Live data from Hacker News

Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

apple.com

341–349 of 349 posts

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I pay for just the new remote? Will it work with the old AppleTV 4K?

Available here apparently. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJFM3LL/A/siri-remote Says it's compatible even with AppleTV HD.

That's great news, I'd rather get this than a whole stupid box that basically the same

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#342
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It uses HDMI ARC but it's pretty flaky from the iPhone in my experience. Works more consistently with the remote itself. No idea why.

I'm pretty certain that the ATV remote beams good old fashioned infrared signals to change the volume on your TV/soundbar/receiver directly without involving the ATV itself.

It falls back to IR, but will use HDMI-CEC if available. Can be pretty fiddly to get it to work

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original touch AppleTV remote was probably ill-considered, but the accelerant of its demise was Apple ceasing to care if third-parties used native UIKit controls on AppleTV in a chase to get all of the channels and services to port their SmartTV applications over. For example, the original YouTube app on the AppleTV 4th generation was great. Navigating was a breeze with the native scroll momentum and sensitivity,…

The new remote is still touch based. There's just also a D-pad.

The old remote also has a d-pad but it’s implemented through edge detection on the touch surface (you have to tap/click on the very edges of the surface)... the new remote just makes that easier to accomplish (and adds a mute button, thank god.)

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty certain that the ATV remote beams good old fashioned infrared signals to change the volume on your TV/soundbar/receiver directly without involving the ATV itself.

The Apple TV remote doesn't emit infrared. The Apple TV does that itself! (This means that "learned" remote commands work even if you're controlling the Apple TV with your phone, or with a Bluetooth controller.)

I find that hard to believe, but I'm willing to be wrong. My Apple TV HD is in a cabinet with solid sides and doors (3/4" MDF). The television is wall mounted above it, outside the cabinet, and maybe 12" behind the Apple TV. And yet the Siri Remote controls the volume on the TV. I'm pretty sure it's using IR from the remote to the television to control the television's volume. I guess there's some small chance the volume is being controlled with HDMI ARC, although I've never been able to get my iPhone to control the volume on the television.

Unfortunately I can't find any definitive source on the internet to confirm exactly what's going on.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you click on the left or right side of the remote it will jump back or forward 10 seconds. Makes going back 30 seconds really easy.

For some reason, this doesn’t always work, even though I see the 30 sec jog icon appear.

You just need sub-millimeter precision, on a slippery glass remote made for babies with small hands, and then to time it so you touch the trackpad then click it such that you activate the skip back/skip forward function, but not so long that a cursor appears on the timeline. It's really fun, kind of like if your bank required you to do a little dance every time you wanted to buy something.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#346
post #268
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, the old remote as-is is one of my least favorite remotes ever because of 1) the issues with accidental touches and 2) when you pick it up, you never know which way it should be pointed without looking. But add a little silicon sleeve that solves both issues, and it quickly became my favorite.

What sleeve did you buy?

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M4SDGPO

The little cord at the bottom quickly allows me to tell which end is "up". And the silicone at the edges of the touchpad prevent almost all accidental touches.

This seems like the same thing: https://smile.amazon.com/FineGood-Protective-Generation-Skid...

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason, this doesn’t always work, even though I see the 30 sec jog icon appear.

It’s probably your physical button. My button will audibly click when I have my thumb on the far left or right edge, but won’t actually trigger unless I press very firmly after hearing the click. Pressing the button with my thumb in the middle works reliably as expected. Apple support wouldn’t do anything about this except offer to sell me a replacement remote.

But I see the timeline controller on the screen react to it with the icon, it just doesn’t actually move in time.

Re: Apple TV 4K Gets A12 Bionic

#349
post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple made a huge error not buying Eero and making AppleTV and HomePod devices into zero effort mesh points. They got out of the router business just a couple years too early since it was fully commoditized at the time, but the mesh revolution was just around the corner with a whole new market to conqueror. Letting Amazon get Eero is one of the few consumer facing misses Apple has made in the last few years (the keyb…

TBH I think mesh routers are overhyped garbage. They don't work well, and pollute the spectrum, and are a really poor substitute for cables. The only reason why they sell well is because people will buy anything as long as they don't need to lay cables.

Sounds like you would have appreciated a reliable mesh from Apple. I certainly would.
Post reply on HN