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Rumor Suggests New Apple TV 4K With A12X Chip is 'Ready to Ship'
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It makes sense if Apple keep the AppleTV mk6 unchanged for 4 years or more which they have been down to do for other products (*cough* Mac mini 2014).
In games console thinking, a steady reliable platform that doesn't change every couple of years is perfect for developers and console makers have traditionally front loaded expensive tech into their devices and sold them with thin profit margins to get the best tech up front.
4Gb is enough today, as you can see from the 2020 iPad Pro, 6Gb is the future. And we know the standard iPad Pro A12X SoC can support 6Gb so why not? The PS5 and Xbox Series X are getting high performance RAM upgrades. If Apple want to have any chance of receiving ports of their games they have to meet these guys half way. Xbox One S has 8Gb of DDR3, Xbox One X has 12Gb of GDDR5, and the Xbox One Series X has 16Gb of GDDR6 RAM (same as the PS5 apparently).
The alternative would be to introduce an A14X AppleTV in 2 years and that SoC is certainly coming with 6Gb, perhaps even 8Gb given Final Cut Pro X could be getting introduced on it?
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Support for iCloud Photo Library. This is the only real reason I have the Apple TV 4k.
Yes apple 4k allows screensavers while playing music. Also apple tv has many great 4k screensavers that the other streaming devices do not carry. The apple 4k is so customizable. The others not at all customizables. Download golfscapes for apple tv 4k awesome slideshows all over the world. Not available on other streaming devices. Apple tv 4k is the best by far. No comparisons.
You can’t tweak a dumpster fire. Toss it and make a new one.
The counterpoint to that is that there are still many iOS devices in use today that have way worse specs, and developers will tend to cater to the lowest common denominator so as to address as wide an audience as possible.
While I wouldn't say no to more console / PC ports, I am not sure we will see them come to the Apple TV anytime soon. For one, it still has a very low install base, and I am not sure iOS users are ready to pay console-level pricing for their games. Even Microsoft has given up on Minecraft for the ATV. I would gladly pay full price for a streets of rage 4 port that runs on my iOS devices (I have a steel series gaming controller that I have been using to replay Grimvalor these past week), but the people who are willing to go the distance to game this way on their iOS devices are likely more the exception than the norm.
The ATV is also not going to have the handle the same intensive tasks like the iPad Pro, where creatives are now using for creating content. We know there's no A13X chip, A14x won't be available until later next year, and if we assume the A12x chips being used here are the A12Z chips which didn't pass QC, then it makes sense for them to see a 2nd life elsewhere, rather than toss perfectly good hardware.
The reason for the improved specs is likely much simpler - future-proofing. 4gb ram / A12x chip will likely assure the users of at least 5-6 years of software updates. Already, my 4th-gen ATV runs very slowly, it can hardly keep any apps in memory, and heavier games like Oceanhorn2 keep crashing ever so often. I don't expect it to be updated any further later this year. That A8 chip has been pushed as far as it can go.
I can move the 5th gen ATV (the one with 3gb ram and A10x chip) into my bedroom and get the newer ATV for my living room.
Man, I love the Siri remote. At least the touch interface.
We have gen 3, 4 and 5. Gen 3 was bought for the novelty of it. But mostly I was using the Samsung TV for Vudu 3D content. Gen 4 to add apps to our Samsung smart TV, mainly German TV streaming. In the meantime, the old Samsung got quiet laggy and we get sounds drop out while 3D content was discontinued, hence the ATV took over. Gen 5 was bought for the bedroom 4k. However, Samsung added Air Play and Music to their 2018 and later sets, and I get German language content as well. The kids' TVs got no ATV for that reason. (Maybe later for screen time, but so far, it has not been a problem.) The kids play some games, but even gen 4 is fast enough. I like that both gen 4 and 5 sync their user interfaces. Less maintenance. Multi user lately gets some use with kids stopping and resuming videos. I might buy gen 6 if there is a killer app. So far gen 3 is still chugging along on the projector for Air Play and Netflix. We do not have Arcade, I believe the kids waste enough time with gaming, but that would be a good use case for a faster ATV.
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I wonder if this will help the streaming of TV+ content in 4K without the weird fuzzyness on black pictures. Has anyone else had this issue?
Sounds like possible bluetooth / wifi interference with your smart tv, or (very unlikely) the result of your HDMI cable being connected to the non-4k port on your TV.
I don't know what you are talking about.
Properly mastered and encoded 4K material has beautiful blacks on my Apple TV 4K with LG OLED, including from Apple TV +.
Key fob is a great analogy because it is small like the ATV remote and the buttons often do double duty. And you learn to use your key fob by feel in the dark.
1. Using the buttons on a key FOB isn't obvious the first time you use it either. But after you use it a few times you learn which button is what and the location of each and then can do it by feel without looking. This is exactly like the ATV remote. TEdious is having 600 buttons and having to change your hand grip all the time.
2. I can't recall this ever happening to me. It's possible to hit the wrong button. But it is possible to hit the wrong button on any remote. Also one learns to pick up and quickly determine by feel if it is right side up or not.
3. I just don't have this happen either. I do think Apple tweaked the remote software somewhere along the line so the touchpad can't ff/rw without pressing the pause button first.
4. This one makes no sense at all. Some gobbledygook about a back button being inconsistent because it's named menu. Menu goes back in everything for me. And swiping down to bring up a language option isn't intuitive? AS if with every other new remote you don't have to learn any buttons or commands at all? As if you don't swipe from the L/R/T/B edges of any ios device to bring up a menu? As if a simple google to find out about language or cc options on the ATV won't train you in a few seconds? I would call this a stretch but that's an understatement.
5. like every other one of your points, you are trying to make a mountain out of a micro-molehill too. You can pause to mute. You can (hold) down the volume (button) for an extra second to mute. And if you're playing a game, I'm pretty sure you can hit a button to pause the game or go back to the main menu or the Apple menu or something if (you) don't want to hold down the volume button for an extra second.
I don't see anything to solve. My suggestion of adding a piece of tape is practical and simple and dirt cheap and helps a person pick (it up) who can't get used to picking up the remote correctly. I have no problems because I use my thumb to feel the buttons and if I don't feel the long volume button on the bottom right or the raised white circle on the top left then I know I picked it up wrong. Also, btw, every iphone has a symmetrical form factor.
NOne of those improvements would do anything for me. If you had wireless charging already or wanted that then I could see that being a benefit for that person. I never had a problem charging the ATV remote because I rarely have to charge it. If you want something less slippery with a slightly larger form factor then buy a silicon case for the remote. People buy cases for their phones. I don't lose my ATV remote any more than any other remote so no need for Find my Remote.
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I love the remote, don't change the basic functionality thanks. And with a remote cover to easier know which way is up! lol
I work it much faster than comparable devices and remotes on Amazon Fire TV and the Shield TV with a "traditional" streaming player remote. Theres not so many different ways to do it..
I work it much faster than comparable devices and remotes on Amazon Fire TV and the Shield TV with a "traditional" streaming player remote. Theres not so many different ways to do it..
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YES! thank you for reminding me about this. I saw that one-click wheel spoof years ago. Your post made me go back and watch it again. HYSTERICAL because at the time, Apple was removing all the functional parts of their products to make them look prettier. ... uhhh... I guess they never stopped doing that.
Besides a much faster processor with L1 data size twice that of the A10X in your system, you can expect storage to be more than 64GB. It'll be at least 128GB, and probably an option for 256GB and more back ports. The HDR 10 and improved HEVC encode/decoding chip hardware all will make a far better viewing and listening experience. You can also expect HDMI 2.1 which allows for higher refresh rate displays and data transmission rated 3x that of HDMI2.0a on top of better encoding thus both Gaming and Theater experience will be improved.
HDMI 2.1 supports 8K video. Personally, if they put a DP 2.0 port next to it it's a big plus but that'll be reserved for Macs.
All I want is software/hardware so two people can have both their AirPods connect at the same time and a better remote. Then I will buy 5 of them!
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
But let's agree to disagree. To me, adding few extra buttons dedicated to common tasks is better than making a button do more than one tasks. Take a computer keyboard, for instance. On iPhone, numeric keys are hidden by "123" key. On the Mac, they are dedicated keys because there's a room.
Key fobs are small because it is meant to be carried in your pocket.
Remote controls don't need to be as small as Siri Remote. There's no practical reason to make the remote that small. I don't want a remote as large as Logitech Harmony. We are talking about adding few more dedicated buttons for common tasks. Speaking of which, if the remote has a back button, option buttom becomes a moot as menu should be dedicated for... well, menu. So three more buttons -- sleep, mute, and back.
I don't want ot hold certain buttons for few seconds or do swipe gestures for tasks as common as that. And I don't want menu button to be ambiguous (menu means back, really?) and inconsistent (many third party apps do not go back when you hit menu).
Buying a case or attaching a tape to solve some of the misgivings is an admission that Siri Remote may have design flaws.
Apple TV is limited to casual gaming due insufficient storage space and lack of a dedicate game controller, not because of lack of power. The A10X is already more powerful than the Switch SoC.
If Apple really wants to push games on the Apple TV, they need to offer a model that can handle big games. And this is not going to be this model. Putting and A12X in a 64-128GB box is like putting a Mustang engine in a ford K.
A useless upgrade IMO.
If Apple really wants to push games on the Apple TV, they need to offer a model that can handle big games. And this is not going to be this model. Putting and A12X in a 64-128GB box is like putting a Mustang engine in a ford K.
A useless upgrade IMO.
How about audio passthrough? I’m surprised that it isn’t supported yet.
