New Apple TV Teardown Provides Closer Look at A8 Chip, Larger Heat Sink and Siri Remote

[MacRumors]

iFixit has posted a hardware teardown of the new fourth-generation Apple TV, providing a closer look at the set-top box's A8 chip, flash storage, redesigned power supply with a larger heat sink and other logic board components. The website also provided a teardown of the accompanying Siri Remote.

Under the hood, the new Apple TV features a dual-core, 64-bit Apple A8 chip with 2GB of SK Hynix LPDDR3 SDRAM, custom Apple memory controller, SK Hynix NAND flash storage, Universal Scientific Industrial Wi-Fi module and SMSC USB 2.0 to 10/100 Ethernet controller.

Apple TV 4 Components List
Apple A8 APL1011 SoC
SK Hynix H9CKNNNBKTBRWR-NTH 2 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Universal Scientific Industrial 339S00045 Wi-Fi module
SMSC LAN9730 USB 2.0 to 10/100 Ethernet controller
Apple 338S00057 custom memory controller
Texas Instruments PA61
Fairchild Semiconductor DF25AU 010D 030D
DP2700A1
SK Hynix H2JTEG8VD1BMR 32 GB NAND Flash
NXP 1112 0206 5271B4K
V301 F 57K C6XF G4

The new Apple TV also has a larger heat sink, which is likely a contributing factor to the set-top box's taller form factor. The redesigned power supply is rated at 12V at 0.917A, compared to the third-generation Apple TV's rating of 3.4V at 1.75A. The heat sink is situated above the heat-sensitive logic board.

The teardown of the Siri Remote reveals a ST Microelectronics low-power ARM Cortex-M3 MCU, Qualcomm CSR1010 Bluetooth radio, Texas Instruments low-power digital signal processor, the same Broadcom touch screen controller used in the iPhone 5s/5c and iPad Air, 410 mAh battery and a few other chips.

iFixit gave the new Apple TV a strong repairability score of 8 out of 10, with ten being the easiest to repair, because it has only a few major components, a replaceable power supply and standard Torx screws. It also found the Siri Remote has a wide gap, making it easy to pry apart for repairs.

Article Link: New Apple TV Teardown Provides Closer Look at A8 Chip, Larger Heat Sink and Siri Remote

 

[Merackon]

Not knowing much about the whole regionalisation of TV, how much of a disadvantage do people in Europe have regarding access to services and shows compared to our American cousins?

 

[Dilster3k]

Why do Apple devices look so great in the inside as well.

 

[peterdevries]

Not knowing much about the whole regionalisation of TV, how much of a disadvantage do people in Europe have regarding access to services and shows compared to our American cousins?

It's getting better. Movies are excellent but TV shows are still quite sparse. But this is coming from The Netherlands. A small market for Apple with its own challenges in terms of content and language.

 

[critter13]

what is the NXP chip? NFC? let the theories begin

 

[critter13]

"We noticed a distinct lack of cables connecting the power supply to the logic board. We're theorizing the power is either transmitted by magic, or through the heat sink screw posts."

Im going with magic.

 

[kds1]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Why do Apple devices look so great in the inside as well.

Although I've always been a software person, never much of a hardware guy, I would guess it's all about keeping your work organized.

If your work is organized, it's easy to access everything. It's easy to check that everything is properly wired and to find out where problems are coming from when they come up.

I'd imagine having messy insides is to electrical engineering what spaghetti code is to software engineering - it might work but it'll be impossible to debug, fix, or add new features in the future.

 

[Gandalf.Fix]

I'm amazed at the repairability score myself. I'm surrounded by almost inaccessible MacBooks, iMacs and iPhones and then this thing appears.

 

[Jsameds]

Why do Apple devices look so great in the inside as well.

Because Steve Jobs' legacy lives on in present day Apple.

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/10/24/steve-jobs-obsession-with-the-quality-of-the-things-unseen/

The one quote I remember is during a keynote when he said the back of the computer (The Bondi Blue iMac) looked better than the front of everyone else's computers. Classic Steve

 

[HenryDJP]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

Maybe because many TV's now have ARC and the Toslink cable can come from the TV to the audio system.

 

[Butler Trumpet]

Why do Apple devices look so great in the inside as well.

Because Steve wanted it that way. From the very beginning he had his hand in the design of and perfection of the board. There's an interesting scene in "Pirates of Silicone Valley" that touches on this.

 

[2457282]

looking forward to buying one when they come out.

 

[MrGimper]

No optical out and no Gb ethernet.... hmmmmm ....

 

[thekeyring]

Not knowing much about the whole regionalisation of TV, how much of a disadvantage do people in Europe have regarding access to services and shows compared to our American cousins?

Fingers crossed the App Store means we'll finally get BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All4, UKTV Play, etc finally on Apple TV.

 

[AngerDanger]

The new Apple TV also has a larger heat sink, which is likely a contributing factor to the set-top box's taller form factor.

So they've disassembled the current and previous TVs, looked at and counted the components in both, and still only hazard a guess as to why the news is taller? What more information do they need?

 

[ElectronGuru]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

From previous threads, because the newer hdmi has improved audio.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

what is the NXP chip? NFC? let the theories begin

You could do something like the Disney Infinity or Amiibo with NFC.

 

[thekeyring]

Why do Apple devices look so great in the inside as well.

Because they care. Because Steve cared and hired other people that do, too.

 

[Miles Teg]

It will be interesting to get a Geekbench score when the app is available for this.

 

[Lord Hamsa]

what is the NXP chip? NFC? let the theories begin

If I had to guess, for automatic linking up to other iDevices so the ATV can detect who is controlling it easier.

 

[Kajje]

Great news everybody, this is THE Apple device with the highest repairability score. It's also the cheapest one, the one with the least possibility to fall down, the least probability that the screen cracks and the least probabiltiy that somebody trips over the cable. And, let's face it, the least probability it will endup under the tire of your car or the least probability it ends up badly during a head first visit to the toilet bowl after a night out of binge drinking.

BUT even if that happens, it will be the easiest one to repair!

 

[redheeler]

no Gb ethernet....

It's nice to know my 15-year-old G4 still has an advantage over a modern product!

 

[blackcrayon]

No optical out and no Gb ethernet.... hmmmmm ....

Notice it's a USB 2 to 10/100 adapter. I'm assuming that's the easiest way since there are no PCI lines (or are there?) on the A8, but there is USB 2.0... Same reason a USB to 10/100 adapter will (sorta) work with an iPhone or iPad.

Still, there isn't any video that needs anywhere near 100 megabit to stream... But I guess if you want the most network speed you have to use 802.11ac (will be interesting to see file copy tests comparing the two).

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

what is the NXP chip? NFC? let the theories begin

It's not. HomeKit.