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According to a FCC filing, Apple has a smaller Apple TV in the works. What’s weird is that it’s not that much smaller than the current Apple TV — the small version would be 93.78 square millimetres as opposed to the current version’s 98 square mm. It’s even a little more powerful too.
Yesterday, MacRumors had reported that the latest Apple TV software update revealed three models of the Apple TV (2nd generation, 3rd generation and an unknown model). Could this ever so slightly smaller Apple TV be that unknown model?
The wonderful guys at AnandTech discovered that the smaller Apple TV actually packs an A5X processor and a new single antenna solution. This addition to the smaller Apple TV is curious. Is this smaller Apple TV just a stealthy update or a bigger (um, smaller) and better new beast primed for a console-come-tiny-Mac-Mini?
There aren’t many more details that can be lifted from the FCC filing but if you start noticing a smaller black square, you’ll know that’s the mysterious Apple TV. Not to be confused with the unicorn Apple TV. [FCC via Engadget, MacRumors]
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Bit stupid isn’t it? Why not just incorporate the tech in to a tv if you can get it that small already.
I’m not really a fan of tech companies making tech smaller and using that as a selling point. e.g. mobile phones, been a pretty good size for years now, yet some companies still strive to make them smaller and thinner….why? Yes, may look slightly better, but there’s a billion% more chance I’d break it easier.
Apple probably don’t want to compete in the ‘race to the bottom’ TV market, despite everyone wanting them to.
Because the internal tech obsoletes way quicker than the display tech. Hence some recent Samsung TVs feature a slot for hardware upgrades. If you want my 2 cents, Apple should have bought Sony and integrated iOS into every single Sony device, from cameras to TVs, and then software upgrades could have kept things up to date if they didn’t also choose a modular design. OSes like iOS and Android make hardware obsolescence less of an issue. But now Sony are with Android, this isn’t going to happen.
Now that’s something I like, Sony design and portfolio with Apple business sense.
A5x is an odd choice for an Apple TV. The existing A5 one can deal perfectly well with 1080p content, as far as I can tell, even with half of its cores out of use. And if they’re ramping up GPU power to make it some sort of viable 1080p games console, why not ramp the CPU as well? An A6x is still a fair bit less powerful than Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii U.
I think they chose a A5x to support 4K video.
Also 3D support with HDMI
Ah, yes, 3D support would make sense.
I’d be dubious about 4K though, there’s not going to be enough of market for that stuff for years yet.
Great, now my Airport Express won’t fit on top of my ATV
The new one? why not place it under the aTV
They look nice together now as they’re the same size