Apple today announced the all-new Apple TV, bringing a revolutionary experience to the living room based on apps built for the television. Apps on Apple TV let you choose what to watch and when you watch it. The new Apple TV’s remote features Siri, so you can search with your voice for TV shows and movies across multiple content providers simultaneously.
The all-new Apple TV is built from the ground up with a new generation of high-performance hardware and introduces an intuitive and fun user interface using the Siri Remote. Apple TV runs the all-new tvOS™ operating system, based on Apple’s iOS, enabling millions of iOS developers to create innovative new apps and games specifically for Apple TV and deliver them directly to users through the new Apple TV App Store.
“There has been so much innovation in entertainment and programming through iOS apps, we want to bring that same excitement to the television,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, in a statement. “Apps make the TV experience even more compelling for viewers and we think apps represent the future of TV.”
The new Siri Remote dramatically simplifies how you select, scroll and navigate through your favorite content while bringing unique interactivity to the new Apple TV by using a glass touch surface that handles both small, accurate movements as well as big, sweeping ones. Adding touch to Apple TV creates a natural, connected experience, even if the TV screen is on the other side of the room. Developers can take advantage of the built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, and the touch surface on the Siri Remote to create games and other app experiences that have never been seen on TV before.
With Siri, you can use your voice to search TV shows and movies by title, genre, cast, crew, rating or popularity, making it easy to say things like “Show me New Girl,” “Find the best funny movies from the ’80s,” “Find movies with Seth Rogan” and “Find popular TV shows for kids.” Apple TV will search iTunes and popular apps from Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Showtime, displaying all the ways the resulting TV shows and movies can be played. Siri also offers playback control and on-screen navigation, as well as quick access to sports, stock and weather information.*
tvOS is the new operating system for Apple TV, and the tvOS SDK provides tools and APIs for developers to create amazing experiences for the living room the same way they created a global app phenomenon for iPhone and iPad. The new, more powerful Apple TV features the Apple-designed A8 chip for even better performance so developers can build engaging games and custom content apps for the TV. tvOS supports key iOS technologies including Metal, for detailed graphics, complex visual effects and Game Center, to play and share games with friends.
Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV will be available at the end of October starting at $149 (US) for a 32GB model and $199 (US) for a 64GB model from Apple.com, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. A new Xcode beta is available for developers today that includes the tvOS SDK at developer.apple.com/xcode/downloads. Developers can request an Apple TV developer kit at developer.apple.com/tvos/.
*Siri availability and functionality varies by country. Subscription required for some content.
SEE ALSO:
New Apple TV supports console-style MFi game controllers – September 9, 2015
The app is the channel!
I don’t think Eddie Cue is a good presenter. I am sure he is a nice guy, but he doesn’t do anything for me as a presenter.
Plus, I was expecting more from the new ATV.
Eddie made a couple of mistakes with the Keynote remote, like he was a little inebriated. Hopefully not. I do think the next Apple TV update with more memory and 4K will be the real deal but I’ll still pick up one of these. Cheap enough at $199.
I was expecting an inexpensive channel bundle.
Yeah it’s called apps, and it’s free, not inexpensive (unless you go with premiums like HBO).
Did anybody catch the uses for the varying size memory (32 & 64 GB)? Would this just be for installing apps, or was there any other purpose here?
Yeah, apps as far as I can tell, since movies and music stream from your Mac.
Our early gen Atv has been flaky for a while so we’re a guaranteed customer here. We’ve ripped our entire movie catalogue to the Mac and are streaming children’s movies and shows nearly constantly.
Like someone above I somehow expected more, though upon further consideration it seems all the ice boxes I’d hoped for were checked. Maybe it’s just not as sexy as if imagined. The get-it-done part of me wants one. The I’m-going-to-love-this-can’t-wait part of me feels a bit meh.
So whatever, right? I’ll get it, and for sure I’m really looking forward to not having lags delays and restarts like I’ve had for the past six months or so with the old product.
We’ll see.
Movies don’t have to stream from your Mac, and they mentioned that Apple’s music service is also going to be available on the Apple TV. That also offers the ability to keep music. Since you can purchase movies, you should be able to purchase movies and keep them as well.
but if I’m streaming the movies they still have to come from iTunes I mean what I’m saying is is that I can’t rip my own movies that I have gotten from my own sources my own blue ray and such.
Plus I’m sure that even if labelled which iTunes does not do they won’t work with Siri
Why? You can’t stream the ripped movies from your Mac?
I wish there was more Tivo in tvOS.
Since I dont stream or buy or rent anything from iTunes except apps I dont see this being that great.
I don’t see Amazon prime and if I can’t jailbreak it or install kodi I’m not interested. Plus it’s $50 higher then it’s competing boxes.
It’s really nice looks great love the Siri but I assume that Siri is limited to iTunes content and if so epic fail. I have a huge collection of movies and shows on a 2tb network drive. Sounds like they would not stream here. But if I can install kodi then I can.
Also if apps are limited to 500mb that leaves out asphalt 8 and allot of games like it that the initial app is small but then the content to go with it is over 1gb.
One question remains: How much of the new functionality will be available on the current gen AppleTV and the old iOS Remote App?
Considering there is no accessible storage in the old ATV, I’m assuming you’ll get the UI update with all the same standard built-in apps, but no App Store and obviously no Siri.
There is a basic comparison of the two models on Apples website:
http://www.apple.com/tv/compare/
No Siri, No App Store, No Third-party Controllers.
Doesn’t seem to have the full Apple Music experience via the Apple store.
Only Dolby Digital 5.1, not DD7.1.
A5 processor instead of the A8.
Micro-USB replaced by USB-C for service.
The OLD device has Optical Audio. It is not in the new ATV.
And of course there will be the fancy remote in the new ATV.
I love the new Tv and os and remote!
Just give it a few months fir tye apps to start showing up..
Its going to be amazing !
Will the new AppleTV support Home Sharing, so we can watch the TV, Movies, and Music on our computer-based iTunes collection? Or will it be as streaming-centric as the Video app has become on iOS?
It looks as if it will play your iTunes movies and music, just as the current models do.
The fact that there is no 4K makes this completely obsolete at launch. Just like when they left Touch ID out of iPad Air 1, I’m forced to wait for another round of updates. Sadly this also means there was no update to iTunes content to 4K (because why the hell would there be without a 4K ATV), so I probably won’t buy any movies on iTunes any time soon either.
Who streams 4k? Tell me more…
H265 is almost there and was on par to deliver but Google, netflix, amazon and a bunch of others are working to avoid liscensing which may be a good thing.
Meanwhile go grab all the 4k bluray movies. It will fit on a little shelve by your car keys…
With 15 Mb download speed on an
I5 iMac with 32 gigs of RAM two gigs of video ram Amazon stutters all over the place and I don’t do Google so I can’t say how that would run. iTunes on the on the other hand is smooth as butter and clear and my Apple TV’s wirelessly run great. My locale will not be getting any U-verse or Fio’s for quite a while so I’m not concerned with 4K
There is plenty of 4K content on YouTube.
I’m guessing most of the public have HDTVs that are under 77 inches. 4K is a waste of time unless your TV is that size or bigger.
Not to mention a large portion of the country has fairly slow broadband and pushing 1080i to them is very time consuming, let alone 4K streams.
Netflix streams in Ultra HD (“4K”). 25 MBPS bandwidth is recommended.
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444
If you purchased a decent TV in the last year over 40″, you would have probably bought one with 4K resolution. It’s the current standard for videophiles. Deny it all you want, the competition offers 4K. If Apple doesn’t, then they lose the bleeding edge of the market — who are the big spenders, obviously.
So we can soot 4k with our iPhone 6s but can’t display them in 4k through Apple TV fail. This would not a big deal but Apple TV doesn’t get updated yearly.
Can’t hook the new AppleTV up to my stereo receiver without a digital audio port. Damn, guess it’s time for a new receiver…
yeah, that’s a big miss from Apple. HDMI is so overrated. I need to send audio and video to different components!!!!
Eddy looked like he wandered onstage from out back where he’d been working the grill.
I bought the original apple TV – with a HD storage disk.
I ripped loads of movies – but found I had to fill my iMac HD to keep them sync’d with the AppleTV.
I have yet to embrace the idea of paying for stuff held in the cloud or on a pay per view basis so have not upgraded to the newer black boxes. My movies are in Blu Ray via a PS4.
I still don’t find the latest itteration a compelling buy. A UK Freeview box gives you 100+ terrestrial digital channels of content – including all the major stations and a HUMAX box with YOUVIEW (& Freeview HD) gives you a recording, playback and series programming function. So, its going to remain on INPUT 1 for the TV & receiver.
The PS4 is a proper gaming machine – on INPUT 2. And that has a lot of the additional features of Apple TV.
Finally, Apple TV needs a good broadband connection – which is an additional cost factor to think about, so, for me it’s a pass.
Within one year, AppleTV will have tens of thousands of compelling games on it, many for free, or at very low cost.
There is an army of iOS developers, and they all have Apple’s SDK (Xcode). The effort to port from iOS to AppleTV is likely significantly lesser than to port, for example, from iOS to Android (or any other platform, mobile or desktop). With the ability to expand into new market by investing a little extra time, I’m sure developers will quickly take advantage of the new and growing platform that dominates people’s living rooms.
There’s only one thing that bugs me about it. I’m certain that if SJ were still running Apple that remote would have just two buttons and a touchpad. Six is very un-Apple, even allowing for the TV volume control.
What about 4k on Apple TV?
I thought I could not live without TiVo DNR capabilities. I only watch TV when I can replay and skip through commercials. When I saw the gal tell Siri to replay and also to skip ahead, I nearly jumped out my chair. Jump ahead beats holding down fast forward on my TiVo. Count me in for the new Apple TV. In fact I am getting 2. Brilliant.
Just looking at the Apple TV on the Apple site. It comes with a USB to Lightning cable and has a USB C port on the back. does anyone know if the cable is USB C and can it be used to charge the remote?
It appears that the apps will be restricted to 200mb each. I’m very open to a new Apple TV, since I use mine daily.
I’m surprised that the Apple TV only got the A8 instead of the A8X, specifically for gaming.
Unless having it plugged in all the time allows them to clock the CPU/GPU higher and that makes up for not putting in an A9 or A9X.
Even the new Iphone 6s/6s Plus have an A9 processor, but perhaps it is clocked at a lower speed for battery life?
Thoughts? Anyone bummed that the Apple TV doesn’t have the current A9 processor? Or do you think that it will be plenty fast due to the fact that it doesn’t need to worry about battery life?
It looks like the same awful UI with a new coat of paint. App Store is nice though.