Armv9, version 9-A specifically, the next-generation instruction set for Arm processors has been announced and… it’s caused some confusion in the Apple community… I think mainly from people just reading Andrei’s article at AnandTech and assuming all of those generics would also apply to Apple in specific… and wow but does Apple just not work that way.
So, joined by industry analyst Ben Bajarin, here's the truth about Armv9 and what it may mean for Apple silicon, A15 iPhones and iPads, M2 Macs, and beyond.
Now let's talk about Apple TV.
To tell you more about what's new with Apple TV 4K, here's Cindy.
And here we go. Is it a new box? Are we getting a new box?
I'm so excited to share with you the next generation of Apple TV 4K. Apple TV 4K is now built with the A12 Bionic, bringing a new level of performance that will be a massive upgrade to your TV.
And they went sort of lower level A12 Bionic. Some of us were hoping for an A12X, at the least. This is not quite that. This has fewer cores, you know, two fewer performance cores, four fewer graphics cores. And I think some of us were also hoping for an A14X which would be like the iPhone chip, what we'd expect to get with a new iPad Pro what's currently in the M1, just to take it to the highest level possible, but that would of course increase the price. So it looks like Apple is going for that more price competitive model, or at least I hope so because with an A12, it's gonna have to be a lot more price competitive.
And with the A12 Bionic, the new Apple TV 4K can now play HDR in high frame rate. This allows video to play more smoothly and appear more lifelike than ever before.
So Apple's doing high frame rate HDR. I think they're suggesting it's 60 frames per second. There were some hints, some rumors that it'd be 120 frames per second. You could go up to 240 frames per second, 480 frames per second, as far as I'm concerned. That gets too expensive and it's not possible with modern technology, but we still have a lot of headroom in terms of what the human eye can really discern here. It's not like resolution. We haven't hit the physical limits of what we need yet.
With our new color balance feature, Apple TV will work with your iPhone and its advanced sensors to improve your TV's picture quality. Your iPhone uses its camera and proximity sensor to guide you to an on-stream target. Color measurements start automatically.
This is a cool feature though. The more that Apple can automatically do these things, the more that Apple can do things like set the color, set the sound, those sorts of convenience things that has been one of the hallmarks of Apple over the years.
[Cindy] Apple TV uses the light sensor in your iPhone to compare your TV's color balance to the industry standard specifications used by cinematographers worldwide.
When they're not competing on, the joke was, a lot of other companies bring specs to an experience fight and Apple really stays focused on the experience.
Using this data, Apple TV will then automatically tailor its video output to compensate for any inaccuracies in your TV's picture settings. So you'll now see much more accurate color without you ever having to adjust your TV. The results can be dramatic with more natural colors and improved contrast.
And it had true tone on the iPhone, the iPad, the Mac for a long time. This isn't quite that. This setting is maybe even better than this. Maybe I want this on all my Apple devices.
Of course, the way you interact with Apple TV is with the Siri remote. So this year we completely redesigned it with new functionality and controls.
And yes, we have a new Apple TV controller.
It starts with a new one-piece aluminum design that fits perfectly in your hand.
Decracking the interface with the touch pad on the original Apple TV remote.
And with contrasting controls, you can easily find and hit just the button you want.
I think it didn't really manifest. It won't turn out the way they hoped.
[Cindy] We also have a brand new clickpad with five-way navigation for better accuracy. And the entire clickpad is touch-enabled, preserving the fast directional swipes users love.
So now you have basically a D-pad and a touch pad integrated which is great because sometimes you just need that precision.
And we did something pretty cool with the outer ring. We've given it a new circular gesture that turns it into a jog control.
You know, especially for apps that are poorly coded like the YouTube app, where you try to swipe once tab right and ending up going two or three tabs right every frustrating time.
It now has a power button that controls your TV's power and another for mute. And we've moved the Siri button to the side, just like on your iPhone.
Siri button on the side now. So it's bigger, it's thicker. It is way easier to determine what is the top and what is the bottom. It's aluminum again, the way the original Apple TV remote was. It actually has a vibe, a nostalgic vibe to that original Apple TV remote.
[Cindy] It will be available for $179 with 32GB or $199 with double the storage capacity.