it for less than going to the service directly making the AppleTV a perfect device as a game streaming device at a fraction of the cost of buying a Switch, Xbox, Playstation or PC Handheld like the Steamdeck and while pricing it at around the same as a cheap mini-pc
 
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Wakey87433 said:
Much of that though isn't the hardware but a combination of devs having no motivation to optimise it for the AppleTV and the overheads of the OS. The Apple 4 HD (Obviously the lowest specced of all the 4th gen Apple TV's) for example has spec that's better than the Switch 1 and that was able to do 60fps on many titles. Some titles were awfully optimised and couldn't maintain 60fps consistently, and many intentionally capped it at 30fps when not docked for power reasons but even some titles on the Switch 2 that are badly optimised struggle to maintain 60fps. And lets be honest her the games available for the Apple TV are nowhere near as demanding as the ones even on the original Switch let alone the Switch 2

So more power alone won't automatically result in a better frame rate. It needs a much more efficient OS for starters which obviously for a 'do everything' box is much harder than it is for a console, maybe a game mode that shuts down every process not needed for gaming or even switching to game mode logs you out of tvOS and switches to a second streamlined gaming OS. Even then though it needs to sell more boxes so devs have a reason to optimise their games as right now all they are motivated to do is the absolute minimum.

That has always been the issue with Apple when it comes to AppleTV. They produce a box that for the main use case is too powerful and hence too expensive based and then kneecap the very reason for overspec by not optimising the OS to help it run games and by stifling the user base of the device. What they need to do is

  1. Increase the user base. They need the device (or a version of the device that's still fast enough to run games) to be sub 100
  2. Need to buy a medium to large game studio with a desirable franchise (or multiple) that they can make them Apple exclusives
  3. Find a way to make the OS more efficient when running games
Although TBH at this point their best bet would be to do a deal with Amazon, Nvidia or Microsoft to bundle one of their game streaming services into Arcade. With all the processing done remotely they don't need devs to port and optimise their games for the AppleTV, they don't need make the OS more optimised for gaming and they have access to big games and offer it for less than going to the service directly making the AppleTV a perfect device as a game streaming device at a fraction of the cost of buying a Switch, Xbox, Playstation or PC Handheld like the Steamdeck and while pricing it at around the same as a cheap mini-pc
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This is a game Sega has published and was funded by Apple. This game is exclusive to Apple Arcade.

So this game is definitely optimized and tailored for Apple devices, including Apple TV.

The game being optimised for the 2025+ devices, I don’t know, don’t have a 17, but the devices that were released in 2024 all run the game 60FPS.

I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max as a backup phone, that has the same chip as the latest Apple TV, and the phone runs it at 30FPS with low graphics quality.
 
Y’know, the theory about merging the ATV functionality with another Apple device does make their recent rebranding of the streaming service make a lot more sense. That would suck, I agree about buying a couple of gen 3 4Ks if that happens.
 
new speakers that can be set up for proper, not virtual, Atmos would be great.

imagine a couple large Homepods with 2 rear small ones, a centre, a couple height... all configured with a simple setup.

even a small sub device... for more low end grunt.
surely the tech exists to do all this within the Apple environment.
 
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