Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The New 2021 Apple TV 4K (2nd gen) adds eARC support for the discontinued HomePod

M

Minato1990

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 12, 2017
578
1,386
Code found in tvOS 14.5 RC indicates that Apple is working on eARC and ARC support for the newly announced 2021 Apple TV 4K (second gen). The feature is labeled as being in beta in tvOS 14.5 RC and tvOS 14.6 beta 1. ARC (Audio Return Channel) is a feature of HDMI 1.4 so that users can send audio and video to their tv from a set top box or their smart tv and passthrough the audio through an HDMI port (instead of an optical cable) to a receiver or sound bar. ARC also lets users send volume and mute commands from their set top boxes to their receiver or sound bar. eARC or enhanced Audio Return Channel builds on the features of ARC by adding support for sending higher bandwidth audio such as Dolby Atmos, uncompressed 5.1, and 7.1 surround sound to receivers and sounds bars along with support for Lip Sync Correction.

So if eARC is a feature to send audio to a device then why would the Apple TV support it? Because this is how Apple will allow users to send audio coming from other set top boxes like a cable box, PS5, or Xbox Series X to their TV via HDMI and then from the TV to the Apple TV via eARC over HDMI and finally from the Apple TV to HomePod. eARC support on the Apple TV allows users to use HomePod, when set up as home theater speakers, for not only audio coming out of their Apple TV but all their home theater audio needs.

Though oddly Home Theater setup, a feature introduced back in November in tvOS 14.2, only supports the discontinued HomePod and not the HomePod mini. This could be a sign that Apple is working on support for a replacement for the HomePod or home theater setup is coming to HomePod mini soon. Or this could be related to the report by Mark Gurman on Bloomberg that Apple is working on an Apple TV with an integrated speaker.

The New 2021 Apple TV 4K (2nd gen) adds eARC support for the discontinued HomePod - The Tape Drive

Code found in tvOS 14.5 RC indicates that Apple is working on eARC and ARC support for the newly announced 2021 Apple TV 4K (second gen). The feature is labeled as being in beta in tvOS 14.5 RC and tvOS 14.6 beta 1.
thetapedrive.com thetapedrive.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: firewire9000
ARC also lets users send volume and mute commands from their set top boxes to their receiver or sound bar.

That would be CEC, not ARC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: waw74
Audio Return Channel is typically a TV feature. Will the ATV accept input and wirelessly transmit to say, five HomePods in a surround configuration?
 
Last edited:
Ballis said:
Audio Return Channel is typically a TV feature. Will the ATV accept input and wirelessly transmit to say, five HomePods in a surround configuration?
Click to expand...
Since TV-s have only one input with ARC, it means that appleTV will occupy it as the main device with audio support (instead of ever so usual AVR or soundbar).
 
priitv8 said:
Since TV-s have only one input with ARC, it means that appleTV will occupy it as the main device with audio support (instead of ever so usual AVR or soundbar).
Click to expand...
Yea thats right. Im guessing the target demographic are Apple centric homes without a current surround/soundbar alternative.
 
I wanted to send my console's audio to my homepods for some time.
If I can do that with the PS5 I will be quite happy.
My god 😍
 
Would like to see someone testing this. I wonder how it would work since currently any audio sent to the HomePods via the Apple TV results in a delay to the video being displayed in order for the audio to be in sync. Since the delay is required on the Apple TV I would assume any content from the TVs other inputs itself would have an audio delay and therefore be out of sync since the Apple TV cant account for this by adding a video delay to that content.
 
Edit: Retracted - just saw this:
forums.macrumors.com

Apple TV 4K: How to Stream Audio From Your TV's Inputs to HomePod (eARC)

The new second-generation Apple TV 4K is capable of relaying audio from a compatible TV to a HomePod – even when you're not using your Apple TV. This allows you to stream audio from a TV-connected game console or other set-top box straight to Apple's smart speakers. Keep reading to learn more...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

How Apple's managing to take control of the audio channel on ARC/eARC - it's interesting.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Minato1990
Philips messed up the Hue Sync Box, releasing a product supposed to sit under your TV for the next 10 years without HDMI 2.1 just a couple months before we start getting devices with HDMI 2.1…

Did you manage to try the HomePod with a gaming console by ditching the Sync Box?
Oddly it seems that there is still no test of this use case online
 
Upgraded from the ATV 4K 2017 over the weekend and it's amazing how well it works. When playing my Switch the sound through the HomePods sounds amazing! Love it and this was well worth the upgrade alone.
 
ScrumpyDaniel said:
Upgraded from the ATV 4K 2017 over the weekend and it's amazing how well it works. When playing my Switch the sound through the HomePods sounds amazing! Love it and this was well worth the upgrade alone.
Click to expand...
I agree. Our upgrade was long overdue, we went from a 2006 Panasonic plasma display with zero HDMI inputs (we were using a hdmi to vga adapter for the apple tv) and an AppleTV HD to a new OLED 4k TV with the AppleTV 4k and stereo HomePods. As expected, everything is better, but I am so excited to hear the Switch through the HomePods.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScrumpyDaniel
takokato said:
I agree. Our upgrade was long overdue, we went from a 2006 Panasonic plasma display with zero HDMI inputs (we were using a hdmi to vga adapter for the apple tv) and an AppleTV HD to a new OLED 4k TV with the AppleTV 4k and stereo HomePods. As expected, everything is better, but I am so excited to hear the Switch through the HomePods.
Click to expand...
One thing I did notice with the Switch, when I went into the sound settings on the Switch itself, setting it to Surround wouldn't work with the HomePods, but setting it to Automatic makes it play with surround sound, which is weird.
 
Weird.

My Current Set up - Which involves using an apple tv 4k into my TV's arc slot, JUST to use as a audio pass through for the homepods (because the Hue Sync just wouldnt work) stopped working today.
Got a new 8k LG Tv with eARC tomorrow, gonna have a go again.. hopefully will be able to get rid of the need for the 2nd Apple TV
 
appleboyy said:
Weird.

My Current Set up - Which involves using an apple tv 4k into my TV's arc slot, JUST to use as a audio pass through for the homepods (because the Hue Sync just wouldnt work) stopped working today.
Got a new 8k LG Tv with eARC tomorrow, gonna have a go again.. hopefully will be able to get rid of the need for the 2nd Apple TV
Click to expand...
It is still in beta. Bit buggy, occasionally disconnects.
 
Last edited:
That’s the best new feature that I’ve ever had with a software update. Amazing to play Xbox and hear the soun through the stereo HomePod, I can even control de volume with the Apple TV remote even when the Apple TV is turned off. Amazing!!!
 
firewire9000 said:
That’s the best new feature that I’ve ever had with a software update. Amazing to play Xbox and hear the soun through the stereo HomePod, I can even control de volume with the Apple TV remote even when the Apple TV is turned off. Amazing!!!
Click to expand...

Have you tried your regular tv remote to control volume on the homepods?
 
Got it working! I was having a bit of trouble getting it to trigger on my CX OLED. Word of caution, you really need to ensure the cables are spec'd HDMI 2.1. I set everything up on my LG CX OLED and had the appleTV connected to port 2. After many futile attempts I just couldn't get it to work (I thought cable is 2.1, but was wrong).

I ended up swapping the PS5 cable over to the appleTV for troubleshooting, fiddled a bit, still no dice. Forced a full reboot of the appletv, came back online and configured to my TV without issue. Yay! awesome!

Boot up PS5, I hear through the homepods, SUCCESS! Then the screen artifacts showed up, everything went to hell and stopped working. I know 100% it's the cable and Amazon warehouse issues have delayed my new cables by over a week (hope to get today!).

Although one observation thus far, I'm not sure it's pushing ATMOS through to apple tv, even through the native LG OS apps, have to experiment more. All in all I'm very happy with this, now why didn't they do this 2 YRS AGO!!!
 
Mrjynx said:
Got it working! I was having a bit of trouble getting it to trigger on my CX OLED. Word of caution, you really need to ensure the cables are spec'd HDMI 2.1. I set everything up on my LG CX OLED and had the appleTV connected to port 2. After many futile attempts I just couldn't get it to work (I thought cable is 2.1, but was wrong).

I ended up swapping the PS5 cable over to the appleTV for troubleshooting, fiddled a bit, still no dice. Forced a full reboot of the appletv, came back online and configured to my TV without issue. Yay! awesome!

Boot up PS5, I hear through the homepods, SUCCESS! Then the screen artifacts showed up, everything went to hell and stopped working. I know 100% it's the cable and Amazon warehouse issues have delayed my new cables by over a week (hope to get today!).

Although one observation thus far, I'm not sure it's pushing ATMOS through to apple tv, even through the native LG OS apps, have to experiment more. All in all I'm very happy with this, now why didn't they do this 2 YRS AGO!!!
Click to expand...
I get Dolby atmos on my 2019 E9 oled using hdmi 2.1. So it’s possible
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back