What you need to know
- The new Apple TV 4K was released today.
- Tim Twerdahl sat down with MobileSyrup for an interview about the new streaming box.
The new Apple TV 4K came out today and, to celebrate its release, Tim Twerdahl, Apple's vice president of product marketing for home and audio, sat down with MobileSyrup to talk about the new product.
When asked why the company redesigned the Apple TV remote (not that anyone is complaining), Twerdahl said that they saw an opportunity to adapt the remote to the new ways that people are using their Apple TV.
"For example, in Canada, Telus uses Apple TV as a set-top box. Now, here in the U.S., Charter Spectrum does, and as you get more live linear programming, it requires different things from the remote. I think the addition of mute, for example, is really interesting because when you are watching on-demand video, 'pause' and 'mute' are sort of the same thing, but once you've got ad-supported content — once you have sports and things that maybe you don't want the sound on, but you want to keep playing — mute becomes so much more powerful."
One of the main differences between the old and new Apple TV 4K is the inclusion of the A12 Bionic chip. Twerdahl says that, with a 50% performance boost to graphics, the new box is prepared for where developers want to take gaming.
"There are a couple of things. One is we use the power of the A12 Bionic to deliver our high framerate content, which is important as we sort of push more into that. But to your point about gaming — absolutely — it will depend on how different developers take advantage of it. The A12 Bionic gives about a fifty percent increase in graphics performance. So, yes, there's a lot more headroom there for developers to be creative and push the envelope even more."
The executive, when asked about why Apple didn't feature Find My in the new Siri Remote, says that its new thickness means it shouldn't disappear into your couch anymore.
To your point, that is the most powerful out of the home. With the changes we've made to the Siri Remote — including making it a bit thicker so it won't fall in your couch cushions as much — that need to have all these other network devices find it seems a little bit lower.
You can read the entire interview at MobileSyrup.
Minor, but welcome improvements
There's no doubt that the Apple TV 4K (2021) can produce a better picture than the previous model; however, that will only make a difference if you have a TV that can support it. The A12 Bionic inside will make it faster, making Apple Arcade run more smoothly, and the addition of Wi-Fi 6 is nice if you have a Wi-Fi 6 router.
