AppleTV is a media hub that sits in your living room. Your computer lives in your office. AppleTV lives in your den. Connect it to power. Connect it to TV. Let the wireless do the rest!
Contents at a Glance
Things You'll Need For Your Apple TV
- A TV
The Apple TV is meant to work only with definite types of TVs. Specifically, widescreen, enhanced-definition (ED) or high-definition (HD) TVs able to at least 480p resolution with HDMI, DVI, or part video connections. So in the event you don't have such a set, you may need a brand spanking new TV (see Picking an HDTV for your Apple TV for advice & recommendations).
Although Apple doesn't say so, you can use the Apple TV with a standard definition (480i), non-widescreen TV as long as it's part video inputs. These TVs are not very common, but several readers have e-mailed & posted on our forums that they own them.
Although Apple doesn't say so, you can use the Apple TV with a standard definition (480i), non-widescreen TV as long as it's part video inputs. These TVs are not very common, but several readers have e-mailed & posted on our forums that they own them.
-Audio and video cables
That means you'll require either or cables depending on your particular setup. If your TV has a free HDMI port, an HDMI-to-HDMI cable will over both digital video and digital audio signals from the Apple TV to your TV. Otherwise, you can use an HDMI-to-DVI cable if your TV has a DVI port, or part video cables (high-quality analog cables that split in to parts colored green, blue, and red).
You'll notice that our list of the contents of your Apple TV box didn't include audio or video cables. Apple's come in for criticism from some users because of this, although the plenty of variations on cables available out there doesn't make it feasible to include any with the Apple TV.
XtremeMac's XtremeHD HDMI to DVI cable
The later options don't over audio, so you'll require separate audio connections. If your multimedia stereo technique has an optical digital audio port, use a Toslink cable. Otherwise, standard RCA-style red and white analog audio cables will do the trick. Even those using HDMI might require to make use of a Toslink audio cable as well in case you use your stereo for sound in lieu of your TV (and don't have an simple way to route sound from the TV to the stereo).
Apple had partnered with XtremeMac to sell each of these types of cables at reasonable prices ($20 for each cable except analog audio, which costs $15). The cables are available from Apple brick-and-mortar and online stores. (My colleague Dan Frakes looked at XtremeMac's XtremeHD cable offerings in his Mac Gems weblog.)
You'll notice that our list of the contents of your Apple TV box didn't include audio or video cables. Apple's come in for criticism from some users because of this, although the plenty of variations on cables available out there doesn't make it feasible to include any with the Apple TV.
XtremeMac's XtremeHD HDMI to DVI cable
The later options don't over audio, so you'll require separate audio connections. If your multimedia stereo technique has an optical digital audio port, use a Toslink cable. Otherwise, standard RCA-style red and white analog audio cables will do the trick. Even those using HDMI might require to make use of a Toslink audio cable as well in case you use your stereo for sound in lieu of your TV (and don't have an simple way to route sound from the TV to the stereo).
Apple had partnered with XtremeMac to sell each of these types of cables at reasonable prices ($20 for each cable except analog audio, which costs $15). The cables are available from Apple brick-and-mortar and online stores. (My colleague Dan Frakes looked at XtremeMac's XtremeHD cable offerings in his Mac Gems weblog.)
-Switchers
Speaking of cables, lots of TVs that have the all-digital HDMI connection only have or possibly such ports. If you're already using them for other devices (Series three TiVo or PlayStation three, for example), you're not out of luck. In the event you keep in mind those elderly A/B switchers used to pick which input (usually cable or Atari-like video game method) your TV displayed at a given time, you'll be happy to know that the same thing exists for the modern age. Products such as Kinivo 501BN Premium 5 port High speed HDMI switch with IR wireless remote will let you connect several HDMI devices to your TV and pick which you need displayed.
-Misc
You'll also require a computer as well as a way to connect Apple TV to your network in order to transfer & stream content. That means a Mac jogging OS X ten.3.9 or later or a PC jogging Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack two (Vista is not officially supported currently). Whether you go with a Mac or a PC, your machine needs to run iTunes 7.1 or later.
One time that's all set up, you can directly connect an Ethernet cable to the Apple TV's 10/100BASE-T Ethernet port, or use its built-in wireless (Apple TV supports 802.11b, g, & n). For music streaming, 802.11b might be OK, but g or n are necessary for video streaming. & naturally, transferring knowledge to Apple TV will depend greatly on your connection speed.
Finally, you'll require content. One time you pair the Apple TV along with your computer, you ought to be able to play anything in your iTunes library. That includes music, movies, TV shows, & podcasts downloaded from the iTunes Store. It will also work with AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, & WAV files you've imported yourself, as well as MPEG-4 & H.264 video you've encoded using QuickTime or other apps, & that fall without the supported parameters ( See the Apple TV tech specs for complete details.)
One time that's all set up, you can directly connect an Ethernet cable to the Apple TV's 10/100BASE-T Ethernet port, or use its built-in wireless (Apple TV supports 802.11b, g, & n). For music streaming, 802.11b might be OK, but g or n are necessary for video streaming. & naturally, transferring knowledge to Apple TV will depend greatly on your connection speed.
Finally, you'll require content. One time you pair the Apple TV along with your computer, you ought to be able to play anything in your iTunes library. That includes music, movies, TV shows, & podcasts downloaded from the iTunes Store. It will also work with AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, & WAV files you've imported yourself, as well as MPEG-4 & H.264 video you've encoded using QuickTime or other apps, & that fall without the supported parameters ( See the Apple TV tech specs for complete details.)
Features and Benefits
AppleTV streams. You can bring your iTunes in to your living room by streaming stuff from iTunes on your Mac or PC through your AppleTV to your TV set.
AppleTV does HDMI and Part video. If you have got an elderly TV that still runs with composite connections, you need to think about upgrading to a newer process.
AppleTV has a USB2 and an Ethernet port. Right now the Apple docs say that the USB port is meant for diagnostics and service. But they geeks don't take those kind of footnotes for an answer. If you are looking for speed or don't have wireless, Apple says you can use the Ethernet jack to connect directly to your computer.
Cables are sold separately. You'll must buy your own HDMI or part video cables and any other cables needed for hooking up your Apple TV.
AppleTV outputs a variety of resolutions. 1080i, 720p, 576p and 480p. No 1080p, which was much expected. It does not support HDCP.
You can play your homebrew videos as long as they play on the iPod. The specs say you'll be able to play "H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): 640 by 480, 30 fps, LC version of Baseline Profile; 320 by 240, 30 fps, Baseline profile up to Level one.3; 1280 by 720, 24 fps, Progressive Main Profile. MPEG-4: 640 by 480, 30 fps, Simple Profile". Of work, all of us need to be able to play any video that plays in QuickTime (including DivX, etc), but the AppleTV won't (out of the box) play any video that is not playable on the iPod. But savvy hackers have a fix for that! Read on!
You can listen to audio and see pics on your TV. You don't need outside speakers for the audio.
You don't must buy Apple Extreme. Although the process requirements list Apple Extreme, Apple's docs make it clear that you don't need it. (The process requirements say: "AirPort Extreme, Wi-Fi 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n wireless network6 (wireless video streaming requires 802.11g or 802.11n), or 10/100BASE-T Ethernet network")
It will work in Europe. Apple is very PAL friendly. AppleTV does 576p 50Hz PAL.
AppleTV works with a standard Apple Remote. is included in the box.
AppleTV is tiny and calm! The Apple TV won't take up a ton of space like other home entertainment parts. It is only 7.7" square and one.1" high.
Within hours of the AppleTV being available to buy, it is been hacked. Apart from the obvious upgrade of the hard disk from the measily 40Gb upto 120Gb (and higher), a group of guys have got xVid working on the unit. This enables video with much better compression to be played on the unit. But the hacks don't cease there! How about jogging full blown MacOS on the box?!
Popular Hacks for the Apple TV
Cheap but fantastic program packages for converting very any video format, including DVDs, for use on your Apple TV.
Video Conversion Program
