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Apple TV (4th Gen) unboxing + exclusive in-depth hands-on guide [Video]

Today we’re taking the first really deep look at Apple’s fourth-generation Apple TV, which will hit stores next month. In our exclusive video, we explore the upgraded hardware, the Siri Remote, and dig down into tvOS, the new UI that brings the entire experience to life.

Are there surprises? Oh yes. The new Apple TV actually supports Bluetooth headphones and Bluetooth speakers, a special Night Mode, and radically improved accessibility options inspired by iOS. You can learn about all of the great new features below…

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTDvSqoWKhc]

Watch The New Apple TV In Our Exclusive Video

Check out our unboxing and in-depth hands-on (software/hardware) video above.

 

New Hardware: Apple TV (4th Gen) + Siri Remote

As you can probably tell, this new Apple TV is quite a bit taller than the previous generation. Side-by-side, you can see that it’s over 150% of the prior model’s height. We’re guessing that the new internals need a bit of breathing room.

Inside of the Apple TV we have an A8 chip and 2GB of RAM running the show, a little more powerful than an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. It’s packing 802.11ac MIMO antennas for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, an IR receiver, and some reconfigured ports on the back. Of course we have the power cable connection point, an HDMI 1.4 port that unfortunately does not support the output of 4K UHD content, an Ethernet port, and a USB-C port, but that’s not going to be used for anything at the moment aside from service and support.

Compared to the third-generation Apple TV, the ports have slightly changed. Unfortunately, Apple has ditched the optical audio output and the layout has shifted a bit because of that. The look and feel of the hardware is pretty much the same, though. It’s plastic with very glossy sides, offset by a matte finish on the top with the Apple TV logo front and center. Aside from the dimensions and port layout, everything here remains unchanged.

The real difference is found in the software and remote. Apple has revamped the Apple TV’s remote this year with a drastically different design and a new set of features. The front of this new Siri Remote features a dual-tone glass finish with a glossy element towards the bottom and a matte finish indicating the touchpad’s position. Yep, I said touchpad. Like Apple’s Magic Trackpad, you can swipe across this matte black area to navigate the new Apple TV, which is a step up above the old circular direction pad found on the previous generation’s remote. Comparing the two side-by-side, you’ll notice some major differences in the layout. The Siri Remote features a new set of buttons that enable some features within tvOS.

At the top we have the standard Menu button which acts as a back button for the most part, but next to that there’s a new button with a TV icon, which will take you all the way back to the main tvOS screen when pressed. Below those, we now have a Siri button that can be used to accomplish a variety of tasks we’ll get into shortly. There’s also a play/pause button and a set of volume up and down buttons for deeper integration with the Apple TV and your home theater.

Near the top of the Siri Remote on the front and back, you’ll find microphones that are used in conjunction with the Siri button to listen for your commands. Further examining the backside, you’ll notice that the old circular battery door has been retired in favor of something that makes a bit more sense. The new remote charges with a Lightning cable, which is included in the box, and according to Apple you should get months of battery life from a single charge.

Apple will also sell this remote for $79 if you want another one. It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to use two or more for multiplayer games from the App Store, but multiple MFi Bluetooth controllers and iOS 9 devices such as iPod touches and iPhones will apparently be able to pair with the Apple TV. There will also be a wrist strap for a Wii Remote-like experience that will retail for under $15.

 

As mentioned, the new Apple TV features Siri integration, which is by far the easiest way to find what you’re looking for throughout multiple apps and indexed content. Siri will search through everything on the Apple TV and catalogs of linked apps, returning results surprisingly fast. You can ask Siri for information on a collection of topics including movies, TV shows, sports, and weather. Check out the above video for a closer look at these new features.

Stock charts are even available if you ask for them.All you need to do is hold down the Siri button on the remote, speak your question and release.

 

New Software: tvOS + Apps

New Apple TV hardware is long overdue and is great to see, but the real differences with this year’s Apple TV lie in the software interface, which has been completely redesigned.

Setting up the Apple TV was extremely simple, but you will need to be updated to iOS 9.1 in order to get the ball rolling. All you have to do is unlock your iOS device and hold it near the Apple TV. From there you’ll be prompted to allow automatic setup, and after scrolling through a few menus and options to customize the experience, everything is golden.

The Apple TV is running a custom version of iOS 9 with support for the same graphics, sound, wireless, and accessory features found on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. There’s a shiny new interface on top of it which Apple calls tvOS, but developers can now just port iOS games + apps directly to the TV, and as long as you can control them with the Siri Remote, you’re good. No need to deal with sluggish AirPlay games anymore.

We’re big fans of the redesigned interface. Everything is very clean, and navigation is smooth with the Siri Remote’s touchpad. The all new UI is bright, with San Francisco fonts and clean selection bars. If you prefer the look of iOS 9, the new Apple TV really carries it over here, with translucent panes, widget pop-ups like Control Center, and smooth animations. Apple has even added a parallax effect to the icons which move at varying speeds when you wiggle your finger on the remote’s touchpad.

At its core, the Apple TV offers the basic services and content that we’re used to seeing with iTunes and iOS 9. On the main screen at the top, you’re presented with the Top Shelf, this will feature recent titles, music, movies, shows, and more based on the icon selected from the apps below it. You’ll be able to customize it a little, too.

There are apps for Movies and TV here, both of which will allow you to find new content and see your previous purchases all in once place. Jumping into a title will present you with relevant information about the movie or TV show with actors listed. It’s clean and well put together which makes it fairly simple to find what you are looking for. During playback of a movie, you can ask Siri for information about the actors to pull up widget like cards displaying the results and also simply swipe down on the remote’s touchpad for relevant information about the movie such as a description, audio, and subtitle settings. Also, as with the previous generation, you can easily AirPlay content from an iOS device or Mac straight to the Apple TV.

There’s also a Photos app with a familiar icon (remember, this is based on iOS 9) and that will bring full iCloud Photo Library support and albums to your Apple TV. As before, you can browse through the albums using a remote, but it’s easier using the touchpad and swipe through the photos. It also allows you to start a slideshow using a specific set of photos or set an album as a screensaver. It’s relatively simple as far as functionality goes, but essentially the easiest way to view your photos on the big screen.

There’s also a Music app which enables Apple Music, bringing an unlimited supply of music to the mix. Here you’ll have access to everything you’ve added to your Apple Music collection and previous purchases. Along with that, there’s Beats 1 radio and several other radio stations available, but you can always create your own station based on an artist or song.

When listening to a song in a playlist or on a station, you also have the ability to specify whether or not you love the song. Apple Music will use this information to better serve you future songs. Clicking on a song in the Now Playing section will enable you to view what’s next in the queue and additional options are available through the menu icon above the album art.

There’s also Home Sharing available, which will allow you to access local content on your computer which can be streamed to the Apple TV. Simply enable Home Sharing on each device and you’ll be able to browse through your music, movies, and TV shows stored on another computer.

Jumping into the Settings app reveals a wide selection of new options available with tvOS. First off, a very cool feature of the new Apple TV is the ability to connect Bluetooth headphones and Bluetooth speakers to use for audio output system-wide. This will allow you to privately watch movies or listen to music without the need of your TV’s speakers. The option is within the settings and has worked fantastic so far. We’re big fans of this new ability.

 

When the Apple TV is finally released, there will be an App Store available, which will exploit the gaming capabilities available here. The Bluetooth section will allow you to connect Apple MFi game controllers or you can simply use the included remote. Apple has big plans for gaming on the Apple TV, but who knows if it it will be able to compete with consoles anytime soon. We’ll get into the gaming capabilities more in the full review, so be sure you’re subscribed to the channel so you can be the first to check that video when it drops.

Apple has added new video-based screensavers. Screensaver options can be found in General Settings and when “Aerial” is selected, you’ll be presented with these beautiful video screensavers after a custom duration of idle time has passed. It appears that the Apple TV will only store a set amount of these at once on the device and download new ones every month, week, or day and run about 500MB per download.

There’s also a new set of accessibility settings available. Previously there were only options for voiceover, video descriptions, and closed captioning. The new menu adds a ton of new features such as a great new Zoom function with adjustable multipliers, bold text options, increased contrast settings, reduce motion, and audio descriptions. You can set it up to launch certain accessibility options with a triple-click of the menu button through the Settings as well.

There’s a section within the Settings to manage apps which is pretty empty at the moment, but will fill up once apps become available. Along with that, there’s an option to manage the storage on the device, which will populate the apps on the device and how much space they take up individually. Within the Accounts options, you’ll find the ability to manage subscriptions for various apps and services on the Apple TV such as Hulu, Netflix, or other apps in the future.

There are a ton of new things to discover within the Settings app, more of which are shown off in the gallery here:

Discovery is what the Apple TV is all about and I think the new hardware features and tvOS are really going to make a positive impact in that category. This new set-top box is set to launch in the near future and I’m looking forward to checking it out more.

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Comments

  1. i dont know why people think this Apple TV won’t support 4K video sometime later on… i mean, don’t you guys remember the app that made the iPhone 6 record 8megapixel videos at 30fps? if the A8 processor could do it on a mobile device, it can unleash its whole power on the Apple TV

    • Walter Tizzano - 9 years ago

      The HDMI 1.4 still can’t handle a 4K video stream, so it’s irrelevant if the processor is able or not to play 4k, as the video stream couldn’t leave the Apple TV. A very poor decision from Apple, I expected much more after such a long wait; I’ll wait even more, for a future version of the product that will hopefully address this and other problems (a CPU which is inadequate for gaming, I was expecting the most powerful A chip available (A9X), overclocked since the Apple TV is not relying on a battery like the iPad; hopefully they will also withdraw the stupid policy that requires games and apps to be compatible with the default remote; for games it’s inadequate.

      • PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

        HDMI v1.4 is perfectly capable of pushing those 8M pixels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_1.4

      • Nate Weaver - 9 years ago

        HDMI is at it’s core, a serial interface. 4 separate, parallel interfaces, to be exact, each one running at 3gb (bits, not bytes). 1080p video uses just one pair. 4K video uses all 4 pairs. If the HDMI driver chip is recent (and why would it not be?), then the hardware is probably capable.

        The rest would be software optimization to calculate 4x the graphics and not drop frames. In theory. I’d say there’s a good chance the A8 and the HDMI driver chip can do it, but not gracefully at this point.

        Chances are though, knowing how Apple operates, they will save 4K for a ATV hardware update with something like, say, the A10 SOC. Just like they did the 2nd gen at 720p and then the 3rd gen at 1080p.

      • jerrybsu - 9 years ago

        Very disappointed Apple! I’ve waited this long, what’s another year?

      • From Wikipedia: “HDMI 1.4 increases the maximum resolution to 4K × 2K, i.e. 4096×2160 at 24 Hz (which is a resolution used with digital theaters) or 3840×2160 (Ultra HD) at 24 Hz/25 Hz/30 Hz”

        I’m starting to think Apple could update the firmware to support 4K Ultra HD.

      • Howard Price (@hprice) - 8 years ago

        Oops. You’re wrong there my friend, I’m doing it as I type this reply to you (albeit not from an aTV).

    • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

      It won’t. For the ultra simple reason that Apple would prefer to sell you a new one if you really need/want 4K.

      • charismatron - 9 years ago

        Same reason iPad Pro doesn’t have 3D/Force touch.

      • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

        Yeah Chris, definitely couldn’t be that it would weigh far too much to do yet. iPhone 6>iPhone 6s 14g heavier. iPhone 6 Plus> iPhone 6s Plus 20g heavier. 12.9″ display with 3D Touch? 200g heavier?

      • That’s why I’m buying the new Amazon Fire TV. I’ve been an AppleTV supporter for years, but now I have a 4K TV. I’m going where the technology is. If Apple adds 4K into the next AppleTV, I’ll probably come back.

  2. What exactly is the Siri Remote doing when activating Volume Control in the Remotes and Devices Settings? Is it “only” using CEC via HDMI or can we use it to control f.e our old AV-Receivers(without CEC) with the built-in IR-Transmitter?

  3. PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

    That’s a solid review Dom, thanks. And props to you for the screen dumps, we usually see crappy photos of the picture on the TV.

    • gatorguy2 - 8 years ago

      As a sidenote AI is going to be pretty selective on approving forum members. I may not be seeing you over there. ;)

  4. Are TV shows in Home Sharing still being sorted per season at top level?

  5. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    The MLB features seem like they would be a pretty sweet must have in sports bars/restaurants….hope other sports can offer as nice a set up with multiple game view and live stats

    • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

      It COULD be the future of sports. That’s unfortunately up to the respective sporting body, and their development teams. For example, you could have a NASCAR app which could allow you to change the volume of announcers/mute them, change the volume of the cars/mute them, change to numerous different camera angles whenever you wanted, bring up or take down the running order, highlight your particular driver’s running position at all times, their stats in this race, stats for the year, for this track, for their career. Also change to in car camera of your driver, hood, or rear camera, also picture and picture of the front and rear cameras or any camera choices you want. Also the ability to see pitcrew helmet camera views during pit stops. The list goes on and on, but the fact is they are far too stupid to take advantage of the Apple TV App Store and do this.

      You could do similar for any other sports.

  6. Eric Hoitsma - 9 years ago

    I’m super excited about this. It may not be able to compete with Xbox One/PS4 but it can’t easily compete with the Wii U right now.

    • calden74 - 9 years ago

      Maybe with the underlying hardware but definitely not with the quality of games.

  7. BigT (@TVanevenhoven) - 9 years ago

    Will the remote app work with the new Apple TV?

  8. rogifan - 9 years ago

    One thing a little odd is these icons and buttons seem more square than iOS which with iOS 9 has rounded corners even more so than iOS 7 or 8. I wonder why they decided to go with less rounded corners with Apple TV.

    • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

      How is it hard to understand? Look at the hardware device you’re using iOS 9 on. Do you see the rounded corners? Check. This is what hardware and software designed together get you – beautiful harmony, whether the user realizes it on a conscious level or not.

      A television, from virtually any brand, has very sharply rounded corners, and they are rectangular in shape, hence the app icons and general UI differences.

  9. Joseph Zednik - 9 years ago

    Thanks for the great review.

  10. Stephen B (@DrOct) - 9 years ago

    So are homeshared TV shows and such still off in a section by themselves? So if I want to watch movies I’ve ripped from my DVD’s and Blu Rays to iTunes, or shows recorded by EyeTV and moved over into iTunes do I still have to go off into the “Computers” section, rather than being able to just find all my TV Shows in the “TV Shows” section?

    If it is, it’s not that big a deal once you learn how to use it but having to show guests and others how to get to recorded and ripped shows and such is a bit of a drag. It’d be much easier to just be able to rely on the big “TV Shows” tab for all my TV shows in iTunes regardless of whether I purchased them from iTunes or just imported them into a local iTunes library.

    • Robert Nixon - 9 years ago

      What I want to know and have yet to seen answered: is Home Shared media able to be searched through by Siri?

      • TechSHIZZLE.com - 9 years ago

        Exactly!

        Test this, Dom, ASAP.

      • Robert Croy - 9 years ago

        No, Siri does not work with Home Shared media. Home Shared media does not have any meta-data for Siri to search.

  11. yojp - 9 years ago

    How does the new ATV navigate artist names in Music? Can you at least jump to a first letter or are you stuck like current ATV and have to linearly scroll thru thousands of names ?

  12. Samuel A. Maffei - 9 years ago

    How much storage is in the unit 32Gb or 64Gb? From the “Storage” screen i couldn’t tell.

    • lkrupp215 - 9 years ago

      There are two models available. 32GB for $149 and 64GB for $199

      • Robert Nixon - 9 years ago

        I think he means “how much storage is actually available on the device after the OS, etc. is taken into account”.

  13. raulriera - 9 years ago

    Isn’t this a complete NDA violation? clearly says so in the email you must have got

    • TechSHIZZLE.com - 9 years ago

      No NDA for Dom-he got it from someone else, not Apple.

    • realmarkfahey - 9 years ago

      Are you part of the tech police force or something? Why are you so concerned? Have you every driven 1 MPH over the speed limit?

    • srgmac - 9 years ago

      This is 9to5Mac — they got this from someone else as said, not from Apple, the NDA does not apply — but wouldn’t you think they have lawyers just like everyone else that tell them what’s ok to publish and what isn’t?

  14. tpalhares - 9 years ago

    Hi, how search works in countrys/languages withouth Siri?

    Tks

  15. Matt Miklic - 9 years ago

    I am looking forward to the app you are building with your developer kit!

  16. javoo827 - 9 years ago

    Really great that you can connect Bluetooth headphones to the new Apple TV. But is it limited to just one set? Or can you connect 2 headphones and transmit to both at the same time?

    • Adam Fox (@ajosefox) - 9 years ago

      Piggybacking on this question as I’m interested in this as well. Also, when watching video with bluetooth headphones is there a decreeable lag or does the software correct for delay over bluetooth?

      • Dom Esposito - 9 years ago

        No lag for me. Could only connect a pair of headphones or a speaker. Not both. Same would likely be for two pairs of headphones.

      • Ricky Patel - 9 years ago

        Can you use the new ATV remote’s volume control to control the volume of the headphones/speaker connected via bluetooth?

  17. Arin Failing - 9 years ago

    Damn! I was hoping “Night Mode” gave you a dark interface. That white screen is going to blind you at night! I mean, the Night Mode functionality described is actually going to be awesome! When the baby is sleeping, I am constantly trying to anticipated action sequences during movies / shows. It actually keeps me from fully enjoying the program. This will be a good feature to use… I just wish it brought along a dark theme for night time viewing.

    • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

      I don’t see that a dark theme is really necessary on a tv, I see it as very necessary on iOS devices. The tv is a totally different animal. A tv is for content viewing almost entirely, and as soon as you get off of the menu to your content, it will be bright unless it’s dark content coincidentally. The only thing you’d be saving yourself from is the UI for the short time you’re choosing what to watch or play.

      However, the screensavers do matter, because when you aren’t using it you want it to be dark screens, and luckily Apple thought of this, and at nighttime it automatically switches to night screensavers, however that won’t help if you just have a dark room at all times.

      • Arin Failing - 9 years ago

        Think about it though: you have friends come over for a movie night at 10pm. Everyone gets all settled with popcorn, etc in your dark home theater (read: small sectional couch, 50″ outdated plasma, and a cheapo 5.1 surround sound/DVD player combo), then you turn on Apple TV to watch **insert most badass…iest, funniest, dramatic..iest movie here**, and BAM! The Apple TV throws a 3 bajillion lumen spotlight directly in your eyes. All I’m saying is that I would have figured “Night Mode” would also incorporate a dark theme. The current color scheme (not UI, design, etc) is easy on the eyes 24 hours a day, in my opinon

  18. Steve (@macosxaddict81) - 9 years ago

    Hey Dom,

    What does the new night mode look like?

    Are you able to perform Siri searches on local content through home sharing?

    • Dom Esposito - 9 years ago

      Night Mode simply reduces sound effects and music in content, while boosting speech levels. It doesn’t actually change the interface.

  19. What iPhone Case do you use? I really like it!

  20. Jesus Chaplin - 9 years ago

    Great writeup . Will it be possible with the ATV4 to log in to hotel wifi networks that necessitate entering a room number and name etc. to go online ? This not possible with the current ATV .

  21. I would just like to know what they are going to do with the current AppleTV with regards to the interface… Anyone have any idea?

    • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

      Likely nothing. They just updated it not long ago to the iOS 7+ GUI design. It won’t change for some time, if ever again. The new UI probably couldn’t even run on the old one, and it wouldn’t matter if it could, because it couldn’t do Siri, or control the UI as it’s designed to be controlled with the new remote, etc.

  22. David Johnson - 9 years ago

    Do you need an iDevice to set up ATV 4? “Setting up the Apple TV was extremely simple, but you will need to be updated to iOS 9.1 in order to get the ball rolling. All you have to do is unlock your iOS device and hold it near the Apple TV.”

    • Dom Esposito - 9 years ago

      You can set it up manually as well. But you’ll obviously need an Apple ID.

  23. Do you know if it’s possible to listen to music on the new Apple TV with the TV turned off? All this HDMI-CEC magic is nice for turning everything on, but I don’t want it to turn the aTV off when I switch off my TV while listening to music.

  24. Wes Bel (@wbdecker) - 9 years ago

    What is the name of the music that plays at the beginning of the video?

  25. o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

    Are HomeKit commands using Siri a feature on this?

  26. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    One feature I would like to see is adding your cable or satellite provider info on a system level and not have to enter it for every app. It’s a pain in the ass to enter it for every app like Fox Now, USA Now, Watch ABC, Watch ESPN etc. would be. Ice to select provider and enter password during setup of Apple TV and have the Apps automatically verify When you launch or download them.

    • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

      There’s a section in settings called ‘subscriptions’ that may just be for Netflix, Hulu, etc., though.

      • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

        I’m pretty sure that’s just for MLB. HBO Now, Showtime and the other subscription services.

  27. Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 9 years ago

    Nice video Dom.

    The success of this device will largely hinge on how many apps it gets, and whether those apps are superior to the equivalents on other platforms. Will they remain in their own little walled gardens, or will they all be added to universal search and Siri?

    From a UK perspective, I hope Apple are out there throwing money at UK providers, such as the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 to get their services on the platform for launch.

    Also, I hope there’s also finally an Amazon Instant Video app. It’s been long enough.

  28. Looks like the naysayers that questioned Apple’s on-stage demos can be silenced. You didn’t dig too deep but it does appear that Siri can look up almost anything, and that’s awesome!

    The Bluetooth headphone ability is a huge and extremely welcome surprise! The Roku remote has this so it’s nice to see Apple implement it but in a much more refined method. I also believe with this move Apple is preparing us for the inevitability of future iOS products that will ditch the headphone jack in favor of using Bluetooth headphones/earbuds.

    The UI looks incredibly slick and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Just imagine how much better this’ll be once Apple announces their streaming TV service!

  29. Michael Alexander Savich - 9 years ago

    Is it possible to set up multiple iCloud accounts to work with Photos?

  30. Great video, Dom. I hope you read this because I have a question (that is a bit off). What is the cover you use on your MacBook and iPhone?

  31. Jesus Chaplin - 9 years ago

    Has their been any indication that Apple will allow a browser app in the upcoming App store or is that unlikely ?

  32. Chris TW (@strav22) - 9 years ago

    Can you test that you are able to turn the Television and the apple TV “OFF” with the apple tv remote?

    I see the option in the settings to turn it on, I’m also hoping it works to turn off both devices with one remote.

  33. Laurent Seroude - 9 years ago

    Are TV shows in Home Sharing still being sorted per season at top level?
    Can we search local content (Homesharing content)?

  34. jbot5 - 9 years ago

    Dom Fabulous review! I am very curious about the audio settings. On my current Apple TV I need to have Dolby Digital set to on for my 5.1 to work. Is there a similar setting that you saw?

    Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

  35. Luke Rhodes - 9 years ago

    Any sign of a VPN?

  36. Hey Dom, great piece. Can you please describe how the new AppleTV handles passwords/authentications? Do you still have to peck at the onscreen keyboard? Or is there a more elegant solution?

  37. mikeytwice (@mikeytwice) - 9 years ago

    Oh man, what a bummer. This looks great and I want to upgrade, but I love having a dedicated audio out port so I can stream music through AirPlay without having to turn on my TV. I may have to hold off on upgrading. You’d think with Apple’s acquisition of Beats and the development of Apple Music (not to mention its integration into tvOS), they’d have made audio a priority… or at least not have dropped it.

  38. Brian Gentges - 9 years ago

    I see that ATV 4, supports DD 7.1 plus, does this mean that itunes movies could be getting DD 7.1?…. in near feature?

  39. spark888888 - 9 years ago

    I’m pretty excited in buying , but to pay every month fess ? thank you but no thank you , I prefer my cube (emospark) witch does the same , even soon I won’t have to pay for the movies or rented or etc. I don’t see the point to invest so much in this . Like Walter Tizzano says : very poor decision from Apple,

  40. Rick Smith - 9 years ago

    Dom,

    How about loaning that ATV 4 to FireCore so they can get a jump on Infuse so we can stream our content?

  41. srgmac - 9 years ago

    I want to know what everyone else wants to know — will this new OS be coming to the 3rd generation AppleTV, and will the new remote work with the 3rd generation AppleTV — I also think the 3rd Gen ATV should get the bluetooth headphones / speaker functionality, as this would be very welcome, to me anyway.

  42. Mark (@unclemacosx) - 9 years ago

    At 3:45 why would you need to use an iOS device to activate the TV? It has to be an option since not everyone that would buy a new TV has an iOS device.

    • Mark (@unclemacosx) - 9 years ago

      Please delete my question it was already answered thanks!

      • PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

        Fucking annoying to not be able to delete (nor edit) one’s own post. This WordPress rap has got to go.

  43. bennynihon - 9 years ago

    can you comment if movies played on the box are output at their native framerate (i.e. 24fps / 24p / 24 Hz)? Tired of these STBs only playing back movies with telecine or 3:2 pulldown applied, which results in added frames and judder

  44. mickbuffy - 9 years ago

    $165 after tax. I will keep my Apple TV 3 until they offer better upgrades like delivering free breakfast to my room when i say “i’m hungry”!

  45. I’m going this is a no-brainer here, as the previous generations supported this, but….in the settings app of the new software, is there an ability to use different Apple IDs for iTunes and iCloud? I have my Apple Music subscription running through my iTunes Apple ID and my iCloud Photo Library running through my iCloud ID. Want to make sure this functionality will still work with the new software.

  46. Stein Idar Aasen - 9 years ago

    I hope that PLEX and Spotify will be in the app store

  47. Graham J - 9 years ago

    I like how you call it an unboxing but skip the part where you take it out of the box.

  48. John Long - 8 years ago

    Thanks for the review! I have read the comments and one asked what I questioned, Can Siri sort my own downloaded and ripped video content? Another person commented “no because it has no exif data” Well mine does! I have put it there with iFlicks and the stuff I downloaded from Apple and Amazon has it. So my question is … Can Siri sort my own downloaded and ripped video content?
    For me, this is the deal breaker! My 3gen ATV works fine, but if I could sort and ask for the third season of MacGyver show 4 I would buy in a minute!!!
    Please let me know!
    Thank You!!

  49. John Lindley - 8 years ago

    I hate the new ATV. Authentication into anything is horrible and takes forever! Why can’t I use the Remote App on my phone? I purchased three, spent an hour trying to get it configured, boxed it back up, plugged my old one back in, and took all three back. For people with non-simple and unique passwords this new ATV is a nightmare. Perhaps it would have been a little easier if my iPhone would have found it via BT, but that didn’t work either! I’ll reevaluate if/when they allow the Remote App to control it. Copy/Paste from LastPass is the only way I’ll be able to sign in to the various accounts that I have in less than an hour per ATV.

    Maybe I’m too paranoid with my accounts and passwords for Apple perhaps.

  50. Joe Medina - 8 years ago

    Can you use more than 1 pair of Bluetooth headphones simultaneously while watching a movie? For example 2 pairs of headphones at the same time.

  51. Dan Francis - 8 years ago

    I am returning the my Apple TV because they have eliminated the optical cable port which allows my to connect my old apple tv to my surround sound system! VERY DISAPPOINTED in the elimination of this feature!

    • theconvertedblog - 8 years ago

      I too am disappointed given my ATV3 setup connected via TOSLINK which obviously is not possible with ATV4. I have now connected my Sony AV receiver (ADP model circa late 2013, early 2014) to my ATV4 via Bluetooth & I am experiencing a 0.5-1.0 second lag on audio which as you can imagine is quite frustrating. Does any one know if there’s a way in which this can be rectified via the ATV4, or is this something I would need to troubleshoot on my receiver? FYI If I am to use my TV Speakers I do not get this lag hence why I’m thinking it is due to the Bluetooth speaker connection. feels like I’m now left with subpar alternatives or the fact I need to dish out even more $$$ for a HDMI Splitter, not to mention another clutter-creating cord behind my system. Any help or solutions would be much appreciated!

    • Francis Murtagh - 8 years ago

      I have just purchased an Apple TV gen 4 and with reluctance I wil be returning it for the same reason :no optical cable port : I am so disappointed I have tried every option to get surround sound from it through a Bose Lifestyle System