Exclusive: Upcoming Apple TV loses 1080p playback, gains apps... and will be renamed iTV
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted August 11th 2010 3:56PM
posted August 11th 2010 3:56PM
Oh, and there's one more thing -- Apple will be officially changing the name of the device to iTV, abandoning the current moniker in favor of something a little more in line with its current iOfferings. Interestingly, that was the name of the Apple TV when it was originally announced by the company, so it appears Steve and friends aren't so much moving forward as going back to their innocent, untainted roots. Regardless of which direction the company is heading in name-wise, we can likely expect a full reveal sometime in the Fall... so hang tight.
Update: To clear up any confusion, the loss of 1080p is in reference to the previous information we had (linked above, and here) about the new Apple TV -- not in reference to the current Apple TV.
If NO 1080p then NO dice!! thumbs down apple.
What this *should* be:
-1GHz Apple A4
-512MB RAM
-32GB or 64GB internal flash
-Full version of iOS 4
-USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, Digital Optical, Ethernet
-SDXC card slot
-802.11n & Bluetooth 2.1
-1080p output
-Internal power supply
Basically a Mac Mini, minus the high end processor, larger amount of memory, hard drive, optical drive, and a full operating system. I think $200 (32GB) $300 (64GB) is reasonable. Instead it seems like they're trying to make a $100 bare bones piece of shit, which I think is a mistake.
If you think Apple TV sales have been slow now at $230, just wait. I think this is a complete joke, regardless of sales demographic.
The problem with many of the comments above is this. Apple has proven that they do not have to put out the latest and greatest technology for people to buy it. They just have to make it work in a seamless manner.
1080p 250g HD etc., may mean zilch to the common man out there. Additionally at $99, many may be willing to take a look at the device. What many of you are getting wrong is the fact that the user experience remaining seamless is the driving factor for Apple's purchases. It is something that Google is only beginning to learn about now.
@LDD Not when you can pay $150-200 and get true 1080p, 5.1 DD, Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, Live TV, Apps, Radio, 1080p HD movie streams, iTunes like music store, video chat, voice chat, Media Center, 60GB HDD etc etc etc.
I'd personally rather they sell an iPhone 4 dock with HDMI out and an "iTV" app that does all this. That said, I'm looking forward to getting whatever they replace the current apple tv with.
Here's what I want to know: If they're really doing this, how are you going to interact with the apps? Are they going to make some sort of remote with a infrared pointer like the Wii remote? Are they going to stick a gyroscope in a regular apple remote?
I wonder what the "one more thing" will be
Media Center and Xbox 360 over this anyday of the week!
@timotim For you maybe. Any idea how many people would bother with your setup? A few thousand geeks. Apple could sell 100's of thousands of these.
You guys REALLY don't get it do you?
@timotim or PS3 with Blu-Ray and TVersity...anyway, Apple is pushing last year's (last 5 years) tech and fanboys lap it up
@wilvo
I get that for whatever reason, you have chosen to be a fan of a corporation in much the same way that a normal person is a fan of, and roots for, their favorite sports team.
@wilvo I love it when techies rush to the defense of the common folk's aid. This isn't a common folk site... this is a tech site, so expect most views to come from a techies perspective. However, even if you take Media Center out of the quastion... the 360 could still do EVERYTHING this box could do and much more... theirs still apps (Netflix, Zune, Bing, Last FM, Facebook etc), theirs still a music and video store (Zune Marketplace with 1080p instant on streams with 5.1 SS and Zune Pass), Some of the best block buster and casual games on the planet (Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, Fable, Zuma, Pacman, Castle Crashers etc) and other features (video chat, voice chat, Xbox Live, Kinect, rumble feedback, etc... all around the same price point. Just look at Media Center (Live TV, radio, Media Browser, Sports lounge etc) as the icing on the cake.
@wilvo I love it when techies rush to the defense of the common folk's aid. This isn't a common folk site... this is a tech site, so expect most views to come from a techies perspective. However, even if you take Media Center out of the quastion... the 360 could still do EVERYTHING this box could do and much more... theirs still apps (Netflix, Zune, Bing, Last FM, Facebook etc), theirs still a music and video store (Zune Marketplace with 1080p instant on streams with 5.1 SS and Zune Pass), Some od the best block buster and casual games on the planet (Halo Reach, Gears of War 3, Fable, Zuma, Pacman, Castle Crashers etc) and other features (video chat, voice chat, Xbox Live, Kinect, rumble feedback, etc... all around the same price point. Just look at Media Center (Live TV, radio, Media Browser, Sports loung etc) as the icing on the cake.
Maybe apple should just come out with a tv and apple tvs
iTV as a name could well be challenged legally in the United Kingdom because of ITV (Independent Television), the commercial service provided set up to give competition to BBC. There is also the commercial television production company, ITV plc, which will have something to say. I covered this earlier today:
http://www.macfilos.com/2010/08/apple-tv-new-itv-name-will-cause-upset-in-uk.html
I regularly render my HDTV content at 720p. Looks great on my 1080p set.
Not sure of copyright, etc., but iTV may not be infringing on ITV. iTV stands for nothing, and there's a lower case i. ITV is like the TV networks, three initials, all upper case. Do you "get" ITV? Do you buy a little "iPhone"-sized thingie and it's in there?
@Swift2001 "Not sure of copyright, etc"... clearly.
ok, so you won't get true HD quality, but at least you can buy the fart app.
...and no porn of course ^_^ in true HD
I cannot see it actually being called iTV what most are missing is that in 2007 when they launched AppleTV it was called iTV then when actually launched it was called AppleTV, I wonder why!
Arguments about size of company miss one valuable point, Cisco owned trade marks on names which Apple basically payed to use or bought off Cisco, ITV is the company name its not the brand for a product like Cisco had.
Apple will only call its product iTV if ITV let it and I'm sure at considerable cost.
I remember when Jurassic Park came out London Underground did an ad campaign using a similar font and using dinosaurs taking illegally parked cars away, Universal/Amblin threatened to sue for using they trade mark, London Underground replied go ahead if you want we will counter sue for copying our logo, strangely nothing happened and universal apologised, and payed the legal costs.
Apple will have to play nice, but have to say Apple have always infringed trade marks even there name and logo was a rip off of the beatles company logo and name.
iTV was the name of one of Chuck Moore's companies.
No 1080p?!?! What a bag of agony!!!
Is this device aimed at developing countries or something?
@cheesymogul i hope this is a joke.
I can't believe that thing ain't dead yet. 1080p wouldn't save it. apps won't save it. It is yet another failed settop box. give it up apple.
I could bitch about the name and how stupid it is, but fuck it, they'll sell a fuckload.
Why apple thinks I need over 900px width in a 3.5" iphone but thinks 1080px width is more than enough for my 60"tv. No thanks apple. Even youtube is going 4k and apple won't even give me 2k
Welcome to 2002! Apple fails again.
don't think lack of 1080 is such a big thing - movies take sooooo long to download at that resolution you have to think about what you want to watch hours in advance!
also ITV are so commercially screwed in the UK I am sure they'll accept an apple cheque to solve the name dilemma!
First, this headline is completely erroneous. Current tech specs (http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html) confirm AppleTV is already 720p, so there's no loss.
Secondly, what's wrong with all you people? ABC TV broadcasts all its HD at 720p, and it looks plenty fine (think Lost). I bet many of the same people dumping on Apple for not wasting everyone's bandwidth with 1080p when most people won't see a difference with it are also those playing 128 kb MP3s over expensive stereo systems.
$99 bucks for a streaming set top box capable of handling my Lossless iTunes library, playing games better than the Wii and movies at high quality? Count me in if it's what I expect.
If that 99 price tag sticks, color me surprised. Apple? a reasonably priced device? Oh, my. is that the sound of hell freezing over?
The "update" offered is ambiguous. You should spell it out, perhaps like this
"The current AppleTV cannot output 1080p, so when we dishonestly say the device 'loses' 1080p, we're really saying that the rumored-model's specs now appear to have changed, and a feature which was RUMORED to be added to a future model no longer will be. Yes, our original headline effectively slanted the facts to boost page views, a tactic which was very effective. Thanks to all the Engadget readers and commenters for being the feckless suckers we've always known you to be. Signed, Engadget editorial staff."
@Perspective
True. The update made me think the current Apple TV had 1080p playback.
It's DOA without NetFlix and/or Hulu. Period.
iFail at playing 1080p video.
I can't believe it took more than 7 hours for someone to notice that the current Apple TV can't output 1080 video either. Massive fail on you guys!
Actually I predicted the AMD Ontario to be the perfect match for Apple TV, as it would be able to run the 1080p output people expect from a high end TV box, or at least they would use a nVidia ION setup with a Atom CPU. After all the Apple TV software was made to run on x86 devices. But going with the Apple A4 I don't think it's the need to have an upgrade path that keeps them from going above 720p, but rather that the chip can't output such high resolution.
For those who want an Apple'ish TV box I would recommend waiting for the Boxee Box by D-Link. It got a stronger dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU coupled with nVidias Tegra 2 chipset allowing it to output 1080p if that's what you want. On the software side it seems like it's a match for the usability associated with most Apple devices and has Applications as well.
Sooo who cares about the trademarks on names and 1080p (which it will be able to process anyway).
My question is, are they basically giving no love to your home library of music/videos/etc. I'm not talking about streaming from my computer through the iTV but about allowing me to simply plug in a storage device and stream from that. Without access to my home library of media there's no way I'll be picking one of these up. Looks like Boxee Box for me.
This excites me because of the potential it might open up for other consoles. If this and/or GoogleTV is successful, maybe Microsoft will open up a marketplace for app development on XboxLive. Designing for Xbox, PS3, or Wii with the types of things you can do with those controller would be hot. The possibilities of augmented reality shows - overlayed data, previous episodes or clips in a sub-pane, lots and lots of possibilities. ESPNs contract with xbox is a start in this direction. It's a great time to be a designer! Nice stuff.