New Apple TV First Impressions: Not a 'Revolution,' But Siri and tvOS Shine

[thepixelpusher]

The Verge tech reporter in the video said "the Apple Remote uses IR (Infrared) to control your TV". Must have been asleep during the keynote. The Apple TV remote uses Bluetooth and doesn't need line-of-sight like an IR remote. How sloppy was he with the rest of his assessment?

 

[Marx55]

USB 3.1 type-C (reversible) 2nd generation?

 

['Dorian]

There is no 4K support, not should there be, considering that few people have 4K TVs, few people have enough bandwidth to streak 4K content, and there's very little 4K content to begin with.

More and more 4k tv's are being sold/purchased every day. If there's no support from hardware manufacturers then there's little incentive. I personally have one and can vouch that 4k is amazing! Great for gaming, 1080p still looks better on a 4k TV, and the content that is out there looks awesome.

Codecs have been in development for years for 4k that only has a slightly larger file size. Google will probably be first. Apple probably will not support 4k until they are done with their codec.

 

[MacFanBoi]

I have to say it was the atv4 that really impressed me in todays keynote. Of course ill get the new iphone soon as its out but the atv is what really got my attention. Hopefully now with a app store for atv xbmc or some other media player app will come out which lets me stream stuff off my nas so I can ditch my wdtv and just use the atv for everything.

 

[Piggie]

I will admit, I like it in general and don't care what it looks like.
However, I was left pretty disappointed as I feel it's pretty underpowered, even for an iOS type device when it comes to the games side of things.
The rather pathetic game demo's they showed, would of looked great 10 to 20 years ago. But in 2015?
Apple showed this, as they must of thought it was THE BEST they could show off, and if THAT was the best, then sorry, for 2015/2016 the BEST isn't good enough.

I was hoping, given it to be mains powered that it would be the most powerful of all the iOS products when it came to that side of things.

 

[peterdevries]

I know Apple expects us to watch TV only through the Apple TV, but it would have been great to also include two channel switcher buttons on that remote for the TV besides just volume controls.

 

[peterdevries]

The rather pathetic game demo's they showed, would of looked great 10 to 20 years ago. But in 2015?
Apple showed this, as they must of thought it was THE BEST they could show off, and if THAT was the best, then sorry, for 2015/2016 the BEST isn't good enough.

Apple is clearly not aiming for the XBOX and Playstation gaming crowd, but more to the casual gaming crowd as an extension of their iPad and iPhone platforms. I bet that the Apple TV can probably do more than what they showed yesterday, and we can expect to see some high quality games on the Apple TV, but I think Apple is more aiming for the casual / Nintendo crowd than the aforementioned.

 

[campyguy]

The general belief is that 4K will come with h.265 which is billed as a much more efficient storage format than the current h.264. File sizes won't necessarily be that much larger for 4K if h.265 is used. Apparently, Apple has already at least somewhat embraced h.265 in FaceTime software on iDevices.

BUT, for those consumers who don't want 4K video files, no problem: just as those who purchased TV3 could opt for the 720p or even the SD version of a video, I would expect a 4K TV to also offer the 1080p, 720p or SD versions too. Anyone with data issues or "too slow" broadband could simply keep doing what they are doing now. Better hardware will have no trouble playing lessor software.

h.265? You're too funny...

Head on over to DSL Reports' forums. Comcast is just starting to roll out h.264/MPEG-4 support in some of their markets. Let's check in about 10 years from now, but I'm not holding my breath. John Oliver looks so much better on my ATV right now when compared to the broadcast on Sunday night - I can tell that Comcrap is strangling what's coming over the cable already, and they're already offering - in FL, of all places - an opportunity to pay $30 extra to get over the cap.

My last house just had CL fiber installed - Prism looks so much better than the (Com)crap I get fed at my current location. Lemme know if you'd want a gentleman's wager we'll see h.265 before this decade checks out - I wouldn't take that bet! Cheers!

 

['Dorian]

The Verge tech reporter in the video said "the Apple Remote uses IR (Infrared) to control your TV". Must have been asleep during the keynote. The Apple TV remote uses Bluetooth and doesn't need line-of-sight like an IR remote. How sloppy was he with the rest of his assessment?

It has both. The IR is for your TV or receiver, not the Apple TV. I wouldn't accuse the tech reporter of being sloppy with his assessment.

 

[elmateo487]

Ummm how would you use siri? I feel like that is a big feature that will be utilized even with 3rd party apps.

Map a harmony button to the siri button?

 

[gibbz]

The Verge tech reporter in the video said "the Apple Remote uses IR (Infrared) to control your TV". Must have been asleep during the keynote. The Apple TV remote uses Bluetooth and doesn't need line-of-sight like an IR remote. How sloppy was he with the rest of his assessment?

The remote does have IR that can be used to control the volume on your TV.

 

['Dorian]

The hardware is more than 4K capable. A software and/or a firmware update will do the trick when the time is right. Not enough adopters as of yet.

Yes and no. At 30 fps it could, but using HDMI 1.4 instead of 2.0 means you will not get 60 fps even if the processor can handle it.

 

[Juicy Box]

The Verge tech reporter in the video said "the Apple Remote uses IR (Infrared) to control your TV". Must have been asleep during the keynote. The Apple TV remote uses Bluetooth and doesn't need line-of-sight like an IR remote. How sloppy was he with the rest of his assessment?

I could be wrong, but I believe the remote has both Bluetooth and IR. I assume Bluetooth for the remote-to-ATV and IR for the remote-to-TV for volume.

My question is, does the ATV4 have IR?

 

[Abazigal]

The Verge tech reporter in the video said "the Apple Remote uses IR (Infrared) to control your TV". Must have been asleep during the keynote. The Apple TV remote uses Bluetooth and doesn't need line-of-sight like an IR remote. How sloppy was he with the rest of his assessment?

It would seem that the new Siri remote only ships to a few countries (likely those with the content capable of tapping on Siri's search capabilities). For many other countries (like Singapore), the Apple TV will ship with the old remote. So technically, he's not wrong.

 

[trifid]

• Netflix has 4k
• Youtube has 4k
• 4k movies are already available
• iPhone 6s takes 4k photos and videos which would make Apple TV perfect match if it were able to show 4k
• 4k TVs are insanely cheap nowadays

4k is getting exponentially more popular everyday

Anyone trying to downplay 4k as being "niche" or irrelevant is either ignorant or dishonest.

 

[bigclever]

I would've like to have seen at least 1 HDMI input on there much like the xbox one. Until I can have one device that allows my Sky box, xbox etc to be run through it's interface I'll still need to switch hdmi ports to use different boxes....which isn't a major drag, but this new apple tv does nothing to resolve that.

Far from revolutionary, they just added voice support and another forgettable remote to an already underwhelming concept.

 

[Juicy Box]

Yes and no. At 30 fps it could, but using HDMI 1.4 instead of 2.0 means you will not get 60 fps even if the processor can handle it.

I am not a tech expert, but could there be a firmware update to bring it to 2.0 .
Similar to a few years ago when Apple was charging $2.99 for an Airport firmware update that enable the n standard? Hardware wise, it was capable, it just needed an update.

I am not saying this would ever happen, because I doubt it will, but I am wondering if what the poster was saying is possible?

 

[Juicy Box]

• 4k TVs are insanely cheap nowadays

Insanely cheap is subjective.

 

[Ed217]

Insanely cheap is subjective.

Having just bought a 4K, the delta from a non 4K in same size was about $100 or so.

 

[goobot]

The Verge tech reporter in the video said "the Apple Remote uses IR (Infrared) to control your TV". Must have been asleep during the keynote. The Apple TV remote uses Bluetooth and doesn't need line-of-sight like an IR remote. How sloppy was he with the rest of his assessment?

It uses bluetooth to control the apple tv an IR to control your tv, you know like volume?

 

[Ed217]

The real issue for either 4K or ATV service is ISP data rates and caps. Watching normal broadcast shows over the web chews up a lot of data. That will be a limitation for many.

 

[wikiverse]

I just want to say one thing (because I get to say it so rarely)... I was right!

I predicted an AppleTV gaming console on this very forum on October 29, 2013.

Here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...l-coming-in-2014.1662720/page-4#post-18254303

and Here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...l-coming-in-2014.1662720/page-3#post-18252973

Of course this is completely irrelevant to any current discussion, I just wanted to feel validated.

 

[MoXoM]

I have to say it was the atv4 that really impressed me in todays keynote. Of course ill get the new iphone soon as its out but the atv is what really got my attention. Hopefully now with a app store for atv xbmc or some other media player app will come out which lets me stream stuff off my nas so I can ditch my wdtv and just use the atv for everything.

Absolutely!

My iPhone 5 has served its purpose - time for the iPhone 6s.

As much as I love my WD Live box, the interface is very clunky. I do love how it streams and plays everything from my WD MyCloud NAS with ease no matter what the file format...

 

[Juicy Box]

Having just bought a 4K, the delta from a non 4K in same size was about $100 or so.

I figured I would post these comparisons @ best buy. just quickly filtered 55"+ 4K and non4K.

The prices are not what I call cheap for the 4Ks, and it looks like there are $300+ difference between the lower priced 4K and non 4K equivalents.

I would probably pay that for my next TV, but I think many people would not.

My next TV will probably be a 60"-65" for my new home, and the price difference is a lot higher for the larger size. $400-500+.

Edit: not sure why the links are broke......
Edit: Fixed the links, they were too long, so I removed the 55+ filters

 

[isomorphic]

All of you can argue about 4K, I just want the AppleTV 4 to support DTS passthrough. Or, heaven forbid, both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The AppleTV doesn't have to decode those, just pass them through to the receiver!