The newly launched Apple TV 4K (2021) is getting good reviews, especially the new 2nd-gen Siri Remote is a massive hit. To give us an insight into the new set-top box design, features, and experience, Apple vice president of product marketing Tim Twerdahl sat down with Patrick O’Rourke of MobileSyrup. In the interview, the duo discussed Apple TV 4K’s remote, A12 chip, gaming experience, impact on developers, and challenges during development.
The latest 2nd generation set-top box coming with a 4K high frame rate HDR with Dolby Atmos to deliver a cinematic experience. Its A12 Bionic chip delivers faster performance than the previous model.
With eARC beta, Apple plans to make the new set-top box a one-stop solution for a great video and audio experience
Twerdahl explained that the redesigned Siri remote brings the best of both worlds, the old and new, to improve users’ experience like the addition of power and mute buttons, and inner and outer wheels for navigation. The remote has hardware and software changes to deliver smooth performance and improve users’ experience. And most importantly, with the thicker design language, the new Siri Remote will be hard to fall in ouches
“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.”
When asked if the new changes would frustrate developers, Twerdahl said they would not.
We certainly don’t want to frustrate developers. We do think that when you want to play a game, a dedicated game controller is the best experience, and I think most of our developers would agree with that. To be honest, I’m not sure a ton were using the motion APIs available prior to wider controller support.
But, the ability to leverage and MFi controllers or an Xbox or PlayStation controller that so many people already have at home, to take advantage of the amazing array of games we now have — and so much of that’s been driven by Apple Arcade by the way — that we think that the customers who want a game, will get the absolute best experience with a game controller.
Furthermore, Twerdahl said that with the power of the A12 Bionic chip and 4K high frame rate HDR resolution the new set-top box will deliver a great gaming experience for Apple Arcade subscribers. And with the eARC ability to connect users’ TV sets with smart speakers like HomePod via the set-top box, the new Apple TV 4K will become a one-stop solution to great audio and video experience.
We’ve got a beta out for eARC and the ability to have other sources connected to your TV use Apple TV to output to HomePods, and we’re committed to making great audio products for the home.” We recognize that because a lot of people were moving to the Apple TV as the one box they have, having one remote that did it all in terms of powering up and down your system, would be important, so we wanted to add that as well.
Users can order the new set-top box on apple.com for $179 for 32GB and $199 for 64GB. It comes with Siri Remote (2nd generation), power cord, and Lighting to USB cable. The new Apple TV 4K requires TV set with HD capability or better, HDMI cable for HD streaming or Dolby Vision compatible HDMI cable for 4K HDR streaming, and wireless or wired network.
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