Costs saving…..Why would they make it lighter? The HDMI cables are so heavy and stiff, I have trouble getting the Apple TV to stay in place. It should be heavier, not lighter. Geez, what is happening with Apple's UX department?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New Apple TV is Thinner and Weighs 50% Less With Fanless Design
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
says 2.1 with a caveat
Apple TV 4K - Technical Specifications
View the tech specs for Apple TV 4K and the Siri Remote — including size, weight, capacity, ports, and more.
www.apple.com
I hate the way my old one felt in my pocket. Thank god MacRumors is on the ball with these helpful articles!
It’s an iPad in a box. It’s not going to overheat regardless of the ventilation situation.
In Apple's defense, they aren't advertising "Shorter and lighter" on the Apple TV page on the website (https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-4k/). It's just one of the side effects of the new processor and not needing the fan.Why would they make it lighter? The HDMI cables are so heavy and stiff, I have trouble getting the Apple TV to stay in place. It should be heavier, not lighter. Geez, what is happening with Apple's UX department?
Yup, less materials and and cheaper shipping. This is 100% about everything except the end-user experience.
Look at the specs. It says HDMI 2.1, Dolby Vision, HDR10+.
It's all right here: https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-4k/specs/
I suffered through this problem, as did many others. Several support tickets and replacement devices with no help until tvOS 16. If you have not updated, give 16 a try; it's fixed the issue for many of us.
lol it's about a cheaper price and not wasting materials.
IT's pretty easy to make sure your ATV stays in place if you really want it to. Velcro, glue, mount, duct tape, zip ties, ...
True, but they still made a change that was backwards from a user experience standpoint. A small set-top box should be solid and remain in place as cables are attached to it... speaking from personal experience of having the Apple TV slide around on a smooth surface. it's not the end of the world... I can make the surface not so smooth by adding a non-slip layer, but that should not be necessary. It should hold its own. 🙃
Hmmm, good thinking! I'm going outside to a find a big-ass construction brick to lay on top of it! Thanks!
I was with Apple TV for years and I loved it. Last year I switched to Roku and love it more. It has a better remote and UI IMO. Plus I can still download the Apple TV+ app.
That fan assembly is a machined or precision cast aluminum piece. Probably one of the more expensive components in an Apple TV, at least yesterday's version. Really nicely done, though. It also sticks out by a couple tenths of an inch, which is probably why the new model is shorter.
Yesterday's Apple TV consumed less than two watts while streaming videos. (About half that in standby mode) In Apple's official energy consumption statement, they say that maximum is about is about five watts. That probably means with high activity game playing and the fan running.
So, with the new processor probably consuming less power, due to the technology, the fan could probably go. That's probably a big reason for the drop in price. That and maybe a lower power capacity AC to 12 VDC converter that costs less. And the newer processor being cheaper to build today than the older one costs to build now. BOM changes to save money that have been spun into user features.
Or, you could perhaps imagine that Apple is looking to de-emphasize the game playing aspect of the product. Maybe that's an admission that the ATV isn't cutting it as a game accessory. Or, maybe, they have a new device in the pipeline that requires more processing for all that alternate reality stuff. As if TV isn't an alternate reality.
To me, the big potential advantage of the new device over the old is that it might reboot faster after you need to reset it because one of the apps goes stupid and starts the ATV to also act stupid. And slow. (Three different ATVs over two generations and several tvOS versions. Every one does the same thing. Maybe it's tvOS.) Not a glowing endorsement... They can always fix that in software later, right? Just when is this latter stuff anyway?
I switched to firetv this year. Absolute better than appletv. More apps, more games, OTG cable to usb sticks.
Always got to save the next great thing with iPhones anyway. I like the price drop of this models, slightly less height and of course A15 with likely 4GB RAM and double the storage now (64/128 GB).
For teachers an Apple TV even smaller than a 3. gen would be nice. I always carry one of those around with me.
Maybe I am one of those potential buyers of a smaller one.
Maybe I am one of those potential buyers of a smaller one.
So did anybody else notice that there’s no USB-C cable in the box?
The price drop is not due to saving costs, but to the demand….
Velcro, glue, mount, duct tape, zip ties??? Sounds like wasting materials LOL