Apple yesterday unveiled several new gizmos, some of which are priced higher than their predecessors. We're interested to hear your opinion about the latest iPhones, the new Apple Watch Series 3 models and Apple TV 4K. Specifically, what new device(s) are you planning on buying from Apple’s announcements yesterday, and why?
The new Apple TV 4K has brought back the speedy Gigabit Ethernet port (the previous box uses the slower 10/100 Mbps Ethernet for wired Internet), but it's lost the handy USB-C port.
Apple announced a plethora of new products Tuesday, including the new Apple TV 4K. It brings several new features aside from 4K including HDR 10 & Dolby Vision support, updated Siri remote, live sports and news, among others.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the tech specs of Apple latest set top box, which goes up for pre-order September 15, and starts shipping on the 22nd. A few notable things include the addition of gigabit ethernet that was removed in the last generation, and the removal of USB Type-C which was added in the 4th generation for servicing, and connecting to your Mac.
The tech specs of the Apple TV 4K are listed below:
Size
Height: 1.4 inches (35 mm) Width: 3.9 inches (98 mm) Depth: 3.9 inches (98 mm) Weight: 15 ounces (425 g)Capacity
32GB $179 64GB $199Siri Remote
Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology IR transmitter Accelerometer and three-axis gyro Lightning connector for charging Rechargeable battery providing months of battery life on a single charge (with typical daily usage)Ports
HDMI 2.0 802.11ac Wi‑Fi with MIMO; simultaneous dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Gigabit Ethernet Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology IR receiver Built‑in power supplyProcessor
A10X Fusion chip with 64-bit architectureVideo Formats
H.264/HEVC SDR video up to 2160p, 60 fps, Main/Main 10 profile HEVC Dolby Vision (Profile 5)/HDR10 (Main 10 profile) up to 2160p H.264 Baseline Profile level 3.0 or lower with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 fps, Simple profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formatsAudio Formats
HE-AAC (V1), AAC (up to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV; AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1) and E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound)Picture Formats
HEIF, JPEG, GIF, TIFFIn the Box
Apple TV 4K Siri Remote Power cord Lightning to USB cable Documentation
When Apple launched the Apple TV 4th generation, many people were surprised that they didn't include a Gigabit Ethernet port. It appears that Apple has reversed its decision on the latest, Apple TV 4K.
Apple TV got the TV app, alongside iPhones and iPads last year. It allows you to easily discover new content to watch, or pickup where you left off. The biggest downside was that it didn't have access to live TV streams, instead of having to launch apps individually. Apple changes this with the new Apple TV 4K.
While the big news for Apple TV fans was the updated Apple TV 4K, with HDR support, it looks like the Siri Remote also got a few small updates.
The new Apple TV 4K will go up for preorder on September 15th, and will be released the following Friday, September 22nd. While there are other small features, the biggest additions is 4K, HDR, and Dolby Vision support.
Apple SVP Eddy Cue is on stage now at Apple's event to announce the new 4K Apple TV. In addition to the hardware, Cue made a couple of major ( and frankly, surprising) announcements regarding 4K content in iTunes.
Apparently, when iTunes rolls out its 4K content, it will be priced the same as high definition content. So no need to worry about that big price gap between 4K and HD that you've seen in physical media. Also, folks wondering what happens to all of their previous HD purchases will be happy to hear that Apple will upgrade them to 4K versions (where available) for free.
Here's more on the move from Eddy Cue:
“Bring the magic of the cinema straight to your living room with the new Apple TV 4K,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Customers will love watching stunning 4K HDR movies from an impressive catalog on iTunes, while also getting automatic upgrades of 4K HDR movies already in their iTunes library and enjoying 4K content on services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, coming soon.”
These are nice surprises indeed, given that folks were expecting to pay more for new and upgraded 4K content, and should help push Apple TV 4K sales.
Tim Cook at today's event at the Steve Jobs Center at the new Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California announced — yes, Apple TV 4K. It provides “one of the most stunning visuals ever” and “cinematic quality to virtually everything you watch”.
Apple is expected to debut a fifth-generation Apple TV with support for the native 4K resolution and streaming, Dolby Vision, HDR10 and more. As you can imagine, the box will come preloaded with Apple's new default Aerial screensaver shot in the glorious 4K resolution.
Some curious code strings discovered earlier today practically confirm that Apple's upcoming set-top box refresh, dubbed “Apple TV 4K”, could run the same chip as the latest iPad Pros and feature fifty percent more RAM, turning it into a powerful gaming console in its own right.
The irresponsibly leaked iOS 11 Gold Master build is a gift that keeps on giving, but tvOS 11 has its own secrets as well, with latest discoveries pointing to a refreshed Siri Remote in tow for a fifth-generation Apple TV model to be called “Apple TV 4K”.