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New Apple TV soon (Jon Prosser)

Tzuten said:
After I wrote this, I thought of the Nvidia Shield, but that device is much more than just a streamer of Netflix and content apps. The GeForce Now experience is what the shields were targeted for. I had one, and thought it worked pretty good on a wired connection for streaming my PC games to my TV but sold it as my performance on a Steam Link was about the same and much cheaper.

People who buy the Shield usually want it for the ability to stream games from their computer to the TV and using the Android based streaming apps is just a value add.

Unless Apple plans to do a lot more with the ATV, a bump to A12X would benefit almost no one in current use cases. Apple is also no where near to being a competitor for gaming consoles for more reasons than just hardware in the next couple of years.
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Well they have a version of the Shield targeted more for TV use as the priority, and I see it discussed widely on forums catering to TV, not gaming, so I'll disagree that its not for that. Its usually listed as the best box for Android TV and will possibly lose that title when the rumored Google entry is revealed, which is supposed to have been tightly integrated with YouTube TV. But the more expensive Shield is definitely going after a different audience.
 
Edd70 said:
It’d be helpful if everyone just stopped buying the 4K. That’d spur the release of the next box. The comment above about paying top dollar for 3 year old tech is right on. I’m an Apple guy all the way but this is crap. Cut the price way down to $100 and it’s still one of the most expensive boxes.
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Only Apple could let a product languish for 3 years (or more) and not cut it’s price.

You can argue it still works, but that’s not Apple’s mantra. If Tim continues to spew about making the best and greatest product possible, then update them on a more regular basis.
 
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satchmo said:
Only Apple could let a product languish for 3 years (or more) and not cut it’s price.

You can argue it still works, but that’s not Apple’s mantra. If Tim continues to spew about making the best and greatest product possible, then update them on a more regular basis.
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Uh, that's always been Apple's MO. It has only been in the last few years that we see regular sales of anything Apple, of any vintage (brand new or soon-to-be-updated). That's one reason why their stuff holds value on the used market so well (or it did).

I agree it needs to be updated but unlike other devices which languished for much longer without any updates (2013 Mac Pro?) the AppleTV 4K is sadly still top of the class in specs and (most) features. Yes, I know it doesn't support all the possible codecs or AV/Atmos configurations and it should, but nothing else supports everything either. You have to jump to a gaming console or media PC to get better performance and features and those (usually) cost more.

I'm not sure why Apple is delaying, I wish they wouldn't, but I can see why they don't feel much pressure.
 
gnomeisland said:
Uh, that's always been Apple's MO. It has only been in the last few years that we see regular sales of anything Apple, of any vintage (brand new or soon-to-be-updated). That's one reason why their stuff holds value on the used market so well (or it did).

I agree it needs to be updated but unlike other devices which languished for much longer without any updates (2013 Mac Pro?) the AppleTV 4K is sadly still top of the class in specs and (most) features. Yes, I know it doesn't support all the possible codecs or AV/Atmos configurations and it should, but nothing else supports everything either. You have to jump to a gaming console or media PC to get better performance and features and those (usually) cost more.

I'm not sure why Apple is delaying, I wish they wouldn't, but I can see why they don't feel much pressure.
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Spec wise, my PS4 is more powerful than my AppleTV I just bought. App to app comparison of the two, AppleTV blows it out of the water.
 
satchmo said:
Only Apple could let a product languish for 3 years (or more) and not cut it’s price.

You can argue it still works, but that’s not Apple’s mantra. If Tim continues to spew about making the best and greatest product possible, then update them on a more regular basis.
Click to expand...

What upgrades are you looking for in a streaming device? New HDMI standard? Sure but most TVs don’t support it. Faster processor? For what exactly? Casual gaming? Forget about an ATV competing with a console anytime soon. More storage? Always nice yah. New remote?

Just curious what features in an ATV that the current one doesn’t cut it or exceed in?
 
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Tzuten said:
What upgrades are you looking for in a streaming device? New HDMI standard? Sure but most TVs don’t support it. Faster processor? For what exactly? Casual gaming? Forget about an ATV competing with a console anytime soon. More storage? Always nice yah. New remote?

Just curious what features in an ATV that the current one doesn’t cut it or exceed in?
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I too wonder how they can update the Apple TV. I just bought the 4K (I had the previous model since 2015) and I just wonder how it can be improved. Maybe make the shelves longer so you can put more apps on the top shelf? I mean on a 65 inch TV, there should be room for 7 or 8 apps.
 
Tzuten said:
What upgrades are you looking for in a streaming device? New HDMI standard? Sure but most TVs don’t support it. Faster processor? For what exactly? Casual gaming? Forget about an ATV competing with a console anytime soon. More storage? Always nice yah. New remote?

Just curious what features in an ATV that the current one doesn’t cut it or exceed in?
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Maybe all of the above.
But seriously why does there have to be a reason to improve a product. By your logic, we should keep products as is because it meets a basic threshold. Is that what Apple is about? The status quo?

Some products like the iPad Pro are updated almost yearly with the latest processors and lidar technology. Meanwhile others like the iMac and ATV get relegated to 2-3 years.

That all said, I did suggest in a thread that the ATV delay that could be attributed to the lack of new content due to the Covid shutdown. Pointless to hype a new product, if there’s nothing to stream.
 
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Well I want wifi 6 so I can place them in the fartherst corners of the house and still have fast speeds. I want a faster cpu so Plex finally can handle HFR. Id like a storage bump. And I would like a better remote. There are plenty of reasons to upgrade.
 
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Ballis said:
Well I want wifi 6 so I can place them in the fartherst corners of the house and still have fast speeds. I want a faster cpu so Plex finally can handle HFR. Id like a storage bump. And I would like a better remote. There are plenty of reasons to upgrade.
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When you say handle it what do you mean? The CPU really isn’t the limiting factor here.

Storage. Sure. WiFi 6? The range is similar. Unless you’re referring to mesh setups.

Dont get me wrong, the latest and greatest hardware is always welcomed. But I look at it with more through a pragmatic lens.

The edge cases you describe probably doesn’t represent 90%+ of the typical AppleTv purchaser. Apple knows that. Speed and usability dept it runs circles still over the other streamers I have in the house.

I have issue with the price of the AppleTV but I stopped complaining about the price to play with Apple products. It’s actually gotten better though. I recall as a kid we’d get our shiny new Apple computer without a keyboard, monitor,mouse etc for well over 2 grand in the 80s. Their stuff always come with a premium price tag and not always better than the competition.
 
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Tzuten said:
When you say handle it what do you mean? The CPU really isn’t the limiting factor here.

Storage. Sure. WiFi 6? The range is similar. Unless you’re referring to mesh setups.
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The CPU isnt the limiting factor, but it certainly helps poorly coded apps. Like Plex.

Wifi 6 achieves much Greater speeds at a distance since it supports 2,4 GHz. Wifi 5 only supports 5 ghz. The benefit comes with or without mesh.
 
Tzuten said:
When you say handle it what do you mean? The CPU really isn’t the limiting factor here.

Storage. Sure. WiFi 6? The range is similar. Unless you’re referring to mesh setups.
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CPU: For common video streaming, yes, A10X processor is fine. But for games, it can be very choppy. Extra headroom from more modern processor would also benefit operations like analyzing multiple HomeKit Secure Video cameras and may enable AV1 and/or H.266/VVC decoding. I would also love improved image processing engine (like NVIDIA Shield) for better upscaling and handling heavily compressed materials.

WiFi 6: If Apple TV adopts WiFi 6e, with 6 GHz band, the benefit can be more significant -- less crowded spectrum.

And I for one would welcome redesigned remote control and HDMI 2.1.
 
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I’m using a 4th gen and it struggles with high bitrate H265 playback. That’s why I’m waiting for a new model. The 4K ATV will probably cope but as I’ve said before in this thread, I don’t want to buy one if there really is a new version on the horizon.
 
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Feek said:
I’m using a 4th gen and it struggles with high bitrate H265 playback. That’s why I’m waiting for a new model. The 4K ATV will probably cope but as I’ve said before in this thread, I don’t want to buy one if there really is a new version on the horizon.
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On the horizon has been since January... the wait has been painful.
 
Feek said:
I’m using a 4th gen and it struggles with high bitrate H265 playback. That’s why I’m waiting for a new model. The 4K ATV will probably cope but as I’ve said before in this thread, I don’t want to buy one if there really is a new version on the horizon.
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The latest rumor suggests Apple TV 6 has been postponed to October for A14 processor (same processor as iPhone 12). Redesigned remote control was completed awhile back.
 
nutmac said:
The latest rumor suggests Apple TV 6 has been postponed to October for A14 processor (same processor as iPhone 12). Redesigned remote control was completed awhile back.
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Unless they are about to make a very serious push into gaming that seems overpowered.
 
JoeShades said:
According to what source?
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9to5Mac reported in April:
We have now heard from a trusted source that this new Apple TV may be equipped with the new A14 chip, the same as the upcoming iPhone 12. The A14 chip will focus on providing more graphics performance and up to 6GB of RAM, our source told us.
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If true, Apple TV 6 maybe (1) capable of Apple Arcade games at full 4K resolution and (2) decode AV1 and/or H.266 VCC codecs.
 
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I suspect Apple just doesn't know what to do with the Apple TV. The only reasons to update it are pretty niche:
  • HDMI 2.1 (tough sell to non-techies, non gamers)
  • Production concerns (allows them to stop manufacture of the A10X chip not really a consumer selling point)
  • Better CPU/GPU for gaming (and by all accounts Apple Arcade is floundering)
Just producing an Apple TV with an A14 chip isn't going to suddenly to turn people on to Apple Arcade, so I would suggest Apple should be saving some money on chips and using it to 'persuade' developers to bring some AAA games to Apple silicon devices (I'm thinking CoD, Fifa, GTA, Star Wars Jedi and the like) - this will convince people that apple is serious and justify the launch of more powerful devices in the future.
 
kiranmk2 said:
I suspect Apple just doesn't know what to do with the Apple TV. The only reasons to update it are pretty niche:
  • HDMI 2.1 (tough sell to non-techies, non gamers)
  • Production concerns (allows them to stop manufacture of the A10X chip not really a consumer selling point)
  • Better CPU/GPU for gaming (and by all accounts Apple Arcade is floundering)
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A bigger reason to update still is that it's old. People don't want to pay full price for a 3-year old device. If Apple wants to keep selling Apple TV 4K as is, it should minimally lower the price to Apple TV HD's price point of $149.

Even bigger reason to update is to replace the polarizing Siri Remote. I realize some people love it, but the overall reputation is decidedly mixed.

As I wrote on my earlier comment, better processor can also enable new codecs (e.g., AV1 and H.266 VCC), faster HomeKit Secure Video analysis, and improved video processing (upscaling). HDMI 2.1 would also reduce the lag when refresh rate changes. On my Apple TV 4K, it takes about 1 to 1.5 seconds for the mode to switch.
 
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