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Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

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Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#301
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much faster? I want to upgrade my 4K because of the performance.

To be honest I don't think it will really be that noticeable. It will be faster, but only slightly. The original 4k had an A10X, the new one has an A12. The A10X was the A10 with beefed up GPU, so on that front they are probably pretty close. The A12 will probably win out on general processing tasks.

It should probably be a decent improvement. Here's an A12 (iPhone XS) vs plain ol' A10 (iPhone 7): https://www.anandtech.com/show/13392/the-iphone-xs-xs-max-re... Now, the A10X had a doubled-up GPU, but even taking that into account it still looks like a fairly big gap on the more demanding tests.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#302
post #170

I'm happy that they ditched the old, confusing 'touch' Siri remote for a traditional four button (up/down/left/right) one. The old Siri remote was pretty frustrating. I know some people love it, but there's so many ways it didn't. work well: 1. You breath on the thing, and it does something. It's extremely sensitive 2. It's really hard to fast fwd/rewind just a little bit. Its good at scrubbing through a whole movie,…

I dropped my remote the first night I had my Apple TV 4K and shattered the glass on it. Good riddance.

I agree. Glass was a horrible design choice for a remote. I'm glad they are moving to aluminum.

In my house, we have two 4K TV remotes with broken glass. Not safe, and the worse part is the replacement cost of the remote is typical Apple pricing ($$$). Apple managed to create a remote where getting a case was reasonable.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Apple TV touch remote is frustrating even if you are tech savvy. It is just bad, period.

Prone to dust getting into the gap between the touchpad and the case so edge presses become even more inconsistent And the ridiculous use of glass where no one would ever have complained about aluminum or plastic (which I've seen shatter on multiple remotes now) Good riddance

> Prone to dust getting into the gap between the touchpad and the case so edge presses become even more inconsistent

Yup. All the time. Especially if you use those sleeves people talk about. And you have to use those sleeves because otherwise you don't know if you picked it up in the right direction.

Seriously. That remote is the worst pile of trash. I hate it every time I use it. Good riddance.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#304
God I am happy to not be in an in industry anywhere near Apple’s core competencies. I am a Sony apologist but the ecosystem apple is building around my life - and my home - is almost too convenient to not give into

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With airplay, it’s easy.

Nah it's garbage, I want to put something on the TV on its own and I want to use my phone for other stuff, not be forced to have the same thing on both screens.

https://github.com/jvanakker/tvOSBrowser

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#306

And still no support for spatial audio with AirPods Pro? I continue to be mystified why spatial audio only works for watching movies on iOS devices. I know the official explanation is that the host device needs an accelerometer and gyroscope... but Apple TV's tend to stay still, you know. It baffles me why you can get amazing spatial audio watching a movie on a tiny screen... or regular stereo audio watching a movie…

I’m guessing because the vast majority of the market with a 4K Apple TV is not watching in stereo, but in surround with something like Dolby Atmos. Edit: For those unfamiliar, spatial audio is a post processing effect that attempts to simulate surround, whereas most home theaters are going to be watching material that has discreet location and channel data, meaning a much more realistic surround stage.

> I’m guessing because the vast majority of the market with a 4K Apple TV is not watching in stereo, but in surround with something like Dolby Atmos

I bet a chunk of money it is the exact opposite. I bet for the majority of the market the fanciest thing they have is a soundbar and maybe a subwoofer.

I honestly think the "home theater" market is pretty niche. It requires living conditions that most people simply don't have. You gotta have the right room shape for starters. Virtually every house I visit doesn't have a room that is easy to set surround sound up in.

I mean for Atmos you specifically need speakers placed above the listener. Not to mention a bunch of other speakers everywhere.

I dunno... almost nobody is living an a place amenable to such things. And even if they are, they need to get consent from their significant other to pull it off.

So yeah. I bet maybe 5% of the market has Atmos or any kind of surround sound. 15% tops.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#307

This is by far the least “Apple” product IMO. I hate that I can’t remove stock apps and I hate that I’m being sold to every second I’m in the UI. It’s so blatant. I paid for the box - I just want to use it for AirPlay and a small selection of apps I download, that’s all. Yet Apple treats it as a giant digital billboard in our living rooms.

I get it, but it's still a million times better than the competition. My Samsung TV showed me banner ads before I disconnected it from the internet.

Yeah. I got so mad when I discovered I would have returned my Samsung TV if I had a car...

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#308

Honestly speaking, the problem with Apple TV is that chips like A12 are such a overkill for TV box use cases. I recently purchased a $30 Roku and find it has almost 99% of the features that an Apple TV would have (including airplay2). Yes, Apple TV would have better color, visual quality, etc, but that's way into the realm of dismissed return for the investment IMHO.

I'm not sure. My Apple TV with A10X will hang and generally the UI feels like its frame dropping every now and then. I would really like it to be smoother like my phone...

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#309

As a current AppleTV 4K owner, I have no idea how any of this is different from the previous version. I don't any any discernible difference. I already have HDR, Dolby Atmos, etc. What I really want is the ability to make my remote control beep so I can find it. That's literally the only feature that I want at this point.

I'm not sure. My Apple TV with A10X will often hang and generally the UI feels like its frame dropping every now and then. I would really like it to be smoother like my phone...

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#310
post #12

And still no support for spatial audio with AirPods Pro? I continue to be mystified why spatial audio only works for watching movies on iOS devices. I know the official explanation is that the host device needs an accelerometer and gyroscope... but Apple TV's tend to stay still, you know. It baffles me why you can get amazing spatial audio watching a movie on a tiny screen... or regular stereo audio watching a movie…

Well they just announced that Spatial Audio works on the new iMac, so I have no idea what's going on.

It appears to be a "different" spatial audio.

It seems to be attempting to recreate "surround sound" using the iMac's built-in six-speaker system.

Not via connected AirPods, sadly.

Which is definitely more than a little confusing.

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