To kick off the holiday shopping season, Apple will be holding its October event tomorrow, and the speculation is that new MacBook Pros, a Mac Mini, and AirPods 3 will be announced. There is also a rumor that a completely redesigned AppleTV will also be previewed. The second-generation Apple Silicon processor is also believed to be called the M1 Pro and M1 Max respectively. And users are hoping that a 27" M1 iMac will also be shown. Maybe.
Jerry wants to get a 4K streaming box. Is Apple TV as good as Roku? Leo says yes. But it's also twice as expensive. But he can get a more powerful box, which is important for 4K video streaming. And if he has an iPhone, he will get better AirPlay from the Apple TV, rather than the Roku. But the Roku is a better device for streaming.
Scott got an email this week from a listener who wants to know what's the best way to get over the top streaming? Scott says the best is to use a third-party streaming box like the Roku, AppleTV, or the NVidia Shield. And if you're into gaming, the Shield is the best option for streaming your gameplay. If you're an Apple person, it's probably best to stay in that ecosystem and stick with the AppleTV. There's also FireTV, but it's very Amazon-centric and you get a lot of Amazon ads being promoted.
Jim has a Sony Bravia 4K TV. But he keeps having issues streaming his Apple TV. Leo says that Apple TV can stream up to 30MBps, and that's a lot to cover through WiFi. Leo recommends hardwiring it. That will avoid any congestion. Or pick up a WiFi 6 router. That could make the signal more prolific. If talking about the Apple TV+ software on his Sony Bravia, Leo recommends trying the Apple TV hardware instead. Apps on a Smart TV aren't all that great and are rarely updated. And talk is, that the Apple TV+ app isn't that well-written.
Steve wants to use TV screens to create a large screen photo gallery in his home. Leo says he could use a Chromecast or Apple TV for each TV screen and stream photos from Google Photos. He would also want to join all screens together for one big picture. Leo says that could be a bigger challenge because each TV has to join with the other. A Raspberry Pi could perhaps do it, but you'd have to write custom code to be able to create a Video Wall Mosaic.
Tom recently picked up a new Apple TV. It's his third one. And since it supports Hi-res music, Tom wants to know how it will sound? Leo says that with good speakers or headphones, users with "golden ears" will definitely be able to tell the difference. The music also has to be mixed that way. And even then, those who listen to mp3s and don't really care may not. It all comes down to how he can listen to music. Hint - none of the AirPods will be able to.
Jeff lives in a condo and he has a problem with his neighbor taking over his Apple TV (she has one too). Obviously, a remote from the neighbor's Apple TV is taking control. How can he prevent that from happening? Leo says to go in the settings, under Airplay, and turn it off. Settings->Airplay->Allow Access-> Allow nearby. But that may not prevent the remote from taking over. Leo recommends moving Jeff's Apple TV as far away from the wall as possible. Or, if possible, he could try and place a metal tray or sheet behind it to block the signal.
Scott joins Leo to talk about a huge announcement at the Apple Spring Forward event. It's part of the new AppleTV (TVOS and iOS 14.5 respectively) and it's called automatic color balance. How it works is that users can pair their iPhone X to the AppleTV, and the AppleTV will calibrate your TV to make your streaming image closer to how content has been color balanced. The app will calibrate the color and gray scale by taking the phone and putting it up against your TV, and the forward-facing sensor will then tell the Apple TV to adjust its output based on what it's reading from the iPhone.
John has a 55" Samsung TV that's about eight years old. He also moved away from surround sound to a soundbar. But even though his TV is a smart TV, it won't accept the internet signal to stream. He talked to Samsung and after resetting several times, they decided his chip was defective. Leo says that doesn't mean he'll have to get a new TV. Those smart tv apps are terrible because they are never updated. He recommends getting a ROKU device and plugging that into the HDMI port. Let the Roku handle the stream. But don't get the stick, they tend to overheat.
Mike wants to know how to stream workout videos from his iPhone to his TV. Leo says that using Airplay is great, but he will need an Apple TV to do it. He can connect a phone to the TV directly by using a lightning adapter. But Apple Airplay with Apple TV is the ideal method. Android can also do it if the TV is compatible with it. Samsung, though, tends to only work well with Samsung TVs.
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