When Apple first announced the iTV, back in September, we all assumed that it was just another CE device, much like ElGato’s eyeHome or more recent devices from Linksys. It turns out that this is not true and that the Apple TV is much closer to a traditional computer than previously thought.
According to AppleInsider, the device sports an under-clocked 1.0GHz Pentium-M processor, a 40GB Hard drive, 256MB of memory as well as an nVidia G72M video board with 64MB of video RAM. While the specs aren’t really impressive compared to current laptop offerings, this is as close as you get today if you want to develop a computer that sells for under US$300, doesn’t require a fan [correction: actually the device sports a small fan, however it does not seem to produce a loud noise] and fits in a very small form factor.
This design offers many advantages for Apple. Since it is based on an Intel Architecture, the code developed for iTunes and Front Row can be easily reused. Additionally, in the future, as prices for more recent components continue to drop, the Apple TV can be easily upgraded to support better technologies such as 1080p output and Blue-Ray high-definition DVD playback.
It is clear to me that the Apple TV is basically a low-end Macintosh computer that lacks some features in order to keep the price down and eliminate the need for a noisy fan, an important feature for a device designed to be used in the living room, something that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo seem to be unable to understand.
We may never see Mac OS X (or any other OS) boot on an Apple TV, although I wouldn’t dismiss the idea. After all, hackers have been able to install linux on a WRT54G router and even on the iPod, so why not do the same with this much more powerful device. However, what really struck me was that at a time when Apple has just dropped the word Computer from its name it may have just released the cheapest Macintosh ever.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
If the iPhone runs a version of MacOS X, you can bet the Apple TV does for sure. Heavily cut down yes, but fully featured enough to support network file sharing, streaming video, graphics acceleration and probably a lot more besides.
I can see the MythTV community champing at the bit to get into this thing.
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:52 pm
AppleTV is running OS X, a stripped down version of Tiger, and people have already installed new software on it by pulling the drive temporarily.
The CPU probably won’t be a problem.
The 256M RAM will be. If it wasn’t for that, I’d be tempted to get one for hacking on, because unlike the Intel minis it’s got a real nVidia GPU, not the crippled Intel GMA950.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
[…] Back in January, when few details where known about the new device, I stated that the AppleTV was really a stripped down Mac Mini. Now that the product is available and that some clever hackers have been able to boot a complete version of OSX on the device, it is clear that I was right. […]