Looking to buy an Apple TV? It’s been over two years since the last new Apple TV hardware appeared with Apple TV 4K which adding 4K compatibility to the streaming box for the first time. But, it now looks like a new model could launch in the coming weeks, as a new Apple TV product code has been spotted in an early beta for Apple’s upcoming tvOS 13.4 operating system.
Alistair Charlton for GearBrain:
Released to developers this week, tvOS 13.4 isn’t expected to be a major update for the Apple TV’s software — that will come with tvOS 14 in the fall. But the update does include references to a version of the Apple TV that isn’t yet on sale… The software includes references to an Apple TV with the codename T1125. This is different to the current model, which uses the code J105a…
What this means is, Apple is experimenting with a prototype of a new version of the Apple TV, and had to add its codename to the tvOS 13.4 beta to get it working with the latest operating system. It was also discovered that this prototype uses hardware based on the arm64e architecture, which is used by Apple’s A12 and A13 Bionic processors, as found in the latest iPhones and iPads. These are significantly more powerful than the aging A10 Fusion chip used by the current Apple TV.
MacDailyNews Take: A new Apple TV with a modern A-series SoC would be a boon for games on Apple TV, including Apple Arcade! And, please, can we finally get a remote that doesn’t suck this time, recently-freed Apple product designers?
Jony certainly wasn’t involved with the design of the Apple TV’s Siri Remote – unless he was drunk during the 20 minutes that were lavished on its so-called design. — MacDailyNews, November 22, 2016
With the Siri Remote, users can’t tell which end is up in a darkened room due to uniform rectangular shape. The remote is still too small, so it gets lost easily. All buttons are the same size and similarly smooth (the raised white ring around the menu button helps, but so barely it’s astounding that Apple even bothered; it’s a bandaid on a turd). The tactile difference between the bottom of the remote vs. the upper Glass Touch surface is too subtle as well; this also leads to not being able to tell which end is up. A larger remote, designed for hands larger than a 2-year-old’s with a simple wedge shape (slightly thicker in depth at the bottom vs. the top), as opposed to a uniform slab, would have instantly communicated the proper orientation to the user.
If Jony Ive “designed” the Siri Remote, he should forfeit his knighthood*.
*But we all know Jony has been obsessed with Apple Park for many years now and likely never even saw the piece of shit remote before they threw it in the box. — MacDailyNews, September 25, 2017
For now, as always, use Apple’s excellent Remote app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It works much better than the inexplicably horrid Siri Remote.