The new fifth-generation Apple TV 4K brings impressively sharp ultra HD video to Apple’s set-top box, but what changes has Apple made the internals of its latest Apple TV model?
To answer that question, our friends over at iFixit have carried out a complete teardown of the new device to find out what makes it tick. Or, in this case, quietly whir.
The big change with the new Apple TV is the addition of a fan to stop the device overheating. As iFixit notes, “It looks like Apple merged the new fan with the heat sink/EMI shield assembly from the Apple TV 4th Generation — combining them to form one whopper of a cooling solution.”
The reason for the fan’s addition is that the new 4K HDR compatibility, while offering superior pictures, also greatly increases the amount of heat that’s pumped out.
Apple has a history of avoiding fans wherever possible, but in this case the engineers evidently thought that there was no way around it. Fortunately, it seems that the fan is easily replaceable, which means that should it fail you won’t be left with a failed device.
In addition to Apple’s 64-bit A10X Fusion processor, the teardown also reveals the existence of a Broadcom Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet chip, 3GB of SK Hynix RAM, Murata Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, 32GB of Toshiba flash memory, and a Megachips DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.0 converter.
iFixit rank the device 8 out of 10 in terms of repairability, with the only downside being that all major components are soldered to the logic board, meaning fixing any port problems will require board-level soldering or a full board replacement.
A worthy upgrade
So far, the new Apple TV has been met with favorable responses. Its 4K video is particularly welcome, as is Apple’s decision to allow users to upgrade their previous HD purchases to 4K free of charge.
Are you tempted to buy Apple’s new set-top box? Have you ordered one already? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: iFixit
