New Apple TV Obsolete - No 4K

[hogtown]

Don't get too excited about the new Apple TV as it is already out of date. I live in Canada, and Rogers the biggest broadcaster in Canada announced last week that they will be broadcasting MLB, some NHL, Netflix and Shomi ( similar to Netflix ) in 4K. They are the first in the world to do this but more will of course follow shortly. The new Apple TV does not do 4K, so why buy yesterday's technology.
Also dropping the digital audio is a big mistake.
Check out the new Roku 4, it does everything and is cheaper

Oh Steve we miss your vision

 

[Shark5150]

Oh Canada. We love Apple TV here in the USA.

 

[kilcher]

I personally don't care since I don't own a 4k TV and don't plan on buying one any time soon.

I do think it makes Apple look bad to have the 6S capable of recording in 4k while not giving people the capability of playing that back on the new Apple TV.

But that's Apple's way, give you just enough with each upgrade so that you're left wanting (and buying) more.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Hey guys, don't buy the new AppleTV because it doesn't support a format that is only just starting to become adopted. Also don't buy it because it dropped support for a 30-year-old audio format. In fact, don't buy an AppleTV until it is 3 feet wide, with 45 ports on the back supporting every single audio/video plug from 1980 to 2020.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I also think that it should have been 4k. Roku and FireTV are also coming out with 4k boxes and Apple has updated the video recording on the new iPhone to support 4k. It seems like a no-brainer.

However, AppleTV 3 is my most used box, so I will be upgrading anyway.

 

[TrueBlou]

Considering they now support 4K recording on the latest iPhones it would have been a nice addition to the new Apple TV.
But at the same time the amount of available 4K content won't come into its own for quite some time yet. Certainly more than enough time for a 4K Apple TV in the next year or two.

I'm certainly in no rush to get 4K, I made that mistake with 720p and waited ages for decent content sources. Then again with 1080p and waited even longer. In fact, for the majority of broadcast channels, I'm still waiting on them being in 1080p. So, yeah, not jumping on the bandwagon this time round.

 

[lunaoso]

I'm curious to see if someone ends up hacking it to run at 4K. HDMI 1.4 is capable of displaying 4K, and the A8 should be plenty powerful enough to playback 4K video. I suspect apple will enable it later on.

 

[yoak]

The next version will be 4K. I doubt they enable it in this version, knowing Apple of late

 

[Frankied22]

I definitely think it's an oversight to finally upgrade the Apple TV and leave out 4K support. Or maybe it's a typical Apple move so they have something to sell a new one a year or two later.

However, I'm not in any rush to switch to 4K. The TV's are too expensive and I love my 60" Panasonic plasma. Also, there's not much 4K content and streaming it will take a hell of a lot of bandwidth. I'm content watching my media through Plex at 1080p that I totally got from legitimate sources.

 

[Uofmtiger]

Considering they now support 4K recording on the latest iPhones it would have been a nice addition to the new Apple TV.
But at the same time the amount of available 4K content won't come into its own for quite some time yet. Certainly more than enough time for a 4K Apple TV in the next year or two.

I'm certainly in no rush to get 4K, I made that mistake with 720p and waited ages for decent content sources. Then again with 1080p and waited even longer. In fact, for the majority of broadcast channels, I'm still waiting on them being in 1080p. So, yeah, not jumping on the bandwagon this time round.

That is the main issue. If companies like CBS (here in the USA) had not started down the road of providing HD content before everyone had HDTVs, we might still be watching 480i programming. It is a chicken/egg situation.

 

[2010mini]

That is the main issue. If companies like CBS (here in the USA) had not started down the road of providing HD content before everyone had HDTVs, we might still be watching 480i programming. It is a chicken/egg situation.

Wrong. CBS like every other network was mandated by the FCC to broadcast in digital HD. It had nothing to do with HD TV market saturation. All this latest 4K craze is purely being pushed by TV manufactures... Remember 3D TVs??? The next "must have" TVs will be HDR TVs. this one might the one as Netflix and other content owners can easily update their library of content to HDR. And it uses less bandwidth than 4K.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Wrong. CBS like every other network was mandated by the FCC to broadcast in digital HD. It had nothing to do with HD TV market saturation. All this latest 4K craze is purely being pushed by TV manufactures... Remember 3D TVs??? The next "must have" TVs will be HDR TVs. this one might the one as Netflix and other content owners can easily update their library of content to HDR. And it uses less bandwidth than 4K.

They were mandated to broadcast in digital. Not digital HD.

 

[mattopotamus]

I thought direcTV already had some broadcast in 4k?

Let me know how good that 4K looks coming from a cable company and compressed all to hell. I would venture to say OTA 1080p would look better.

 

[mike1450]

Don't get too excited about the new Apple TV as it is already out of date. I live in Canada, and Rogers the biggest broadcaster in Canada announced last week that they will be broadcasting MLB, some NHL, Netflix and Shomi ( similar to Netflix ) in 4K. They are the first in the world to do this but more will of course follow shortly. The new Apple TV does not do 4K, so why buy yesterday's technology.
Also dropping the digital audio is a big mistake.
Check out the new Roku 4, it does everything and is cheaper

Oh Steve we miss your vision

It doesn't so sentient holograms or drive your car either. Less that 2% of media will be available in 4K for the next few years.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

How easily would it have been for them to include it? Would it have driven the cost up significantly?

 

[mike1450]

How easily would it have been for them to include it? Would it have driven the cost up significantly?

Probably. Who knows. 99.9% of TVs are still HD. Who would the 4K audience even be?

 

[Uofmtiger]

How easily would it have been for them to include it? Would it have driven the cost up significantly?

Roku has a 4k player coming out for $129.99. If they can do it with their resources at that price, I would think Apple could do it for what they are charging ($149 and $199). The Roku also has an optical port:

https://www.roku.com/products/compare

 

[easy4lif]

So with this topic of hd v uhd. I decided to see what the over the air streaming quality is here in los angeles.

Ch2 1080i
Ch4 1080i
Ch5 1080i
Ch7 720p
Ch9 1080i
Ch11 720p
Ch13 720p

My whole point is the new apple tv is suppoed to come with a "skinny" cable package that includes live over the air local channels streamed to the net. Local stations are no where near 4k yet and wont be fot at least another 5 years. I mean its great to have that option but theres not enough support yet and 4k streaming data rates will make people that have data caps hit them pretty fast.

 

[2010mini]

They were mandated to broadcast in digital. Not digital HD.

one and the same brah.

But the main point is this: We have access to so much HDTV content because the FCC was involved in the process and drew a line in the sand. And trust me studios fought against it as long as they could.

the difference today is TV manufactures are trying to push 4K, HDR, 3D, UHD etc on consumers. Not the FCC.

 

[Rigby]

My whole point is the new apple tv is suppoed to come with a "skinny" cable package that includes live over the air local channels streamed to the net. Local stations are no where near 4k yet and wont be fot at least another 5 years.

Honestly, who buys an Apple TV to watch local channels? IP-based streaming is all about watching what you want, when you want it, and not being a slave to the broadcast schedule and being bombarded with commercials. The only popular exception are live sports events, and for that we can have dedicated apps.

I mean its great to have that option but theres not enough support yet

I bet the most popular "channel" on the Apple TV is Netflix, and they do have 4K content. Apple TV owners will be left out. This will also be detrimental to sales and market share, since the device will be perceived as outdated compared to the biggest competitors (that both support 4K).

and 4k streaming data rates will make people that have data caps hit them pretty fast.

Well, I'm sorry if you have caps, but I do not and I don't wish to be limited by issues that don't affect me.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

one and the same brah.

No they aren't.

https://support.directv.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2416/~/is-hd-and-digital-tv-the-same?

 

[2010mini]

No they aren't.

https://support.directv.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2416/~/is-hd-and-digital-tv-the-same?

Sigh...... When the FCC forced terrestrial networks to switch to digital it was for HD Digital. That was the whole point of changing to digital.

What I am trying to get across to you is that it takes more than tv manufactures and early adopters to make the networks change broadcast standards.

If you want 4K content now, start lobbying the FCC to change the standard

 

[jerwin]

In 2002 things were up in the air...

There has also been much speculation that Fox plans to use its digital bandwidth for multicasting. At 19.34 megabytes per second (MBps), the 1080i signal almost completely fills a network's allotted bandwidth of 19.4 MBps, while a 480p signal uses at most only 8 MBps. The remaining bandwidth can be used for additional programs, interactive content, online shopping, and other purposes. For instance, the network could show a soap opera on one channel, a talk show on another, and children's programming on another. All of the shows would still be DTV, just not HDTV. But whether multicasting is Fox's real motive for using 480p remains a company secret. Setos would only concede that the network is considering "new services for viewers."

Read more at http://www.soundandvision.com/content/hdtv-large-page-5#Tu40U4MiJK7g23TF.99

 

[Marty80]

I do not see whats the fuss about 4k is, when there is currently no Blu Ray content yet!. I guess Apple is waiting for the media content to go mainstream they are always late adopters. Hopefully when Apple will join the 4k bandwagon they will wow us and make there 4k digital content more eye popping with better support for home theatre systems, that will blow away Netflix and the other competition.

I have been living without 4k just fine, and my iMac is a non retina with an nvidia 4gb card and i could not be more happier. I have a lot riding on Apple ecosystem in terms of movies and tv shows. So when Apples joins the 4K I will opt to change my TV and opt for a retina iMac. On my part there is no hurry here, the new Apple TV has plenty to wow Apple Fans especially the integration of the App Store.

 

[thepixelpusher]

Don't get too excited about the new Apple TV as it is already out of date. I live in Canada, and Rogers the biggest broadcaster in Canada announced last week that they will be broadcasting MLB, some NHL, Netflix and Shomi ( similar to Netflix ) in 4K. They are the first in the world to do this but more will of course follow shortly. The new Apple TV does not do 4K, so why buy yesterday's technology.
Also dropping the digital audio is a big mistake.
Check out the new Roku 4, it does everything and is cheaper

Oh Steve we miss your vision

Meh, who cares?

4K is not fully rolled out, and I'm sure the next rev of the Apple TV will include it. So this year I'll learn how to enjoy the millions of apps on the new AppleTV4 and when the 4K version comes out I'll enjoy it more.

Roku, that's a laugh. It might beat Apple at pure specs, but AppleTV4 will blow all the other smartTVboxes out of the water in content choices with thousands of app beyond all others. Not to mention all the consumer products that will tie into the AppleTV ecosystem for the whole home.

I think your vision is the one that's nearsighted, not Tim Cook's.