A sober look at the new Apple.

I didn't buy an Apple TV until it had the App Store.

And this is not my story - just a conscious, collective decision of the majority. Until now, the Cupertino set-top box has been a tool for playing movies and music from iTunes. Not more.

For some this was enough. The rest sat and waited for the Apple TV to turn into something like an iPhone or iPad, only for a TV.

We waited.

How is the new Apple TV different from the old one?

Let's close this question right now.

What's good about the new console:

• has an improved, simplified interface and menu;
• supports installing applications from the App Store;
• has extended memory for media files and applications;
• comes with an advanced touch control panel.

There are a few minor negative differences:

• no optical audio output;
• The body has doubled in height.

If the whole list seemed insignificant to someone, this is normal. The whole point of the new generation of Apple TV is in adding App Store support and changing the legacy menu format. All other improvements are derivative.

But the very appearance of applications on the Apple TV set-top box, and from the most successful store in the world, is a definite step forward and a breakthrough that we have been waiting for for five years.

Too bad there isn't much to see...

The same black, only thick

Many foreshadowed a total redesign of the new Apple TV. All missed.

Apple TV 4th generation - still black box with matt finish and glossy sides. Continuity is almost 100%.

The difference is only in height: whatever you say, you can’t call the new prefix invisible, it like two old models! The situation is amazing, given Apple's course to reduce the thickness of everything and everyone.

The increase in the case is due to a significantly improved "stuffing", but something tells me that this is temporary. Rest assured that next generations will get smaller and this will be served as a mini-breakthrough :)

There are standard connectors at the back, with the exception of one.

• HDMI 1.4
• 10/100BASE‑T Ethernet port
• USB-C for service and support
• Power port

Connection difficulties

Owners of older models will notice the lack of an optical output. Apple decided that there was no future for him - and seriously strained some of the owners of good audio equipment. Of course, there is a way out: you can find a modern receiver with an HDMI input, through which the sound will go; but this is an additional waste for those who previously relied on time-tested Hi-Fi technology.

It's good that we have been standing in our office for almost a year, where there is exactly what you need - HDMI input and output. Someone will be less lucky.

In the end it turns out like this. To output sound from Apple TV, you will have to choose one of two options:

• or buy a receiver with HDMI;
• or output sound from Apple TV through the AUX output of the TV to the existing equipment.

The latter option is bad because your TV is added to the sound processing circuit, which in one way or another will distort the signal. Still, you should not despair: only audiophiles and purists will notice the fact, the rest will not care.

Remote, which is now a gadget

Reminds me of an iPod touch or iPhone, right? That's right: now it's a full-fledged device, and not a bar of aluminum with tight buttons.

Inside the console are:

• accelerometer and gyroscope, following the movement;
• microphone who listens to what you say;
• battery for several months of work;
• Lightning connector for battery charging.

It looks both stylish and unsightly due to the fact that the front part is divided into two zones. The bottom one is glass with oleophobic coating, which turned out to be . Wait for leather covers for the remote control, how to drink it :) The habit of storing the remote control in a bag is in trend again.

Top part - Touchpad with a matte finish that is rough to the touch. It is also one big button. Accordingly, you need to work with the remote control like this: we hold the glossy part in the palm of our hand, and put our thumb on the matte half, with which we control the console.

Frankly, I got used to such a system in less than a minute. And it's in one hundred- exactly at 100 - times more convenient than the old, "clickable" remote control.

After reading the first reviews, I expected the worst. And in the end, I want to say that this is definitely the most convenient device for managing a smart set-top box of all that have ever come out. Better than an iPhone.

The movements are simple: we select the necessary menu items with swipes, we scroll through the pages, we confirm the choice with taps and clicks. The rest of the buttons work as expected: the menu is like Back, the TV icon is like a key Home on iDevices. That's all.

Asking how to play then? Excellent!

The first time, especially in games, is psychologically unusual: how can you do something when you have only two buttons: back or select? But gestures and accelerometer support really decide. As well as the fact that now almost all mobile games have turned into one-button fun.

In five days of testing, I did not see anything on Apple TV that would make you want to take a gamepad or keyboard and mouse. They are simply not needed - partly because Apple forces all developers to adapt software exclusively for the original remote. I'll tell you more about this a little later.

More remote assembled very well, has a pleasant weight and fits perfectly in the hand. Whatever you say, he is the “face” of the new Apple TV, and she herself is just part of the background. And it turned out perfectly, I really don’t know what can be added to it.

New interface - different life

But the vast majority of set-top boxes, not to mention Smart TVs, slow down a little or seriously, lag. The design of their menus, the logic of their work often contradict the obvious standards, and it seems that their software part is stuck in a bygone past.

Completely different level. A new Apple TV is riding a horse, in which there are simply no brakes. Incredibly smooth menu animation, beautiful Cyrillic font, the very predictability of work and ease of control of functions. Again, the iPhone user is not surprised, but one has only to look at Apple TV competitors or turn on Smart-mode on your TV - and everything falls into place.

A big role here is played by the convenience of the remote itself and how the menu is built around its capabilities. Thought out even the little things of animation: dragging your finger sideways, you see how the selected menu block “turns”; scrolling through the lists, the cursor moves gently, as if sticking to the items and “stretching” when you slowly jump back and forth with swipes.

It is for this that we learned to love Apple at one time: beautiful things that any other manufacturer would not care about. Especially on a TV set.

As a result, the 4th generation Apple TV is the most convenient set-top box to manage. It's a pleasure to use it... with the exception of one "but".

The on-screen keyboard is not very good. I understand why it's done that way. It's not very easy to enter text on the touchpad, although in theory it should be easier than on the old remote with a four-way key.

But this on-screen keyboard is a living hell. To be honest, it took me exactly 15 minutes to enter my Apple ID account in the settings of the set-top box. Each letter takes 10 seconds, and if you have a complex password ... The fact that the Remote Control mobile application for iPhone, where there is a normal QWERTY keyboard, does not help either. And it is unknown if it will. In general, something needs to be done about this, definitely.

The main menu looks pretty much the same as on the old Apple TVs - only the background is now white, for which my eyes say a big thank you. Large "blocks" at the top are OS sections: music, App Store, iTunes with movies, photo stream. The rest at the bottom are movies and apps downloaded from the App Store.

The music player is great. The functionality of the music player in the new Apple TV is very pleasing, and the interface too: you can immediately see that it was originally developed with an eye on Apple Music users.

The interface here is very beautiful, even (in my opinion) better than in the built-in player for iOS. All the features of the Apple streaming service are fully presented, you can manage lists, create new ones, find cool tracks in collections and playlists ... in general, a blessing for those who listen to music from a TV or through home acoustics.

The most minor changes have befallen the interface of the iTunes movie store. Bright colors are always welcome here. I noticed that there were special cards for actors.

I don’t remember that they were on previous versions of Apple TV, but I know why they were added - for a special Siri function to work, showing actors and films in which they starred on demand.

Cool screensavers. Some interesting features are in the Settings, one of them concerns desktop screensavers. The fact is that after 5 minutes of inactivity, Apple TV starts playing videos from different parts of the world, taken by Apple itself from a drone. They look simply gorgeous (60 frames per second), instantly create a mood in the room.

But the main feature is different: new videos are uploaded to the set-top box automatically and regularly (the frequency can be changed). As a result, you have on TV video changes every day. I had a chic London night and an awesome canyon. This really needs to be seen live, words can not explain - the very little thing that distinguishes Apple from the rest.

I won't talk about how to watch videos and listen to music on the new Apple TV - the playback function has not changed in any way from the previous model, you can still play your home collection or your iTunes library of purchased content. I turn to what we will buy a prefix for. Or were going to.

Games on Apple TV that aren't there

It was the disappointment of the century.

I've been waiting years for Cupertino to add app support to their consoles. Unpacking the box, I imagined how I would launch it now or, I’m chasing in a still excellent one.

I end up playing on a 48" TV and thinking.

So, at the time of writing, there are no smart games on Apple TV. There is not a single super hit that could be called "console" with a stretch. The exception is Transistor, which will not appeal to everyone.

Of the interesting things -,. And… everything? Okay, pretty boring. Also re-released. One way or another, there is some kind of gaping emptiness on the main page, and some toys are duplicated in blocks there.

That is, it turns out that Apple even unable to complete home page. I had to use the same one over and over again.

Frustration intensifies when you open the shopping list. It only shows apps and games in your collection that are already compatible with the new Apple TV. In my account with a 7-year history and several thousand purchases for iOS, there were only 9 applications and games.

The verdict is this: there is nothing to play on Apple TV right now. There is not yet a single project that could sell this prefix. An omission that a company like Sony or Microsoft would never have made shows firsthand how Apple falls behind the leaders in the video game market in its own understanding.

What's next?

There is hope for the future. That by the beginning of next year, the best games and unique projects will come to the console, using the capabilities of the console and its remote control to the fullest. But for now, it’s not worth guessing, and the reason for this is amazing: Apple put spokes in its own wheels.

Under the terms of cooperation, developers of software and games for iOS have no right to add to them such functions and features that cannot be played through the bundled Apple TV Remote. And it only has one button.

Do you understand what I'm getting at? It turns out that the creators of any serious, hardcore toys automatically stay on the sidelines: either you have one button + accelerometer, or goodbye.

Thus, until this restriction is removed, cool games will not appear in the App Store for Apple TV - GTA, the same Max Payne. Yes, nothing serious at all. Apple's motivation is clear: they want no one to have to buy anything extra to play any game from the store. Focus on pure casual.

Personally, I think that calculation is wrong. One-tap games (and you can’t do others with such a remote control) will very quickly get bored with their audience, which sooner or later will return to iPhones and iPads - it’s more convenient to suffer nonsense from them, plus you can take it with you. And in the end everyone will lose.

If Apple were smarter, it would, on the contrary, allow you to require a gamepad. It would sell a bunch of accessories. And on the console there would be cool projects that are difficult or inconvenient to play from an iPhone. Such would inevitably give an additional impetus to the sales of such prefixes and, as a result, stimulate the same casual players.

In short, until this stick is taken out of the wheels, I would not count on the gaming future of Apple TV.

By the way. There are no Russian streaming services on the new Apple TV yet. But there will be one day. Where will they go.

Siri, why are you so

If you turn on the Russian language in the settings of the set-top box, Siri voice assistant won't work. Some kind of pure idiocy () when on Russian iOS the same assistant has full functionality. Thanks Apple.

You can, of course, cut in English, be a true gadget addict and tweak your knowledge of the language by chatting with overseas Siri. It is also an option. But uncomfortable. You watch a movie in Russian - and then what to ask? Some kind of light Android brain here, unfortunately.

As a result: for what you need to buy an Apple TV

Impression contrasting. The new console was conceived (and expected) as a ticket to the future for Apple TV - a kind of full-fledged entertainment center with games, modern applications, the largest catalog of music and movies.

In the end she good for all reasons except the main one. Great interface. Awesome remote. Big vision for the future.

But there is nothing to play and run. The best toy is an arcade game from two years ago. And the best app is a selection of culinary video recipes. Everything else will have to wait for about six months, and without guarantees that the situation will improve dramatically.

As a result, now worth buying if:

• you want everything, because Apple;
• Are you willing to wait for Apple to get smarter and allow gamepads?
• you are just ready to buy and wait.

But not worth buying if:

• you just watch movies from iTunes;
• you have everything very tightly tied to the optical output.

The new Apple TV 2015 is an immature product that was not enough to instantly bring the market to its knees. If Cupertino does not abandon it the way they abandoned the App Store for the Apple Watch, in six months we will see a completely different picture. And then let's go shopping.

As promised on Friday, we tell you about 4 with all the details. Why is the Apple A8 set-top box inside, is it convenient to play with the new remote control, why was the optical audio output removed and how to live now, is the new product from Cupertino worth the money and how to win the fourth generation Apple TV from the site and - all this you will find in our review.

So, the fourth generation Apple TV. Once small pet project company, which was intended for very active lovers of the Apple ecosystem, has now become an independent "combat unit". To do this, the Cupertino-based company had to rethink its vision for home consumption of multimedia content.

Apple TV (for simplicity, let's remove all these "fourth generation", "The New" and similar epithets, which in our case do not carry any semantic load) comes in a slightly larger package than before, because due to the increased hardware stuffing of the device, I had to think about powering the device and cooling the Apple A8 processor, two gigabytes of RAM and a dozen more pieces of silicon with long indexes. All this led to the fact that the prefix became, albeit not at times, but noticeably thicker.

Also, you now have to put one more cable in the kit for Apple TV: the new Remote with a touch surface and a microphone for communicating with Siri no longer needs to change batteries, it can be (although we don't know yet how often) charge with a cable with a Lightning plug. If the cable that came with your favorite iPhone has begun to deteriorate - it's time to get an Apple TV!

Actually, you won’t be able to find anything else interesting in the box, so it remains just to connect the Apple TV to the TV, carry out the initial setup and start using it. Only the company refused the optical audio output. The reasons for this act remain unknown to most consumers, so if your receiver is capable of receiving sound only through optics, go ahead to online stores in search of splitters that can provide the new product with the necessary connectors.

Let's say right away that the tvOS app store in its American incarnation looks more interesting at the moment: programmers from across the ocean have already adapted a huge number of applications, including streaming video services, so without your favorite Netflix, hulu or Spanish-language cooking shows, the inhabitants of the North -The American United States will definitely not remain.

As they will not remain without Siri. Yes, the voice assistant is only available on Apple TV to US account holders. True, while Siri on the set-top box is still in beta testing and does not know how much, it can provide information about baseball players and matches in their American “football” properly. And she periodically considers herself the king of the whole world. Siri did not make such confessions on camera, but on the sly managed to capture this strange and highly controversial thesis.

When switching to a native Russian account, the number of applications in the App Store is drastically reduced. Alas, at the time of writing this text and shooting the review, our dear application developers did not bother to create applications for the same, for example, TV channels, although “creation” is a rather loud word, since there is no need to write an application from scratch, only some adaptation is needed. But what we have, we have.

One thing is good: Apple TV has become a really popular product, and if users are not given these very hulu and Netflix, they will put NAS at home, install Plex and will enjoy full-fledged streaming of content obtained on the vastness of the global network. Fortunately, if you believe the reports of foreign journalists and domestic users, everything works fine and does not cause any problems in operation.

Thought about the users and the company itself from Cupertino. Now you can connect wireless speakers via Bluetooth to Apple TV: do you want to listen to music comfortably on some, for example, JBL Charge 2? Easily! Connect a wireless headset to sit in front of the TV, watch a movie rented from iTunes and not disturb the household? Easy! But for what I definitely won’t thank Apple - it’s because the keyboard (also, by the way, from Apple) I could not connect, not one. And this is quite inconvenient in the presence of complex passwords in several accounts.

Yes, the touchpad on the new remote control allows you to use about It is more comfortable to use the search in the same YouTube and similar services than it was possible before with the old remote control, but when you want to use all the features of such a device, you would not want to run into such artificial restrictions.

You will also have to meet restrictions in games. So far - only on the size of the application. We did not analyze the traffic generated by Apple TV, but it would be reasonable to assume that heavy games with a reserve of graphics capable of heating up the hardware of the new product will actively use the network connection - applications take up very little space in the console's memory, up to 200 megabytes, so that if you now buy a modification of the set-top box with a 64 gigabyte drive, then, as they say, "for growth."

Nevertheless, playing on Apple TV is a completely new experience for fans of the console. Yes, at the moment, things have not progressed beyond arcade racing, quests and the like, but here, most likely, the moment of finalizing applications by developer studios affects. There are not so many truly suitable MFi controllers, but control for them should be noticeably different from control using the new Remote (endowed with gyroscopes and, as a result, the skills of the same Wii Remote, for example). The user expects to get a new experience and not give him such an opportunity is to turn the Apple TV into a rather obscure arcade terminal. But iPhone and iPad users have it in stock, they want something new ...

Still, the new Siri Remote saves in games. No, the touch panel has not yet been given the lion's share of the tasks, but the gyroscopes in the races are working in full. Again, there is a sad moment here: if in Asphalt 8 you need to keep the remote “head” to the left, then in other races, less famous - to the right. The tasks assigned to the keys of the remote control change, and it may not be possible to play everything right away: before starting a particular game, the user is waiting for rather boring instructions telling about the correct way to hold the remote control, rotate it in space, press the buttons and the touch panel etc.

Most likely, you just need a week or two in the evenings after work to unload the brain by sitting on the couch with this remote control, and not the usual smartphone, and then it will already be possible to say for sure about the suitability of this remote control for albeit arcade, but active gaming. Well, or get something like a gamepad from Mad Catz, we have already talked about their gaming accessories more than once. All gamepads in a row will not work, and this puts a certain financial barrier. Buy an Apple TV, buy a gamepad, buy headphones to keep an immersive eye on everything… Wait for the games, again. But no, it's not that hard.

The standard operation of this generation of Apple TV is not much different from the previous ones. We have a media library - movies, music, radio stations. There is access to our photo library via iCloud. It would be strange to expect more: the Cupertino company did not introduce new media services that would completely change the perception of the set-top box. The main thing is that nothing was removed. But these things are also to be enjoyed.

AirPlay on Apple TV works. The opposite would be strange. With the iPhone, streaming works great and does not raise any complaints. With Mac OS, standard tools also failed to call any artifacts. It was most interesting to look at the popular Beamer application, which successfully deals with broadcasting all kinds of video files of heterogeneous formats. What can be said? It works, including according to very strange schemes for transferring a difficult mkv file through several transshipment points over a local network.

The new remote, by the way, is trained to be friends with “regular” TVs - you won’t have to reach for the remote from the video panel to adjust the playback volume during AirPlay broadcasting if your TV is not trained to control via HDMI. Just “transmit” commands from the TV remote to the Apple TV once and forget about the pile of various remotes that you have to surround yourself with. It sounds a little incomprehensible, but in practice, and with built-in instructions, it will be easy to figure this out.

Is it worth it to change the Apple TV of the past generation for a new one? Fans - yes, definitely worth it. “To grow” - yes, the new generation of this add-on to the TV has a long and successful, we believe, path on which all the capabilities of the set-top box will be revealed and all the juices of the hardware filling will be squeezed out, as happened before. Is it worth it to upgrade "to be"? Here already, perhaps, everything is not so clear. The old, classic Apple TV features are still there, but if the more compact flat box of the third iteration under the TV is already pleasing to the eye and warms the soul, just wait until the content stops crawling through the eye of the needle. And also go to the store.

And here's what you should definitely do: enter the draw by filling out the elementary Google form below. No complications, no unnecessary gestures. And you (yes, yes, it is you who read these letters) you can become the owner of your own copy of Apple TV 4. We will announce the results of the draw on November 9!

We thank the UP-House.ru store for the device provided for a comprehensive study. Well, if you decide to get a brand new Apple TV - don't forget to tell us that you are our reader when ordering at UP-House and get a discount. Well, we will continue to study this device - too much has remained uncovered, too much for us (and you) to be found out.

• * The subscription price is 199 rubles per month after the end of the trial period. A single subscription to a Family Sharing group. The offer is valid from November 1, 2019 and is valid for 3 months after the activation of the corresponding device. The subscription renews automatically until cancelled. There are certain restrictions and other conditions.

1. Not all content is available in 4K or 4K HDR. To view 4K content, a 4K capable TV is required. Dolby Atmos may not be available for certain movies in some regions. To listen to Dolby Atmos audio, you need a device that supports this format. Playback quality may vary depending on hardware and internet connection speed.
2. Some content may require a subscription to access. Availability is not guaranteed. Some apps are not available in all regions. Application availability is not guaranteed.
3. Access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade requires a qualifying subscription.
4. Game controllers do not work with all games and are sold separately. Availability varies by country.
5. iCloud requires an iCloud-enabled device. Some features require iOS 13, iPadOS, or macOS Catalina. Some features require a Wi-Fi connection. Some features are not available in all countries and regions. Access to some services is limited to 10 devices.

• Dolby Atmos features may not be available in all movies or in all languages.
• Featured content is available on the Apple TV app. Copyright © 2018 Paramount Pictures. Hasbro, Transformers and all related characters are trademarks and copyright © 2018 Hasbro. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Legendary. Copyright © 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. SHAZAM! and all related characters and elements are trademarks and copyrights of DC Comics. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. © 2019 Legendary and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. GODZILLATM and © TOHO Co., Ltd. Copyright © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. LEGO, the LEGO logo, minifigure and configuration pieces are trademarks of The LEGO Group. © 2019 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved. See

Apple TV 4K is a new generation of set-top boxes from the Cupertino company, introduced in early September 2017. A distinctive feature of the device was support for 4K resolution and HDR standard. The cost of a device with 32 gigabytes of permanent memory is $ 179, and a 64 GB modification will cost $ 199.

The key features of the new Apple TV are:

1. 4K HDR support. Thanks to this standard, the image on the screen is more colorful and detailed, and 60 FPS guarantees dynamic scenes. It should be understood that the final image quality depends on the capabilities.
2. Built-in Siri assistant. You can use Siri and voice commands to control your device. Also, the assistant is able to search for information on the Internet and record notes in iCloud.
3. Own app store. The owner of the device can install various applications on the internal flash memory - the 6-core A10X Fusion can handle even the most demanding games perfectly.
4. tvOS 11. This version of the operating system supports changing the day theme to the night one. Other benefits include automatic media player syncing with iPhone/iPad and wireless AirPods.

Set-top box users get the opportunity to convert HD movies previously downloaded from iTunes to 4K format for free.

Specifications

• Processor: A10X Fusion with 64-bit architecture
• Memory: 32 GB2 or 64 GB
• HDMI: 2.0a3
• Wi‑Fi: 802.11ac with MIMO technology;
• simultaneous transmission of data in two bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
• gigabit ethernet
• Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
• IR receiver
• Built-in PSU
• Dimensions and weight: Thickness - 35 mm Length - 98 mm Width - 98 mm
• Weight: 425 grams

4K and HDR

The Four K format is represented by a digital image with a resolution of 4096x2160 pixels. The main characteristic of such a scan is the bright color gamut and clarity of the picture, allowing a person to see the smallest details on a large television screen. To date, the minimum diagonal of displays that support the Ultra HD format is 55 inches - although this rule is not written anywhere, it makes no sense to look for a 4K TV with a smaller screen diagonal on the shelves of modern stores.

Of course, some smartphone manufacturers use UHD resolution in their products, which is an advantage of a mobile gadget only when used with an external monitor. For example, on a 6-inch 4K display, the pixel density will be almost 800 ppi, but it is worth saying that the human eye is not able to tell the difference between images with a density of 300 ppi.

The abbreviation HDR stands for "high dynamic range". Although this standard has a long history in photography and is known to most as a special feature in the mobile camera application, its use in video formats is relatively recent. A distinctive feature of this technology is the increased color depth of the image.

Viewing content in HDR10 or Dolby Vision (high dynamic range varieties) requires special hardware. In 2018, not every major company is equipping their TVs with support for at least the free HDR10 standard due to high production costs.

The difference between Full HD and 4K

The best way to understand the difference between UHD and FHD is to look at two monitors with these resolutions. A 4K display delivers a much sharper picture thanks to four times the number of pixels (2x the width and height). Ultra HD not only increases the contrast of a dynamic image, but also allows the human eye to see more colors.

Streaming 4K video files requires higher bandwidth cables. The popular HDMI 1.4 interface is capable of transmitting content with a resolution of 4096x2160 pixels and a frequency of 30 FPS, but HDMI 2.0 is required to watch video at 60 frames per second. It is worth saying that the dynamism of the picture depends on the frame rate: the higher the FPS, the more natural any action on the screen looks.

It is important that Apple TV supports both 4K and Full HD. The converter built into the set-top box converts FHD vertical and horizontal scans to UHD, multiplying each pixel by 2 and applying special effects to the resulting image. Thanks to the filters, the smoothness of the frame change is increased, so the final result of the conversion does not look “stretched” and “twitchy”. The same thing happens when converting any other format to 4K resolution - the operation simply uses a larger ratio.

Equipment

Apple TV 4K box contains:

• Branded remote control Remote.
• Power cable.
• Lightning-to-USB cable.
• Documentation.

The branded remote control has a touchpad, a Siri start button and “standard” keys for any remote control (volume control, Menu and Play / Pause buttons). Through the touch panel, the user controls the navigation of iTunes and the app store, and the built-in three-axis gyroscope allows you to use the Remote as a controller in games. The main difference between the new version of the remote control and the old one is flat rather than concave buttons: from the point of view of convenience, such a change cannot be called positive, since now it has become more difficult to use the accessory in the dark.

The new generation of the set-top box comes without an HDMI cable: you will have to purchase this accessory yourself. When buying a wire, you should pay attention to its compatibility with tvOS (special marking on the package) - otherwise the operating system will refuse to synchronize the media player and TV set.

Apple TV supports wireless keyboards that let you search iTunes or type in downloaded apps.

Design

The design of the device has not changed much - the device is a black plastic box with compact dimensions of 98x98x35 mm. On the underside of the device there are slots for cooling the system, and on the back - ports for connection. Interestingly, in the fifth generation of the media player, the manufacturer abandoned the USB-C connector: according to rumors, this was done so that users could not access Recovery Mode and self-flashing tvOS. The Ethernet port has been replaced with a Gigabit version - the bandwidth of the old 100-megabit interface is no longer enough to broadcast video in 4K resolution.

On the top cover of the case there is a large logo of the company and Acronym tv.

Setup and connection

The procedure for connecting the set-top box to the TV is as follows:

• The devices are connected with an HDMI cable.
• If the connection is correct, the setup menu will automatically open on the TV display.
• In the "Format" section, the user must select the 4K HDR (60Hz) mode.
• Synchronization of the video player with iPhone or iPad starts from the corresponding submenu. After starting, it is enough to bring a mobile gadget with Bluetooth turned on to the TV set-top box and enter the required code. Further, i-devices can be used as a remote control.

The user can pair an Apple TV with a Mac running High Sierra connected to the same WiFi network through the Xcode utility (the "Pair" button in the "Devices" tab). With the help of a computer, it is really possible to create screenshots from the TV screen.

Pros and cons of Apple TV 4K

The updated set-top box supports such video format technologies as:

1. SDR - low dynamic range. This standard is used in most modern displays and is represented by the usual brightness profile.
2. HDR stands for high dynamic range. Thanks to the extended backlight profiles, the apple media player is able to make any picture more colorful, thereby reducing the number of “blind” zones on it.
3. HDR10 is the first and freely distributed high dynamic range standard, where the color depth is no more than 10 bits.
4. Dolby Vision is the second variety, which is characterized by a color depth of 12 bits.
5. Dolby Atmos is a stereo sound technology that gives the user the impression that sound sources are moving in space.

It is worth saying that support for Dolby systems is the main advantage of the apple video player. No other TV box can boast such color depth and surround sound.

Among the shortcomings of the device are:

• Automatic HDMI cable compatibility check. The system rejects even the highest quality wire and refuses to synchronize the apple device and the TV, in the absence of a special chip.
• The inability to save 4K content to flash memory. Only movies and series in HD resolution are available offline.

It is important that viewing content in 4K requires not only a fast, but also a stable connection: at the slightest signal subsidence, artifacts and pixelation will appear in the picture.

Conclusion

The main disadvantage of the fifth generation Apple set-top box is the high cost and the need to purchase an HDMI 2.0 cable for an additional fee. On the other hand, these costs are offset by the free conversion of previously downloaded FHD content to Ultra HD format. Which, according to the manufacturer, will encourage owners of old Apple TV to buy new devices.

There should be no complaints about the work of the media player: a powerful processor and advanced tvOS provide maximum human comfort when using the device.

Video

So, without undue modesty, Apple is positioning the latest model of the Apple TV 4 set-top box, released last fall. Let's figure out how such statements are justified and what gives the thickened “square puck” the long-awaited support for applications and games, as well as a new control panel with a touchpad, microphones, a gyroscope and an accelerometer.

The first compact Apple TV in the form of a black rectangle 10 by 10 cm with rounded edges came to me almost at the same time as the first flat-panel TV with HDMI-interface and not much later than the first iPhone, “four” - at the end of 2010. I was fascinated by the prospect of getting rid of the then inconvenient media players and “over the air” broadcasting video and music from the iPhone or home PC to the big screen using AirPlay technology.

The problem with the content (it was still far from the launch of the iTunes store with movies and music in Russia) was easily solved: for there were no unfamiliar codecs, any movie downloaded on the Web was easily broadcast from a home computer to a TV with an Apple TV connected, converting it into an understandable one for Apple devices format was carried out on the fly.

In this scenario, the iPhone or iPad successfully acted as a remote control to find, select, and send music, podcasts, internet radio, online TV, or movies to the TV in the living room. But the possibilities were limited to this - the “apps” on the Apple TV home screen were only those that the manufacturing company allowed to appear there. In fact, with the same functions - watch a video on YouTube, "mirror" the phone screen or a browser tab - a much cheaper and more compact one successfully copes today.

With the release of the new Apple TV in October 2015, everything changed - although this is not an iOS device in the full sense of the word, the tvOS operating system is slightly different, but, most importantly, we can now install applications and games ourselves, Apple cloud services are fully supported (for example, iCloud Music Library), and the remote control, unlike the console itself (it only grew in thickness), has changed beyond recognition. And it's not just that it can now be recharged via the Lightning port and the charge lasts for several months.

Remote control and its secrets

Firstly, at the remote control (in the Russian version it is not called Siri Remote, but Apple TV Remote with Touch - Russians are not allowed to use Siri on Apple TV yet) clicky touchpad, which made swipe navigation possible. If you press and hold it when the application icon is highlighted, you can move the application (with swipes) or delete it (with the “Pause” button) - almost like on an iPhone. While entering text, “holding” the touchpad displays a list of additional icons, as well as a delete key - so as not to scroll to it at the very end of the list. Another convenient and non-obvious trick when entering text - a single press of the “Pause” button changes the case.

Secondly, now there is a separate volume control key on the remote control, which allows you to adjust the signal of many TVs, players, projectors using the infrared port in the remote control. Thirdly, two new buttons - "Home" and "Siri". The latter in Russia calls the search interface. But "Home" is also the "key" to the multitasking menu- double-click displays a carousel of screenshots of running applications, you can force them to end with a swipe up. A triple tap, like on an iPhone, turns on the selected “Accessibility” option - it’s convenient to set this action to turn on / off subtitles. A long press puts the device to sleep.

Applications and games: what, how and how much

The assortment of the app store for the new Apple TV, and now, almost three months after the set-top box went on sale, causes mixed feelings. Yes, there are great programs and games out there, but there are far fewer of them than we would like, and the lack of paid software demos limits the freedom of action and makes it difficult to find things that are truly worthwhile. Not everyone will buy each game for 170 - 200 rubles simply on the principle of “what if you like it” or “oh, what beautiful screenshots”.

It is clear that the main interest for any owner of an Apple TV is applications that allow you to watch movies, series and TV broadcasts. In the Russian segment of the App Store for tvOS, applications of some domestic (Amediateka, IVI.ru) and foreign (Netflix) streaming services are already presented. There is also YouTube, RuTube, and even Coursera with its educational video courses.

Those who still prefer free to the convenience of getting content and download movies from torrents (and many tapes are completely impossible to get otherwise) also have plenty to choose from. There are at least three great applications that allow you to play video files in any format from computers (Windows or Mac) or NAS on a local network - AirVideo HD (279 rubles), Infuse (free, but you will have to pay 599 rubles for support of proprietary codecs in the form of an in-app purchase ) and VLC (free, but some codecs may not be supported due to licensing restrictions).

Infuse allows you to play videos on Apple TV in any format and from any device on the local network

Why you need a separate player app for Apple TV, because you can broadcast video from your iPhone or iPad to the set-top box? The key difference is in ease of use - rewinding and searching for the right moment in the film are implemented in tvOS perfectly, simply and conveniently. Moreover, even in films (including those in FullHD resolution) played via Wi-Fi via AirVideo HD, frame-by-frame search from the remote control works smoothly and quickly, without the slightest problem. Swipe down from the top of the touchpad calls up a menu that allows you, among other things, to view information about the file, select subtitles and an audio track with the desired language.

You can jump to the right moment in the movie with just a couple of touches on the remote control,
everything works smoothly, quickly and conveniently

Domestic TV companies, unlike online cinemas, are not in a hurry to launch on a new platform. There are two exceptions at the time of this writing - the Dozhd TV channel (the first month is free, then from 480 rubles per month) and TNT. I want more, at least a free “live” broadcast of the main TV channels.

If video playback was a matter of course on previous versions of Apple TV, then the ability to play appeared only now. What to understand: Not all game genres are equally suited to the new Apple TV, due to the specifics of control using the remote control. In addition, the capabilities of the device in terms of three-dimensional graphics are significantly behind the consoles of the new generation, so we will not see modern shooters or the beauties of the post-apocalyptic world from Fallout 4 on the “apple” console.

This does not prevent developers from successfully and efficiently porting games to Apple TV 4 that are controlled on iOS or Android by simply touching the screen - badland, for example, or Alto's Adventure. racing arcade Asphalt 8 I generally liked it on Apple TV more than on the iPhone - it seemed to me easier and more natural to drive a car with the help of the remote control than to do the same with a smartphone.

Management in Asphalt 8 is carried out simply by tilting the remote

Play quests (for example, the most beautiful Luminocity- there an animated character travels and solves problems in a world made by hand from cardboard, paper and other improvised materials), where you need to control the cursor using the touchpad on the remote control, which is much less convenient.

Conditionally-sports games stand apart, for example, those where you need to wave the remote control to hit a virtual ball or launch a bowling ball. Probably the best product of its kind on the tvOS platform today - Beat Sports, a game from the developers of Rock Band, Harmonix:

In a single version of the game, you have to score points by hitting the ball in a kind of tennis or sending it in time in the right direction in an analogue of baseball. Multiplayer allows you to connect to the fun of visiting friends who have an iPhone - just download the free app Beat Sport Remote in the App Store. I had to pay 599 rubles for the game, but I didn’t regret it - Beat Sports turned out to be an excellent reason to get moving without leaving the house in the cold during the past New Year holidays, and a good way to entertain bored guests.

What can you complain about

This is not to say that the new set-top box came out perfect from Apple. For example, a couple of times she inexplicably “forgot” the Wi-Fi password, although the router settings did not change. In games, especially when loading a new level, the animation is not always smooth, there are jerks - and this despite the use of a rather powerful A8 processor (like in the iPhone 6) and 2 GB of RAM.

You can also try to find fault with Apple's choice of a 100-megabit (rather than gigabit) Ethernet port for the new set-top box - it turns out that Wi-Fi (the latest 802.11 ac standard is supported) will transfer content faster. True, the Ethernet connection is still much more reliable, there are less delays in data transfer, and FullHD video (the set-top box does not support 4K) rarely requires a bandwidth of more than 15 megabits.

There is also no optical audio output available in previous Apple TV models - the problem will have to be solved using an AV receiver or purchasing an inexpensive HDMI to HDMI + SPDIF splitter adapter. Some adapter models even support analog stereo signal output through “tulip” connectors.

And do we need it?

At current prices - obviously not all. Unlike a smartphone or computer, which most people really need, a set-top box is far from being an essential. Apple TV of the new generation can be bought in Russia for 13,990 rubles (version with 32 GB of internal memory, which is used by installed applications) or 17,990 for 64 GB. That is, by adding 6-8 thousand rubles to the price of the top version of the "apple" TV device, you can buy a full-fledged game console of the new generation, which are also good friends with video services, including domestic ones, and even allow you to play many video formats simply from a "flash drive".

Yes, with Apple TV it is very convenient to watch videos from sources available to the device, including a PC on a local network or NAS, you can entertain yourself with games (but there are almost no titles that are really unique in terms of control and game mechanics), you can broadcast any content to your TV from iOS devices or "Macs", or simply "mirror" the screen.

But perhaps only those who, despite the difficult situation in the economy, are still not particularly shy about spending, will be able to pay for the prefix the cost of a new mid-range smartphone or a budget laptop. After all, there are many more accessible, albeit often less convenient, ways to display any content on a TV (even on a “stupid”, not to mention Smart TV with built-in functionality). Justifying the purchase of Apple TV in Russia, where the range and capabilities of the video services and TV channels available on it is an order of magnitude worse than in the United States, is not easy - at least much more difficult than buying also expensive, but effectively solving a lot of really important tasks iPhone or Mac.

At the same time, if you have other Apple equipment in your house, but you still don’t have a set-top box or digital player, then the new generation Apple TV is perhaps the most convenient way to watch on the big screen, bought in iTunes, paid for by subscription online. movie theater or content downloaded from the Web.

The Zova app for Apple TV not only offers a variety of workouts,
but also able to monitor the heart rate during classes using the Apple Watch

And original games like Beat Sports (or sports applications that help in training - Zova, Daily Burn or Streaks Workout) will give you a chance to move and lose calories accumulated while watching movies and TV shows.