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No 4K Video Streaming Support for Upcoming Apple TV Set-Top Box

wikiverse said:
You really aren't sure why?

It's the same reason why the iPhone 3G and original iPad didn't have a front facing camera... planned obsolescence.

Apple is a hardware company that makes most of it's profit from hardware sales. Intentionally omitting features that are widely available means that there is the opportunity to sell you an upgraded model in the future.

If you want an Apple TV, then you can buy one now that is 1080p capable, and then you can buy another one that is 4K capable in 2 years time.
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You assume Apple has no competition to push against planned obsolescence though.
If you can buy a Roku 4 or 5 which will offer 4k for your 4k TV and an Apple TV costs the same and only offers 1080p still. I don't think everyone will blindly buy it, especially those who made an investment in 4k TV.
 
I just upgraded to an HDTV late last year. SD set finally died.

If it didn't die, I wouldn't have bothered. It's a better pic, sure, but I just can't be bothered to care.
 
I just recently bought a 65" Sony 4K TV this past month and it absolutely rocks. On a large screen the pixel density really comes into play and also I love Sony's triluminos display. The colors really pop. Current 1080p sets are hitting the budget market right now.

I am also an avid ATV3 user with over 200+ movies. The movies look great on this set and are upscaled to 4k (from 1080p) automatically. Rest assured current 1080p movies look great. I wouldn't worry too much that my content is coming in 1080p however I would like Apple to offer 4K movie purchases through iTunes as an option. After all, this will be a bridge period for the next few years.

As for internet bandwidth of 4k content, it is a concern based on your internet connection. However, if you know how to use your Apple TV properly, you would know you can stream from the cloud or from your own internal network. If you have an Airport extreme wireless ac router you will be in good shape.

I think a move to support 4K would be key, because almost certainly Apple's competitors would go this route. 4K blue ray is coming as well. Also keep in mind, its about options and that 1080p will be around for quite some time too.
 
nuckinfutz said:
Yup. Bunch of people trying to convince us that the **** sandwich really does taste ok this time.

Producers have been acquiring content at 4k or higher for 3 years now. There are plenty of DSLR that record 4k video and EVERY camera takes a still shot above 4k.

I'm not sure I'm buying this rumor though it matters little I'm not so wedded to Apple that I wouldn't go with another solution if they can't deliver.

I just doubt that apps and Siri would be enough to warrant buying Apple TV Version 3.5
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The problem is in distribution, not production.

And, talking crap about people doesn't cut it. I've had an HD TV the first year it came out commercially, that's a hell of a long time ago. So, I've seen this all before.

I've seen the highest end 4K with native local content and it is wonderful.

But, that's not what your going to get from the net. Not even close.

So, that leaves your own DSLR production (and possible some that come from Blueray) and the most likely good source.

Problem is that just about 100% of decently priced current 4K TVs provide not so great images. So, even if you had a decent content, you'd still not be getting the full experience on these sets.

Your better off buying a very good 4K computer monitor if your set on watching your 4K movies right now. You probably don't need the Apple TV then...
 
Why 4k now, even if the chip supports it, when they can unveil it next year and make us all buy another box?

I know the excuses and I don't particularly care about 4k until OLED screens in the 90" plus range get to market, but it just irks me, because they see us all as suckers.

I really wish someone will come up with a great box, but unfortunately, for now, Apple TV is the best there is (yes, I have tried all of the major ones).
 
Apple always waits until a technology is mature to roll it out. That's why if you compare the raw specs of Android phones or PCs, they are always better than what Apple offers, but they want to focus on the experience.
 
alexgowers said:
If you're serious about 4k you ain't streaming it.

Content providers just can't afford to offer it and the benefits are negligible on 99% of 4k setups by being to far away or too heavily compressed or sharpness turned too high on the TV or many other things.

4K isn't really much of an upgrade in resolution either, it's a little like the megapixel myth that still prevails..
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LOL, you obviously never seen one displaying 4k content. Let me put it this way, you can sit closer to a larger 4k screen and not see anything resembling a pixel. It would be like comparing a retina screen to Apple's old 1280 screens they foisted on us for so long. In scenes with lots of tightly packed detail, or very complex geometrical patterns, hell even some tiled wall in the back ground, the difference between 4k and current 1080 is very noticeable.

If the new Apple TV doesn't support 4K what features could it support to justify buying over the existing model?
 
Shivetya said:
LOL, you obviously never seen one displaying 4k content. Let me put it this way, you can sit closer to a larger 4k screen and not see anything resembling a pixel. It would be like comparing a retina screen to Apple's old 1280 screens they foisted on us for so long. In scenes with lots of tightly packed detail, or very complex geometrical patterns, hell even some tiled wall in the back ground, the difference between 4k and current 1080 is very noticeable.

If the new Apple TV doesn't support 4K what features could it support to justify buying over the existing model?
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I for one can see individual pixels on my HDTV in the living room. When I look at UHD displays at the store from the same distance, I see no pixels.
 
4K video... yes sure...

YouTube app still crashes moving the timeline on 360p and Chromecast stutters streaming a movie
 
Shivetya said:
LOL, you obviously never seen one displaying 4k content. Let me put it this way, you can sit closer to a larger 4k screen and not see anything resembling a pixel. It would be like comparing a retina screen to Apple's old 1280 screens they foisted on us for so long. In scenes with lots of tightly packed detail, or very complex geometrical patterns, hell even some tiled wall in the back ground, the difference between 4k and current 1080 is very noticeable.

If the new Apple TV doesn't support 4K what features could it support to justify buying over the existing model?
Click to expand...

I agree. 4K support would totally justify this wait for new hardware. No reason to resist progress here as the competition will certainly release 4K versions next.
 
pmau said:
...

For FaceTime it's completely irrelevant, because we are talking about 720p.
For 4k Video, the Apple TV would need way better specs.

...

Apple wants to offer the complete package. A 4k ATV without a content service from Apple itself makes no sense.
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While I agree that Apple may very well want to provide a complete 4K experience, A8 processor on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is completely capable of playing back 4K video.
 
mi7chy said:
Note 4 does it and also the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge:

https://youtu.be/4nfaP-pipik

For lower cost solution look at $133 Zidoo X9.
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No offense, I think we are talking past each other.

I don't question that any of the devices, including the not yet existing ATV can output 4k.

I'm questioning that Apple would build hardware that can decode high profile H.265 streams when there's no content that actually would use it.

If you want to make 4k movies available, you have to be able to use high profile settings to stay within reasonable file size limits.

You can create 4k H.265 stream containing mostly I-frames that require next to no CPU to decode. This is also what's happening with most 4k demo content.

This is also why the iPhone 6 can use H.265 for FacetTme. It's only 720p and does not require complex compression with tons of reference frames.

This is what I'm talking about.
 
MacBH928 said:
4K video... yes sure...

YouTube app still crashes moving the timeline on 360p and Chromecast stutters streaming a movie
Click to expand...

Chromecast stuttering is a WIFI issue. You need to use 802.11n instead of 802.11g and hope you don't live in a dense environment like apartment or dorm with interfering 2.4GHz devices. Ideal set up like mine is TP-Link Archer C7 v2+ dual-band WIFI router, dedicate 5GHz 802.11ac for streamer device like Windows tablet/set top box/etc. and dedicate 2.4GHz 802.11n for Chromecast which works perfectly for 1080p internet streaming and also local streaming using Videostream Chrome browser app.
 
Keirasplace said:
The problem is in distribution, not production.

And, talking crap about people doesn't cut it. I've had an HD TV the first year it came out commercially, that's a hell of a long time ago. So, I've seen this all before.

I've seen the highest end 4K with native local content and it is wonderful.

But, that's not what your going to get from the net. Not even close.

So, that leaves your own DSLR production (and possible some that come from Blueray) and the most likely good source.

Problem is that just about 100% of decently priced current 4K TVs provide not so great images. So, even if you had a decent content, you'd still not be getting the full experience on these sets.

Your better off buying a very good 4K computer monitor if your set on watching your 4K movies right now. You probably don't need the Apple TV then...
Click to expand...

Anyone thinking about buying a 4K TV should wait a few more months or maybe even until next year. Personally, I plan to wait at least another two years before I buy a 4K TV. Pricing, compatibility/future-proofing and quality will be much better by then.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreymorrison/2015/02/25/dont-buy-a-4k-tv-right-now/
 
DavidTheExpert said:
There is no reason to have 4K support on the current generation Apple TV as most content is not yet available in 4K. By the time mainstream 4K content becomes available, Apple will be prepared.
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There is no reason to have USB Type C in the new generation of MacBook as most hardware is not yet available to connect through USB Type C.

Let me guess: "that's different." It's fine for Apple to step toward the future with a new USB port that connects with just about nothing available but 4K makes no sense until "most content" is 4K.

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pavelbure said:
They won't have a 4k apple tv until there is 4k in iTunes store.
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Chicken & Egg (and same argument back when Apple clung to 720p as their max when most of the tech video world had already moved on to 1080p).

It makes ZERO sense to have 4K content in the iTunes store without an :apple:TV to play it. Apple keeps telling us they are a hardware company... that most everything in software (including iTunes) exists to sell hardware. Build the hardware and the software can come. Don't build the hardware and it makes no sense for the software to come.

They built LTE into iPhones before LTE was available everywhere.

They've built USB type C into the new MB before there is just about any hardware to connect to it.

Why does this particular thing have to be different? (rhetorical)
 
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sampaul said:
To get the best out of 4K streaming, you need a 4K tv....which I am not willing to pay $6000+ for a freaking tv
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Guess you haven't been TV shopping in a while. Even the pretty good 4K TVs can be had for around $2,000. Cheaper 4Ks can be had for $1,000.
 
4Kgate

Apple missed their opportunity to one-up (or at least keep up) with the competition. This would have been an easy thing for them to add and get more sales to try to dominate the market. Maybe they will enable it in a firmware update a few months later (hoping).

#4Kgate #obsoleteOnTheShelf #cmonApple #firmware

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sampaul said:
To get the best out of 4K streaming, you need a 4K tv....which I am not willing to pay $6000+ for a freaking tv
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Hop in your time machine and move forward to 2015, please.
 
sepahewe said:
How about us non-Americans who do have more than necessary bandwidth? I live 2 miles outside of a town of 24000 people, and my choice is 100M or 1G :)

I'm disappointed in Apple, they used to be forerunners....
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Right , so only make it for the sake of you guys while the rest of us the U.S. don't truly have a need for it nor can we truly benefit it from it. :p
 
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