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

[Juicy Box]

This would work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IS...+converter&dpPl=1&dpID=41A2bLnebhL&ref=plSrch

I found a few different adapters that would work.

But my post was replying to the person complaining about other posters disappointment about the loss of the optical out.

Using AirPlay without a TV is probably most people's complaint.

 

[Kroo]

Wish everyone would quit complaining about optical out! Two words, people: HDMI. If your TV doesn't have it, you're apparently watching Jeopardy reruns on a black-and-white Zenith tube set ca. 1973. HDMI is not new tech.

HDMI supports hi quality audio digital codecs, where optical does not. Optical is OLD technology and isn't forward compaatable and hasn't been updated to cater for modern digital standards. HDMI supports both hi quality digital and video through one cable, and has been updated to support modern codecs.

Live in the past if you wish, but don't anchor the rest of the world to old technology, so either don't get a new TV or get over it. The world has moved forward. I suggest those complaining about this do the same.

 

[Crzyrio]

HDMI supports hi quality audio digital codecs, where optical does not. Optical is OLD technology and isn't forward compaatable and hasn't been updated to cater for modern digital standards. HDMI supports both hi quality digital and video through one cable, and has been updated to support modern codecs.

Live in the past if you wish, but don't anchor the rest of the world to old technology, so either don't get a new TV or get over it. The world has moved forward. I suggest those complaining about this do the same.

I think you need to re read his statement, lol.

 

[xmichaelp]

Is there any 4k streaming content that is any "good", that is not very highly compressed? I haven't found any (I have a new 4k TV). Maybe there will be some decent content by the time gen2 comes out- for a $150 device I'd rather have it now and just upgrade to version 2, and sell or repurpose version 1. Not like it's a $700 iPhone.

Any video you watch is very highly compressed, even bluray.

 

[jdillings]

Is there any 4k streaming content that is any "good", that is not very highly compressed? I haven't found any (I have a new 4k TV). Maybe there will be some decent content by the time gen2 comes out- for a $150 device I'd rather have it now and just upgrade to version 2, and sell or repurpose version 1. Not like it's a $700 iPhone.

All streaming is heavily compressed. The bitrates currently used for 1080p HD streaming are pathetic (lower than the bitrates found on most DVDs). 4k streaming is just as compressed.

 

[Keirasplace]

Any video you watch is very highly compressed, even bluray.

There are different level of compression, 4K streams right now are ridiculous, 1080P OTA is a way better experience.

 

[poppy10]

my favourite use of the TV was to airplay music from iTunes on my computer to my home theatre sound system from 2003 which had multiple optical in ports but no HDMI inputs.

Really never understood the logic of people that shell out thousands of pounds for the latest iphone/ipad/apple watch/macbook/aTV and yet refuse to upgrade their long obsolete AV equipment. Seriously dude, no HDMI inputs on your AV receiver? Throw that shiz in the trash, it will only cost $500 for a decent replacement.

 

[pankajdoharey]

A larger heat sink, I suspect the A8 Processor is running at higher clockrate, than my iPhone6. Which means it could very well be geared towards much intense graphic output required to play high end games. I hope someone seriously makes a dedicated console like games to play on this machine. I hope if it delivers game quality like PS3 which thoretically it can i would not buy a PS4, or Xbox one, cuz i think PS3 graphics is good enough to play and enjoy most games.

 

[blackcrayon]

Any video you watch is very highly compressed, even bluray.

Sure, of course it is. But what I'm saying is at the bitrates currently used for getting any kind of 4k video over the internet, the compression is such that the overall quality doesn't appear to be much better than 1080p. It isn't as if they are streaming at 4x the bitrate (I know that improvements to codecs help too, but not that much

 

[AtheistP3ace]

I can't wait to get my hands on one. I am excited to see apps designed for TV use. Even smart TV apps have let me down. I hope the siri search functionality can be updated to work across more apps in the future as well.

 

[ctdonath]

All streaming is heavily compressed. The bitrates currently used for 1080p HD streaming are pathetic (lower than the bitrates found on most DVDs). 4k streaming is just as compressed.

Heavily compressed, yes, but different ways and to different degrees with different results.

DVDs are compressed with MPEG-1. Sure it is "heavily compressed" (throwing away some 95% of uncompressed original data in the process), but only to the point that most people can't discern the difference.
Blurays are compressed with MPEG-2 or -4. Sure the bitrates may be lower than that of DVDs, but that's because superior compression algorithms can preserve more data while using relatively far fewer bits to do so.
4K use even better compression techniques, requiring less bandwidth per pixel but doing so for 4x the pixels. Crunching that to fit in the same bandwidth 1080p HD streaming requires throwing away more discernible image data, resulting in video which looks about as bad as decent 1080p HD - just a different (and higher resolution) kind of bad.

Saying "all streaming is heavily compressed" fails to differentiate between sophistication of compression (more sophisticated can render a better video with lower bandwidth), and between "heavy compression" which most viewers can vs cannot see. A 4K streaming video, as normally delivered now, will look better _and_ use lower bandwidth than a DVD. BTW: over-the-air HD can have very high bandwidth and render a video better than Bluray.

 

[ctdonath]

I can't wait to get my hands on one.

[looks over shoulder at desk]
[giggles]
[works on app]

 

[ChrisCW11]

Hmm, why does the Apple TV need a bigger heatsink when it is using a "last gen" CPU intended for phones and tablets?

I think the new Apple TV, aside from whatever is on the inside, is a testament to how Apple is refusing to design anything new that wasn't originally blessed by Steve Jobs. The last iPod and this Apple TV "refresh" use the same designs that were introduced 5+ years ago. The Apple Watch looks like an original iPhone shrunk to fit on your wrist. Tim Cook has yet to step out and offer a hardware product that is 100% styled by Apple in the post-Jobs era, and I think he is a afraid too. While some might argue that the iPhone 6 was designed after Jobs, it uses similar stylings that were introduced by the last few generations of iPod Touch which was the last iPod Touch design Jobs was around to approve.

Slapping in a heat sink and making the Apple TV thicker is a lazy cheat against having to design a new box that might have worked better with the faster processor, but why a heatsink is necessary when the whole point of the Ax series CPU is to be energy efficient and work in small enclosed cases proves that the Apple TV is still dabbling with set-top boxes, at least for hardware design.

Hopefully, at least, the need for a heatsink is perhaps to allow Apple to turn on 4K rendering and output when Apple decides to move TV into the 21st Century completely, and not use a resolution that came out in the 1990's. They may have moved the TV interface out of the 70's, but they are still using my Grandma's resolution.

 

[crls0202]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

I believe it is related to Apple Music and digital rights management. AppleTV 3 and 2 were left out of Apple Music, the new Apple TV will support Apple Music but they had to remove the optical out...

 

[ctdonath]

the need for a heatsink is perhaps to allow Apple to turn on 4K rendering

Finally, someone else shares my theory: ATV4 is capable of 4K output, needing just a software update to enable it.

From 's perspective, there's a lot more to 4K than just "support 4K", the whole ecosystem need be prepped: iTunes must have sufficient 4K content to bother offering it, enough other devices need support it (though we're getting quite close to that tipping point), and everything else need be solid enough that throwing the "4K On" switch won't result in millions of devices crashing overnight.

Putting a big fat 4K-ready heat sink in the box is a much cheaper & palatable solution than a complete redesign involving a cooler-running processor. At $149 minimum, about twice the price of the TV3 and much more than serious competitors (my FireTV stick was $19), price is a very sensitive issue.

 

[unplugme71]

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.

Actually SJ mentioned that design is not only on the outside, but the inside. Since SJ was always one who had a passion for design and calligraphy he wanted all his devices to be beautiful.

 

[unplugme71]

Finally, someone else shares my theory: ATV4 is capable of 4K output, needing just a software update to enable it.

From 's perspective, there's a lot more to 4K than just "support 4K", the whole ecosystem need be prepped: iTunes must have sufficient 4K content to bother offering it, enough other devices need support it (though we're getting quite close to that tipping point), and everything else need be solid enough that throwing the "4K On" switch won't result in millions of devices crashing overnight.

Putting a big fat 4K-ready heat sink in the box is a much cheaper & palatable solution than a complete redesign involving a cooler-running processor. At $149 minimum, about twice the price of the TV3 and much more than serious competitors (my FireTV stick was $19), price is a very sensitive issue.

The problem is HDMI 1.4 and HDCP < 2.2. Apple TV will be obsolete once TV manufacturers are forced to use HDMI 2.0 and HDCP >= 2.2 for DRM protection

 

[unplugme71]

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

You don't need gigabit for iTunes 1080p content. A 1080p movie compressed using x264 is 1.3MB/s which is much less than the 12.5MB/s 10/100 ethernet offers.

 

[star-affinity]

You don't need gigabit for iTunes 1080p content. A 1080p movie compressed using x264 is 1.3MB/s which is much less than the 12.5MB/s gigabit ethernet offers.

What If I have a Gigabit connection to the internet (yes, it's offered here where I live) and want to download stuff to my Apple TV as faster than one tenth of the bandwidth I have available? If I were to buy a movie from iTunes for example. I guess it's then downloaded to the Apple TV, no?

 

[Crzyrio]

What If I have a Gigabit connection to the internet (yes, it's offered here where I live) and want to download stuff to my Apple TV as faster than one tenth of the bandwidth I have available? If I were to buy a movie from iTunes for example. I guess it's then downloaded to the Apple TV, no?

Yeah but your not going to watch it faster than you usually would, your still streaming it

 

[palmerc]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

Without knowing for sure, it was a very rarely used feature that provided theoretically better sound and a terrible user experience. AirPlay directly from Apple TV to stereo works well and is what I use these days. Avoids switching optical out.

Similar to the choice of fixing the frame rate to 60 Hz. Switching frequency on the TV causes all sorts of horrible behavior so they're forced to avoid it.

AV equipment generally sucks.

 

[Crzyrio]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

Probably the same reason they omitted, CD Drives and USB-A

 

[firewood]

Hmm, why does the Apple TV need a bigger heatsink ...

All CMOS chips generate more heat when they run at faster clock rates. The iPhone 6 lowers the CPU and GPU clock rates when the chip gets to a certain temperature. This lower performance can affect some games. This has nothing to do with old technology. Even the new 6S has already been reported to slow down the CPU clock after enough benchmarks has been run enough times to warm up the processor chip.

The bigger heat sink in the new Apple TV can get rid of more of this heat and thus keeps the chip cooler longer, thus allowing the CPU to run longer (likely all day) without having to down-clock the CPU and GPU (like the 6 and even 6S Plus).

So, the bigger heat sink is for better (more consistent reliable) video game performance, not 4K.

 

[palmerc]

What If I have a Gigabit connection to the internet (yes, it's offered here where I live) and want to download stuff to my Apple TV as faster than one tenth of the bandwidth I have available? If I were to buy a movie from iTunes for example. I guess it's then downloaded to the Apple TV, no?

You're supposed to use 802.11ac which on this device will give you somewhere in the neighborhood of 866Mbps

 

[firewood]

What was the reason Apple omitted optical audio out?

Same reason they omitted the SCSI port, DB-9 serial port, modem port, VGA port, etc. from other product lines. Time to move on and leave behind attaching ancient legacy equipment. Unused connectors (by most typical customers) are a wasted cost.