Why do you need an Apple TV set-top box and how to use it

The fourth version of Apple's television multimedia set-top box was introduced in September last year. It would seem that the engineers of the company from Cupertino can come up with something new and pleasant for the user that is special for the Russian user? Our market is already crowded with “smart” TVs.

But Apple wouldn't be Apple if it didn't make one of the best entertainment machines in the world. Below is a list of situations why you'll love the 4th generation Apple TV.

If you like a laconic interface

Modern SMART-TVs have good functionality, but in terms of convenience, most of them leave much to be desired. It’s especially sad about the logic of the software of such “smart” TVs presented on the Russian market.

At the same time, the Apple TV software interface is fast and intuitive, without causing any difficulties or questions. Most applications resemble their iOS counterparts. Even a child can figure it out, no more “abstruse” Korean interfaces.

AirPlay

This is a software and hardware option developed by Apple. It allows you to broadcast audio and video streams to connected devices. In many ways it is similar to Miracast, but the functionality of the Apple product is more rich.

The main difference is the ability to control connected equipment from the cloud, using a remote control or even an iPhone.

The latest version of AirPlay allows third-party devices to connect to the network. Why programmers added this loophole, you can guess if you take into account the possibility of equipping the Smart Home system with devices from other companies.

If you're tired of complicated SMART-TV remotes

No matter how hard Japanese and Korean engineers try, they cannot make an equally convenient remote control for SMART-TV, which is in the box with Apple TV.

A convenient touch panel with a matte surface allows you to control the console with simple swipes, familiar from iOS devices. A minimal number of buttons complete the picture.

In addition, the remote control has an accelerometer and a gyroscope, which diversify the gaming experience.

The remote control itself is charged via a Lightning cable (included), no more buying batteries. The battery will last for several months on one charge.

Specifications

The hardware of the devices is standard, but for this group of electronics it seems redundant:

At the same time, the USB-C port in Apple TV HD is used only in service centers for engineering diagnostics. It is impossible to connect any user devices, such as an external drive or flash drive, to it.

Information: the housings of the 4th and 5th models differ in appearance only in the USB-C port, and the remote controls differ in the white rim around the “Menu” button.

Both devices have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules. But in Apple TV 4K the bluetooth specification is 5th generation. The information transfer speed reaches 4 Mb/s. This allows you to simultaneously use wireless accessories with minimal latency, which gives an advantage in gaming mode.

Branded processors in the most severe operation mode work without the slightest delay or freezes.

The Apple TV HD model supports only FullHD resolution, and the 5th generation media set-top box works in UHD 4K video format (2160p).

If you consume licensed content

Are you a longtime iTunes supporter with a large database of purchased movies and music? Apple TV easily downloads all previously purchased media content. You can also rent movies and TV series easily and conveniently. No torrents or pirates, everything is transparent and convenient.

It's time to get used to paying for the content you consume. Russia has long been on the path to a civilized media market.

Buy Apple TV and accessories:

• for 32 GB for 13,990 12,990 rub.
• for 64 GB for 17,990 rubles.
• Apple TV Remote for RUB 5,890.

Everything about the Apple TV+ service: what to watch and what to watch on

On November 1, the Apple TV+ video streaming service began operating with several exclusive series. All of them are available under a single and, moreover, inexpensive subscription: 199 rubles per month. And owners of iPhone 11 (any version) will be able to use Apple TV+ for free for a whole year. We don’t know whether it will become a serious competitor to Netflix, but we answer the main questions about the service itself.

Where and how to watch

Overview of the Apple macOS Catalina operating system
The most important thing: to access the service, you must install the latest version of the Apple operating system. In the case of iPhone this is iOS 13, on iPad - iPadOS, on computers - macOS Catalina, on Apple TV - tvOS 13. Unfortunately, nothing will work without updating.

In our review of macOS Catalina, we told you that instead of the previous iTunes application, there are now three applications, one of which is Apple TV. This is where you need to subscribe. Likewise on all other devices.

However, it's important to understand that this app isn't just for Apple TV+, but for all video content from the former iTunes store. Therefore, in addition to subscription series, there are individual movies for a fee, and your library, which includes past movie purchases on iTunes. The screenshot below shows several Apple TV+ projects (they have corresponding icons), but there is also “The Lion King” (it has nothing to do with the service, you need to buy it) and “Mad Max” (it has already been purchased and is also not associated with Apple TV+). The “Up Next” menu is what we have already started watching (it doesn’t matter whether this content is from Apple TV+ or not, and whether it was watched on this device or on another).

All this is true for mobile devices. Although on the iPhone at first you may get the feeling that TV+ has literally taken over everything. But if you scroll down, there will be regular movies from the store.

An important point: through Apple ID, information about your views is synchronized across all devices. So you can start watching on your smartphone, then continue from the same place on your laptop, and finish on your Apple TV media player. In addition, on any of your devices you can download the series and watch it offline.

However, it is worth considering that each series can “weigh” several gigabytes. And, for example, the one and a half hour documentary “Queen of Africa” - more than 7 GB. Therefore, downloading may not be the most rational solution. Rather, it is needed for those who want to take a few episodes on a trip or like to watch TV series on the way to work or home.

What to watch

What is the content itself? What is the range of films and TV series? So far, at the start, the choice is very small: one documentary - the already mentioned “Queen of Africa” - and seven TV series, each of which has several episodes available (at least three).

It’s interesting that the series are completely diverse and designed for different audiences. “The Morning Show” is a poignant drama about a popular TV presenter (Jennifer Aniston), whose TV partner was accused of sexual harassment. Viewers will find behind the scenes of the TV world, intrigue and total cynicism. “For All Mankind” is a story about an alternate reality where Soviet cosmonauts landed on the moon and the space race continued. “See” is a spectacular post-apocalyptic saga starring Jason Momoa. According to the plot, after a global epidemic, only two million people survive on the planet, and they lose the ability to see, and the achievements of progress are gradually forgotten, so that a century later, humanity finds itself thrown back into the Stone Age.

“Ghost Messages” is an adventure story about a schoolboy whose parents work in a bookstore, and all sorts of miracles begin to happen there, while the boy tries to solve his problems in a new class. While "The Morning Show" and "See" are aimed at an adult audience, "Ghost Messages" will appeal to middle school-aged viewers. And older children, teenagers, may be interested in the series “Dickinson” - an ironic costume film about the 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson. The main role here is played by Hailee Steinfeld, known for the films “True Grit” by the Coen brothers and “Bumblebee”. And, in fact, this is a typical teenage drama about rebellion against adults and one’s environment, attempts to find oneself and conquer the world. The actors, however, overact, but, in general, it is suitable for high school age.

There are also two projects for very little ones: “Helpers ” and “Snoopy in Space” . In the first, puppets in the spirit of “Sesame Street” and real actors act, in the second, everything is drawn. It’s difficult for me to evaluate them, but my seven-year-old son was skeptical about both series: even for younger schoolchildren, they are already boring. But “Helpers” is so far the only project on Apple TV+ with full Russian dubbing. All other Russian-speaking viewers will have to watch with subtitles. Even Snoopy in Space.

Perhaps, of all that is currently presented on Apple TV+, the most impressive work is The African Queen . This is a truly magnificent documentary about a herd of elephants, which their leader - the elephant Athena - leads across the vast African expanses in search of the best place to live.

On the one hand, there is amazing wildlife footage here - from huge elephants, which you can see in such detail (you can't help but fall in love with them), to tiny East African frogs, mantises, chameleons and other jungle inhabitants. On the other hand, this is not just a documentary in the spirit of Animal Planet, but a touching story, a whole drama with many branches and colorful characters.

What's under the hood

All content presented on the service is played in 4K. Moreover, if the Internet connection is not fast enough, the quality automatically decreases. In case you download the episode to your computer, it ends up at the following address: Macintosh HD/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/TV Shows/series name/season number/episode file.

If you download a movie (for now there is only one on Apple TV+, but others will appear later), then its address will be slightly different: Macintosh HD/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Downloads-TV/movie title . And here's what's interesting: the file format is now HLS Video. It can’t be played by any player other than Apple TV+, and we couldn’t even get information about the resolution, codec and other parameters, either using built-in or third-party means.

The HLS Video file can be opened as a package, and the contents are quite interesting. There are a huge number of folders inside, but almost the entire volume is made up of the first one. It contains many approximately identical files with the .frag extension.

Apparently, those that weigh 10-15 MB are just pieces of video. And the rest are auxiliary files. In another folder there is a similar number of many times smaller files: apparently, this is sound. Why the files in the remaining folders are needed is a mystery.

Please note that some movies previously purchased from iTunes will still download in good old M4V. The screenshot below is the “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” file, which was uploaded at the time of writing this article.

But, for example, the latest “Mad Max” is also in HLS Video. We can assume that this is a file format designed specifically for 4K content.

Strictly speaking, the average user, of course, does not care in what format what is downloaded there, since it was impossible to freely transfer files between devices before: iTunes content has always been well protected from any unauthorized use. But in this case, from the researcher's point of view, the problem with HLS Video is that we cannot get any information about the video. By the way, you can't take a screenshot during playback on Apple TV, no matter what device you're using. More precisely, you can formally take a photo, but instead of a frame you will see a black screen.

The only way to roughly estimate the bitrate, for example, is to simply divide the file size by the duration of the movie/episode in seconds (well, multiply by 8 to get megabits from megabytes). However, you can notice that the volumes vary greatly. An hour and a half movie is more than 7 GB, and an hour episode is less than 3 GB. In general, everything is very individual.

Subjective impressions of the video quality are very good. In “Queen of Africa” the picture is simply amazing - it is so detailed and expressive. “Dickinson” and “See” look great. “For All Mankind”, “Ghost Messages” and “The Morning Show” are a little less impressive - the video sequence itself is simply more boring. But there are no complaints.

Overall, we can say that Apple is setting new quality standards for streaming services: 4K and no compromises.

How much does it cost and who needs Apple TV+

Apple TV+ costs 199 rubles per month in Russia, before which a free seven-day trial subscription is available (but if you don’t like it, don’t forget to cancel it, since after a week the money for the first month will be debited automatically). For owners and future buyers of new iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, iPod touches and Apple computers, the service will be free for a year. And you don’t have to do anything - the system automatically gives you the opportunity to sign up for an annual subscription. The service will be free for those who have an Apple Music student subscription.

But if we still proceed from the cost of 199 rubles per month, then is this a lot or a little? It all depends on whether you like at least one of the series currently presented on the service. If you find one, the price will be justified. Still, one new movie on iTunes is already more expensive. And here are several episodes at once. A huge plus is, of course, multiplatform and convenience. The downside is the lack of Russian-language voice acting (except for “Helpers”). But the cornerstone is still content.

True, it will be replenished. Several more films and TV series are promised in the near future. Of these, judging by the announcement and the names of the creators, the thriller “Servant” by M. Night Shyamalan looks the most promising. The problem with everything else is the clear emphasis on the American audience and its problems. We are promised the following stories: “the trendy true crime podcasts taking over America are forcing us to think seriously about media ethics and the boundaries of privacy,” “a series based on the true stories of the lives of immigrants in America,” “two black entrepreneurs try to circumvent the racial restrictions of the 1950s.” 's, providing mortgage loans to African Americans in segregation-era Texas," "the main character tries to find a balance between the ordinary life of an American teenager and the realities of a traditional Muslim family" ...

Is any of this impressive? Would you like to see it? Of course, everyone has their own tastes, but for now I would like to classify both announcements and already released projects, rather, into the category “you can look at it at your leisure if nothing more interesting comes along.” However, this is just the beginning. Even at the presentation, projects by Spielberg and JJ Abrams were promised, and such authors do not waste time on trifles.

In general, if you have Apple devices and are interested in foreign TV series, and the prospect of watching with subtitles or in English does not bother you, sign up for a trial subscription and watch at least parts of Apple TV+ projects. Well, “Queen of Africa” - in its entirety. And then decide whether to pay 199 rubles or whether it’s better to wait for a fundamental expansion of the range.

If you are a music lover in life

The Cupertino company's set-top box allows you to conveniently listen to music through a proprietary application. Apple streaming service with cool playlists, new albums and interesting selections on board.

Plus, you can easily connect wireless speakers to the set-top box via Bluetooth. Convenient and logical solution.

For those who like to sing themselves, you can download appropriate applications with a karaoke function. What Russian doesn't like to sing after or during a noisy feast?

How much does it cost and where to buy

This generation of gadgets is presented in two versions - 32 and 64 GB. You can purchase the set-top box in the following places:

• Yandex.Market - price for the 32 GB version - from 11,500 rubles, for the 64 GB modification - from 12,900 rubles;
• M.Video - the price of a 32 GB set-top box is from 12,000 rubles, the cost of the 64 GB version is from 15,000 rubles.

There are other stores too. The price in them also varies and depends on what price the owner of the organization sets.

It is possible to buy older versions of devices; their price will be slightly lower. It is also necessary to take into account that there is a paid subscription and a free trial version. You can use the trial version first and only then upgrade to the paid version if you like the features.

If you want fun

The App Store on Apple TV boasts its own catalog of games and programs.

Gamers will find something to play, fans of various videos, TV shows and the creativity of bloggers will install the RuTube and Youtube applications, fans of TV series will find branded applications of the video services ivi.ru and Amediateka.

Overall, Apple TV makes for a fun evening with your family or friends.

Media content quality level

One of the most powerful magnets that attracts consumers to Apple products is the highest quality. But in this combination several conditions came together:

1. Productive hardware for the media center.
2. High quality content.
3. Full software.
4. Innovative technologies introduced into tvOS.

As a result, the user receives video of the highest quality, with elaboration of the smallest details, and this is surrounded by Dolby Atmos sound!

The Dolby Atmos sound system was developed in 2012 for cinemas. It provides for the use of up to 128 channels of audio stream, with software distribution and adjustment of the volume of each individual sound to a specific audio speaker.

To improve image quality, the Apple TV firmware integrates the HDR (Dynamic Range) function.

The HDR function makes it possible to change the brightness of individual elements within one picture. Dark areas become darker, light areas become lighter. The same applies to the color palette. As a result, the clarity of the image increases so much that all the characters on the screen that were previously blurry become readable.

All this splendor, Apple TV can broadcast to the local network for reception by third-party devices.

And what is especially important is that the media center can play files of absolutely all current formats. Regular software updates are responsible for this.

If you have your own movie database

If you have a large collection of films on your computer, you can stream it to your TV without any problems (read: without copying to flash drives). Simply set up Home Sharing to access your local iTunes media library on your computer.

In other words, you can easily stream your screen with sound from your computer.

Set-top box capabilities

The user of the set-top box will be able to use the following functions and capabilities immediately after activating the device:

• gaining access to a library of high-quality video content, which is located on special platforms;
• transferring a multimedia product to the TV display from a smartphone, tablet, player, as well as other devices that run Windows or Mac OS;
• the subscriber also gets access to a large storage of tracks, podcasts, video games and images.

The equipment operates based on streaming content.

Manufacturers have included a very limited amount of built-in memory in the latest device models. This is why it is recommended to store information in the cloud or on storage media, such as flash drives or external hard drives.

There are also other possibilities:

• access to special Apple platforms and iTunes;
• there is a Siri voice assistant function;
• the set-top box is equipped with support for AirPlay development, which allows you to transfer audio and video content from a tablet, phone or computer to this device and back;
• supports Remote for iOS and watchOS;
• There is a HomeKit ecosystem management function.

The system broadcasts video content not only from iTunes, but also from YouTube, Netflix, Flickr 7. All recordings are in 4K HDR quality.

Removing Kodi to the background

Since we used the ready-made OSMC operating system with Kodi on board, which is intended primarily as a media center, Kodi starts automatically when the system starts. But if our Apple TV will only serve as a torrent client, then we don’t need Kodi. We already have limited hardware resources, and this is a great opportunity to free them up at least a little.

The creators of this OSMC build followed the same path as us - through the systemd subsystem. The unit responsible for running the Kodi media center is /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/mediacenter.service.

Removing Kodi from startup

sudo systemctl disable mediacenter

Thus, on our Apple TV we only have a Linux console. And this gave us the opportunity to free up no less, but as much as 150 MB of RAM. Don't forget that it is only 256 MB. So this is a good result. The load on the processor also dropped.

System load when idle and when Kodi media center is stopped

We did not remove Kodi, but only prevented it from starting with the system. If necessary, you can always start it manually:

sudo service mediacenter start