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Apple TV gets a full blown specification list

engadget.com — "In the end the Apple TV should still have plenty of horsepower to handle its well established duties, but it's certainly not packing a great lot of pizazz beneath the hood."

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 17, 2007

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  • gravis86, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Yeah. If you're a hardcore TV person then you should look into getting Mac Mini, especially if you could use a DVR. There was a great article up earlier today on how to connect your Mac to a cable box via FireWire and use it as a DVR.

    The Apple TV isn't really that much of an "I need" item, and this coming from an Apple Fanboy.
  • colincornaby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13"It's not really that new of a world. The iPod has been cripped since the start just because it only allows iTMS tracks and only just recently got gapless playback in the 5.5g."

    I hope you're not forgetting MP3 tracks. And in the same vein, the Zune only works with Zune marketplace tracks. It's not like Apple is the only company in the world doing this.
  • autoy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17I'm not really shure I like this new world of Apple's crippled appliances.
  • StarManta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11That's "fellate". If you can't spell it, just say "blow".
  • LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10For those interested in XBMC, check out my review of it and decide what you think:

    http://152.10.254.216/pn/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=63378#63378

    This isn't spam, I don't get any kind of ad revenue from this, I'm just trying to help spread the word about this media center solution.
  • DoTheFandango, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Because then you have to buy an XBOX, a ModChip, an Ethernet cable/Wireless adapter, Component Cables, etc.

    The Mac Mini is essentially plug-and-play... plus it is a computer!
  • omaryak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Crippled" to some is "easy-to-use" for others. We'll see how well it does in the open market beyond the naysaying of technophiles.
  • brettmeister, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6For what?
  • kikkomang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yes it may indeed fillet your penis while you watch.
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Your periods are most likely where they've always been....monthly
  • totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"A full blown specification list".....from rumor site AppleInsider?
  • Derferman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@DoTheFandango

    Modding an Xbox does not require a mod chip anymore; you can soft mod a unit using an exploited gave save. It's really easy and painless
  • clickmyface, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is actually really pathetic and dissapointing. I'm an Apple guy, but this is just stupid. There is nothing new coming from this product and I'm honestly quite surprised Apple released something this limited. $300? Ok, the hardware specs are not impressive but they don't really need to be. It should have some impressive software features and it absolutely does not. You can't use it as an N router? You cant connect to it except through wireless? You can't record? It has a USB port that you cant use? 40gbs of storage? Wow.

    I give this a 1 out of 5 rating. I would never suggest anyone to buy this.
  • Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This device is just asking to be the next Xbox in terms of the modding community. It's even priced like one!
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Boondoggle,
    The iMacs (except for the $999 one) and the MacBook Pros have dedicated Graphics chips and dedicated graphics memory.
  • Ashex, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Only way I would buy this, is if MythTV were to develop a port.
    Yes, I know I sounds rediculous, but I'm a linux user and while I want to build my own dvr one day with mythTV, being able to buy a pre-built box that's aesthetic and quiet for under 500 would be excellent.
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well said Jam.

    Many people here who post on Digg forget that the BIY crowd is not the norm. Most people buy a Dell or HP or Mac from a store and do very little to it over the course of its lifetime. Products like this aren't meant for you. It's a consumer product meant to fill a niche.

    I have no idea how well it works, how easy or difficult it is to set up or how well it will operate with home audio/video gear. And neither do the rest of you. I don't slam other people's products without knowing how well they work, why do you?
  • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Time to buy.

    http://www.divx.com/

    Divx plug-in for quicktime. iTunes plays anything that Quicktime plays. Apple TV plays anything that iTunes plays.

  • antoni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2gaaahhh! I still can't see why the Apple TV can have "NVIDIA G72M with 64MB of DDR2 RAM included for video purposes" whilst the Macbook doesn't have a dedicated graphics card.
  • tobias1482, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If it could play dvds also, I'd be up for it. That's the main functionality that I'd lose by switching out my mini for this product.
  • Jammypac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This product isn't for cheetos-encrusted neckbearded geeks who want to stream their torrented divx copies of Deep Space 9 from their liquid cooled, neon bling'd, overclocked newegg box to their TV.

    This is for Joe and Jane average user who currently purchases a fair amount of video content from the iTunes Store and wants an easy way to get this content on their TV. For these people, the product is fairly priced and seems easy enough to use. I predict it will sell fairly well in that community.
  • LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7Why get a Mac Mini when XBMC will do? Unless you're gonna be doing DVR with HD-resolution TV shows (which would be a completely legitmate use for the Mac Mini), Xbox Media Center will do everything else just fine, and for $100. Seriously, it's not a difficult thing to accomplish and it'll play any non-DRM media that you throw at it without having to install codecs or perform maintance. One time setup (if you don't care about updates), and you're good to go with anything you download or convert yourself.
  • POPULATIONPASTE, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ok... so I'm not gonna beat around the bush. All you people bashing the specs - you're retarded. You're not going to be running 3dMark on it, you're not going to be running folding@home or seti or whatever the F you do with your free time - people who buy it want it to do exactly what it is advertised for - downloading, decoding and streaming content. Why increase production costs (which are passed on to the consumer, btw) by overpowering this device? So fanboys can jerk off to the total combined processing power in their home? I mean really people, processing power these days far exceeds any practical use of the layperson, with the exception of gaming. Do you plan on playing games on your AppleTV? If you answered yes, then once again - You're retarded.

    Now, whether or not this is gonna be a success... I really don't know. Nor do I care. Like someone said before me... some Apple product is bound to fail.
  • HoosbinPharteen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well you can't always have a cool new product. One is bound to fail and I see this failing.
  • drizek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4For apple, its not about making a good groundbreaking product. Its about locking people into their formats. This is just the first version, but in a year or so i guarantee this will get more traction.
  • clickmyface, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Well I suppose when I say i'm a fanboy I should make it clear that i'm a fan of the OS more than anything. I think that iPod+iTunes is interesting and innovative, but that's not what keeps me at Mac OS every day, that's not what makes me a fanboy.

    You're certainly right, the whole "locking people in" concept is echoed with iPhone; 2 year contract through Cingular only, no 3rd party apps, no changable battery, no unlocked phones, $500... I'm not sure what the hell they got from locking in with Cingular (why???) but they can count me out. Same goes with AppleTV-iTunes lock in. No thanks.

    I suspect, and hope, that Leopard will be amazing. Otherwise...
  • Reidtheweed01, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Well you could always just get one from your cable company for $5 a month.
  • LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Modding an Xbox does not require a mod chip anymore; you can soft mod a unit using an exploited gave save. It's really easy and painless"

    Which in total will cost you about $130-150 at most (possibly as low as $100), not to mention that it'll play any codec you throw at it, not just iTunes based files. Also, you don't need component cables, and if you don't have ethernet cables, well, you probably wouldn't be modding an xbox anyway.
  • synth3tik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1meh, it still just does not cut it for me. Its a $300 way to stream movies to your TV, a glorified Airport express.


    I'll just get a mac mini,
  • koregaonpark, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Yep, I'm a "fanboy" too and I'd rather hook up a Mac mini to my TV. The Apple TV seems to be a very US-centric product. Other than iTunes, the only way you can get content into iTunes is by ripping DVDs or torrenting content.
  • LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4No, no, definitely not forgetting MP3. Sorry, I'm a bit tired, but yeah, I lump the Zune in with the iPod, as both are just there to push their proprietary format.
  • Diganta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now that TiVo finally has TiVoToGo for Mac there are less compelling reasons for Apple TV. At the end of the day a user wants something simple when it comes to an appliance like a DVR. Now if Apple TV had DVR capabilities and some licensed the
    TiVo technology (patents) and a remote control which had a separate Volume and Channel up down with Slingbox features then I'd be looking at Apple TV seriously. I think the conflict of interest trying to sell TV shows and movies on iTunes prevents Apple from
    including DVR. Akin to when Sony didn't include MP3 support in their initial digital music players and supported only ATRAC, because of Sony music division. With Quicktime Broadcaster and streaming technology of Quicktime Apple could also make a Slingbox type device. But that is not going to happen anytime soon.
  • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They ALL have dedicated graphics chips... the Intel 950 is dedicated to graphics I assure you... some have dedicated graphics cards... I forgot about the higher end iMacs... and some have dedicated graphics memory.
  • Greyarea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My money is staying in my pocket until someone works out a way to play DivX content on it. Then I'll buy.
  • Greyarea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just tried to read this and my lungs damn near imploded.
  • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And they say geeks have no social skills...

    /sarcasm
  • Refrag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Blog spam. Should have linked to AppleInsider.
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't look at it as DOA, just incomplete. It has a HD, but it's on the small side. You can use it to distribute content from 5 different computers, but I think Apple missed out on the one thing that would make this a must-have device for at least Mac users. An Apple branded NAS. There are several out there, mostly running a smallish Linux distro, but from what I've read can be somewhat difficult to set up and maintain. Maybe it was just noobs that were having problems, but since I haven't played with one myself, I'm not qualified to give an opinion.

    If Apple would enter this market, it could solve several problems and fill some holes in their lineup. They have all these near zero-config wireless solutions for computing (yes I know Windows can be just as easy, but I'm talking about Apple), but no mass storage beyond USB and FireWire enclosures. Why not an Apple NAS? Connect it to your router, verify your computer via your MAC address and gain entry to your data with a Keychain encrypted password. Mass storage accessable to your Mac or Apple TV almost anywhere in the world.

    Heck, I'd buy one.
  • graemee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Horsepower. The CPU can not handle the 1080P. Doing the 1080i is not even close to 1080p in terms of bandwidth & CPU required to decode and display.

  • IWorkAtApple, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@MacParrot

    There is an apple-branded NAS - see http://www.apple.com/airportextreme ... plug in a USB2 hard drive, and it automatically shares that disk using AFP and SMB. It's the same size as the Mac Mini (I think), and there are plenty of mac-mini-style external enclosures that you could just piggy-back on top..
  • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Iworkatapple

    Right after I posted I went to the Apple site and looked up the new Airport Extreme and you're right. it is essentially an Apple NAS solution. They sort of announced them at Macworld (my first since the NY show was canceled), but very little in the way of information was released.

    Please forgive my ignorance, but will it work outside the established wireless or wired network? Can I upload or download to it (securely) from a WiFi hotspot? If I can, then I will be getting one as soon as I clear some CC space. One other question. I have a QS 933 tower that I would like to use to store older, less needed to be accessed files and for backing up the other Macs in the house (G5 iMac, Intel iMac, G4 iBook. All with multiple users). What's the best way to set that up with some auto log in or auto back-up features. I'm guessing either automater or Apple Scripts. Thanks for any help you can give.
  • bluemist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I just need a TV-out cable to bring all my PC media to a HDTV. What's the use of Apple TV then, aside from the convenience of having no wires from your PC to the TV? You still need wires from the Apple TV to the HDTV right? For $299 it only made the wire shorter.
  • canyonblue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1can anyone explain why it says it supports only 480p, 720p, and 1080i TVs? i have a 1080p DLP set with HDMI, and while I know the TV will have to upconvert the Apple TV's 720p signal, why wouldn't it work? Sure I wish it was true 1080p but geez is that a typo that it doesn't support 1080p sets
  • ignorantcow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wow, XBMC's interface is incredibly ugly.
  • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1the macbook has a dedicated graphics chip. it does not have dedicated graphics memory. Neither the Apple TV, the iMac, the Mini, the Macbook Pro or the macbook has a dedicated graphics card. For that you need the Mac Pro.


  • modesty, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2ok for real who the hell would really buy this? if you are smart enough to know what its for you're smart enough to know its completely useless
  • kidhero, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1it's a device to play your itunes library. as in.......... you know your music? photos? podcasts? vodcasts? imovies? idvds?
  • ghostaliaz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I am sorry I do own a mac & a dozen of pc's & I am sorry to all you mac cult nut's, we on windows & linux have been doing this for several years. I have had a computer based dvr for over 10 years in my home & in my car & I can beam it anywhere that I want & even to my cellphone or any web enabled browser, not to also mention the slingbox. The mac interface does look good, but the windows tv software & several of hardware tunercards to pick from for pc's are the best & will always be the best. You all can keep kissing stevies behind, but I refuse to make that bad attitude dude anymore popular but in his normal brainwashed cult nutcase circles. To me like always the mac is pretty if your soft like that & you think the computing world is all about how the system looks then the mac tv option is for you, to just use the software that your master Stevie dictated for you mac cult slaves all to use for lack of other software & hardware alternatives. I personally choose linux & windows because I have so many choices of hardware & software then I can ever begin to imagine, thats why I love the other options because mac has as always way to less options to pick from so you choose what stevie picked for ya already which means not many other options & me I rather run Myth TV or one of the other several thousand choices that we linux or windozzzze users have to pick from. Have fun Robots.Oh & don't forget you preprogrammed Iphone that everyone on a linux & windows machine will hack-->( reverse engineer) to there own satisfaction, just like we hacked everything else from the Xbox to the Ipod. I am slowly moving strictly over to linux because Windozzzze & Apple are just becoming the North Korea's of the computer world(DRM's Included) not to mention the SP2 update that basicly cutoff everyone from using torrent downloads & then came the free thinkers of the world the true geeks came out with a sp2 TCP hack fix so we could go back to using the torrent network.I want Choice & freedom so in my book Linux is winning the fight all the way around. (where are my periods(haha).
  • SourWorm, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5I second the XBMC suggestion. I still marvel at the quality of it.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Just like the newest iPhone. I think Apple might be pushing all their new products out early because the Apple iPod hype has to die down some time. And what better time for them to release their gadgets than at the peak of their iPod sales, where users are slowly transferring to new innovations. You want their iPod on the phone? iPhone. You want to watch their iPod videos on big screen TV? AppleTV. They're just trying to save their asses so Microsoft or [insert company here] doesn't get there first, because we all know it's usually the first company that gets there that's spotlighted, and once that monopolistic leverage has been set, it's a heck of a mess to switch out of. [ex: Microsoft, YouTube, MySpace]
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