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Updated Apple TV with 1080p Video Support to Maintain $99 Price Tag

hilala17 said:
This is probably temporary, and by that I mean this product will be discontinued. They're obviously working on the new Apple Television which will eventually replace the Apple TV.
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Actually, while I see that the community doesn't care much for this observation, I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. Considering Apple makes you buy a whole $1000 monitor in order to get all those cool Thunderbolt ports (come on Apple, where's the inexpensive Thunderbolt breakout box for third party monitors?), I wouldn't be shocked to see Apple making you buy a whole $1500 TV to get your AirPlay and iTunes streaming. Plus, they continue to describe Apple TV as a "hobby". That doesn't inspire confidence in its long-term survival as a product.
 
I'll be happy for the spec bump for the sole purposes of XBMC. My mother in law has said she wants netflix a few times, so as soon as this new one is jailbreak/XBMC'able, I'll upgrade and give her my current-gen. Their TV is only 720p anyway.
 
RalfTheDog said:
2. Have you thought about a 12 step program?
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1. TBF, I usually spend 10 weeks/year on vacation (mostly backpacking and sailing) and beer drinking is a great to meet similar people and an extremely common to meet locals.
2. Some dudes can argue that they need 1080p and spend the extra money.
3. I'd rather have the lower resolution and more fun.
4. Maybe to some people, resolution, and family movies !!!!!NOW IN 1080P!!!! is their idea of fun, sounds kinda lame, but IDK, to each; his/her own.
 
You wont have "console quality" games on a box this size for some years to come. They would also need the platform to have seamless online integration similar to PSN / Xbox live, network infrastructure, and a completely seperate interface to that offered currently.

By the time all this happens, the next generation of consoles will already be out, and the bar will be raised once again.

Unless Apple put some real investment and research into it, they might eventually catch consoles. But you wont get an Apple TV for $99. You be paying at least 5x that amount. The smaller it is, the more it will cost, and if they kept the current dimensions of the Apple TV, which is like what, 1/15th of a PS3? Maybe more. Means that the costs of development, research, etc, would be phenomenal.

And thats just for the console. They need the software, and the controller to go along with it. There are currently NO console quality games on the app store. Smaller titles comparable to XBLA/PSN games, yes, but thats far far far from a 15 hours adventure with Nathan Drake isnt it. And if a game of that quality ever came about, you have no chance of getting it for 4.99. Even the cheap FF remakes that Square Enix pumps out for iOS are at least twice that amount.

You also need to take into account the fact that Apple will never go away from flash storage and digital media. You'll be waiting at least 10 years for every home in Apple's market to be capable of downloading a 5GB+ game in less than a day. Thats not forgetting the huge costs of storage, and the premium Apple charges for it.

In the UK you can have any game you want, delivered in less than 24 hours to your door, as physical media, which can then be resold upon completion or added to a collection. It takes up none of your storage space (unless you own an Xbox) which leaves more space for movies and music etc (again, unless you own an Xbox).

There are many many more reasons I could explain in detail, but I wont, because my Vita is getting lonely and I'm growing incredibly bored of this.

Bottom line: You wont be playing a console quality Battlefield 3 or Skyrim on your Apple devices anytime soon.
 
hilala17 said:
This is probably temporary, and by that I mean this product will be discontinued. They're obviously working on the new Apple Television which will eventually replace the Apple TV.
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I can't picture Apple making a 65 inch TV, no less a 105. Apple is not only targeting the low end of the market, but the middle and high end. They will not cut out the premium users. The TV will be for the mid to low market, the set top box will go with the high end.

Note: I don't think voice control would work well with a large home theater that has a 105 inch TV and a 7.2 surround system (I like 6.1 better because I prefer having a back channel. I will take the second subwoffer.).
 
acidfast7 said:
3. the ATV2 is not technically capped at 720p, for the record, it can display 1080p just fine, if the bitrate is low enough.
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You're wrong. It is technically capped (in the hardware). It may be able to process some 1080p files but what is coming out of it and flowing to anyone's HDTV is 720p MAX.

acidfast7 said:
4. Apple doesn't permit it's supported software to display 1080p
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No, it's hardware can't do it. The only :apple:TV that can actually push 1080p to an HDTV is gen 1, significantly hacked with a separate piece of hardware added to it. Gen 2 is hardware constrained to only be able to push 720p out.

acidfast7 said:
6. You really should check the bitrate and resolution on your so-called 1080p youtube videos
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You really should check your bit rates of that SD video so you can buy those beers. My camcorder shoots 1080p at 28Mbps. My blu rays do better than that. I certainly would find it nice to be able to have THAT video on demand without having to downrez it to 720p AND cut it's quality down to Apple's 720p or SD compression specs. I have high hopes that this new one will be a big step in that direction.

acidfast7 said:
7. you really need to let this go because I doubt you have the facilities, in house, to benefit from 1080p over 720p.
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Have you been to my facilities? Your problem is that you assume your facilities are universal... that everyone should feel as YOU do. You're not everyone. You're just one. Speaking for yourself is fine. Speaking as if the whole world should feel as you do is sad.

acidfast7 said:
8. whatever floats your boat but i'll be LOLing at you the entire time, while I'm enjoying my beers on vacation.
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You enjoy your beer and your SD to get it. I'll enjoy my beers on holiday and my higher quality video when I'm back home. In our little debate here, I'm not arguing against you getting what you want. You, on the other hand, are finding fault with people like me hoping to get what we want... as if it will somehow negatively affect you (which it won't).
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
You're wrong. It is technically capped (in the hardware). It may be able to process some 1080p files but what is coming out of it and flowing to anyone's HDTV is 720p MAX.



No, it's hardware can't do it. The only :apple:TV that can actually push 1080p to an HDTV is gen 1, significantly hacked with a separate piece of hardware added to it. Gen 2 is hardware constrained to only be able to push 720p out.



You really should check your bit rates of that SD video so you can buy those beers. My camcorder shoots 1080p at 28Mbps. My blu rays do better than that. I certainly would find it nice to be able to have THAT video on demand without having to downrez it to 720p AND cut it's quality down to Apple's 720p or SD compression specs. I have high hopes that this new one will be a big step in that direction.



Have you been to my facilities? Your problem is that you assume your facilities are universal... that everyone should feel as YOU do. You're not everyone. You're just one. Speaking for yourself is fine. Speaking as if the whole world should feel as you do is sad.



You enjoy your beer and your SD to get it. I'll enjoy my beers on holiday and my higher quality video when I'm back home. In our little debate here, I'm not arguing against you getting what you want. You, on the other hand, are finding fault with people like me hoping to get what want... as if it will somehow negatively affect you (which it won't).
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1. it's not capped in the hardware at all. it can display higher resolution than 720p (at low enough bitrate/s)

2. I don't care what you "shoot." I care what you "display" and I don't think you'll notice the difference.
 
For someone who does not like paying for TV (I get free basic cable as part of my internet service which is 16/4) what can I use a Apple TV for? We don't watch much of any TV preferring movies by Blu-Ray or similar.
 
waloshin said:
Why buy an Apple TV, when an Xbox 360 for $50 more does 1080P, has netflix, youtube, facebook, twitter, Disney XD, music playback plus a lot more always coming.
Plus plays games. And dvd's. And dvds from a usb stick.
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You do know that AppleTV currently has Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, NBA, NHL, MLB, WSJ Live, music playback, PLUS AirPlay, right? And the biggest reason to use AppleTV - the sublime interface. Yes, you could use an XBox for some of those features, but using a MS interface is like hitting yourself in the head with a stick (only less enjoyable).

And, of course, your pricing is incorrect. There is no XBox for $149.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Perhaps the accessory is a camera for FaceTime via ATV.
 
acidfast7 said:
1. TBF, I usually spend 10 weeks/year on vacation (mostly backpacking and sailing) and beer drinking is a great to meet similar people and an extremely common to meet locals.
...
4. Maybe to some people, resolution, and family movies !!!!!NOW IN 1080P!!!! is their idea of fun, sounds kinda lame, but IDK, to each; his/her own.
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1. Wow, it is hard for me to justify 10 days a year on vacation and when I am on vacation, I generally need to work 8 hours per day.

4. I don't watch family movies. I do have friends over from time to time to watch a movie and smoke a turkey or some stakes.
 
As some have mentioned one nice, but unlikely feature is that a new Apple TV could play more formats. My AirVideo on iPad plays everything I throw at it, but my Mac cannot play have the stuff. PS3 has really stepped up their format support, but it is still lacking. Does anyone know why Apple sucks at supporting formats?
 
acidfast7 said:
1. it's not capped in the hardware at all. it can display higher resolution than 720p (at low enough bitrate/s)
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Look it up (for example: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/30/confirmed-appletv-can-play-1080p-content-from-itunes-but-still/) or hook up the hardware to see what is coming out of it. There is a hardware gate built in so that no matter what you feed it (even a blank, one color 1080p video at the lowest possible bitrate), what is coming out and flowing to your HDTV is 720p.

acidfast7 said:
2. I don't care what you "shoot." I care what you "display" and I don't think you'll notice the difference.
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When we hook the camcorder directly the the TV and when we flip to the exact same video downconverted to 720p max specs (for what :apple:TV can handle) everyone at my house can see the difference. Basically, "as is" for us, there's the "convenient" video :)apple:TV) and the "good video" (camcorder, blu ray). No doubt that the 720p looks very good, but everyone here sees the difference.

What I hope for- which again doesn't affect you in any way- is a way to blend the two: a new :apple:TV3 that can make the "good video" just as convenient.

And frankly, SD vs. 720p is apples & oranges too but you apparently value the beer over that difference. Enjoy your beer and your SD. What makes since for me and mine is just different than what makes sense for you. I find no faults with what works for you.
 
acidfast7 said:
1. it's not capped in the hardware at all. it can display higher resolution than 720p (at low enough bitrate/s)

2. I don't care what you "shoot." I care what you "display" and I don't think you'll notice the difference.
Click to expand...

The current generation of the Apple TV has the equivalent of a 720p graphics card.
 
Yes, I have been waiting for today...ATV3 (1080p)...to go along with my recently purchased 50" Plasma. Hopefully it will be available to order at the online Apple store today.
 
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1080p is incremental... It might replace my first gen... But the killer feature of the original is that it stores the bought shows. But they've pretty well abandon the first gen.


Now if they add Apps that would be interesting. I'd guess the $39 is a Roku-style game/remote
 
jimbobb24 said:
As some have mentioned one nice, but unlikely feature is that a new Apple TV could play more formats. My AirVideo on iPad plays everything I throw at it, but my Mac cannot play have the stuff. PS3 has really stepped up their format support, but it is still lacking. Does anyone know why Apple sucks at supporting formats?
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Because Apple love their closed formats. They enjoy forcing their userbase to comply by their rules.

Thats not my opinion btw. That's my father's opinion. Someone who isnt very tech savvy, and is pretty much your average iPad user. Or he was, until he sold it for a Transformer Prime so he could actually play Avi files without the need for additional software.
 
I have been planning on buying an Apple TV for a while but I keep holding back. All I needed was a confirmation on 1080p and I'm sold. Especially since I'm getting an iPad 3 and OSX Mountain Lion can stream to the Apple TV. Awesome!
 
acidfast7 said:
1. TBF, I usually spend 10 weeks/year on vacation (mostly backpacking and sailing) and beer drinking is a great to meet similar people and an extremely common to meet locals.
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Yeah, drinking IS a great way to meet alcoholics, and I've yet to come across a place that doesn't have local drunks... ;)

2. Some dudes can argue that they need 1080p and spend the extra money.
3. I'd rather have the lower resolution and more fun.
4. Maybe to some people, resolution, and family movies !!!!!NOW IN 1080P!!!! is their idea of fun, sounds kinda lame, but IDK, to each; his/her own.
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If you drink 20 beers a day during your holiday, and the beers cost 25 cents like you said, that equals 350 dollars. Do you really have to count quarters during 42 weeks at home in order to make sure you can afford 35 dollars per week during your holiday?

Yeah, to each his own. If I was that poor, I wouldn't even go on vacation.
 
jimbobb24 said:
As some have mentioned one nice, but unlikely feature is that a new Apple TV could play more formats. My AirVideo on iPad plays everything I throw at it, but my Mac cannot play have the stuff. PS3 has really stepped up their format support, but it is still lacking. Does anyone know why Apple sucks at supporting formats?
Click to expand...

Curious as to what file formats your Mac can't play?
 
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