WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Where is the remote? 00:00:10.280 --> 00:00:14.560 There it is. One of the minor announcements at Apple Spring Loaded Event 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.520 was the update to the Apple TV. Now that's not as exciting as what comes with the Apple TV, 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:24.800 which is a brand new updated Siri remote. We don't have to use this anymore. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:26.240 Now where'd I put that one? 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:33.080 Ah, there it is. 00:00:34.160 --> 00:00:38.440 The new Siri remote does come with all the available Apple TVs 00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:42.960 like this new 4K model and the remarkably still available HD model. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.340 But if you're already the proud owner of an Apple TV, 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:50.760 you can get the Siri remote on its own for $60. 00:00:50.760 --> 00:00:54.520 That seems a little bit steep. So to find out if it's worth the money, 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:59.060 I'm gonna compare it to the old one and see just how it stacks up. 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:05.700 But to do that, let's figure out what made the old one so bad in the first place. 00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:09.100 The old Siri remote was one of Apple's design failures 00:01:09.100 --> 00:01:15.040 of the last decade, like the butterfly keyboard. The design is a case of form compromising function. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:18.820 With early versions of the remote, people were having troubles telling which way was up 00:01:18.820 --> 00:01:22.020 in dark living rooms, cause it's black and all the buttons look the same 00:01:22.020 --> 00:01:26.240 with nothing really to orient it. They did add a white circle to the menu button to help, 00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:29.720 but that didn't solve the many other problems. 00:01:29.720 --> 00:01:34.380 The touchpad is just bad. You have to move your fingers so much 00:01:34.380 --> 00:01:39.920 just to navigate around the interface. And it goes from edge to edge while being clickable. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.320 So if you do find the remote in the couch cushions 00:01:43.320 --> 00:01:47.400 while something is playing and you don't grab it correctly, you'll pause your video. 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.880 And if you grab it correctly from the bottom, you're grabbing the glossy part, 00:01:50.880 --> 00:01:55.720 which is so prone to smears and hand goop. It never looks good. 00:01:55.720 --> 00:02:00.000 You can clean it, but it's futile because you're going to need to wear white gloves 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:03.840 if you don't want to make it dirty again. There's other stuff too. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:06.840 These volume buttons are convenient, but there's no mute button. 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:11.120 And I can't get it to work with that old receiver there. It charges through lightning 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.400 and the horizontal keyboard on TVOS is really cumbersome. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:20.840 This design is much, much better. 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:25.440 Firstly, it's no longer black, so you can see it on a black sofa. 00:02:25.440 --> 00:02:28.560 It's much thicker and has a curved bottom. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.680 So it's less likely to slip between the cushions and feels much nicer in the hand. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:39.160 Still looks good too. I'd say these design improvements are worth about $15. 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:44.880 Next is the D-pad. This has many benefits. 00:02:44.880 --> 00:02:48.440 Firstly, it's no longer too easy to press the select button 00:02:48.440 --> 00:02:52.720 when grabbing the remote because the button doesn't go to the edge and is clearly defined. 00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:57.360 It works like any other D-pad, but Apple has also kept it touch sensitive, 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:01.200 like the old remote. You can turn that off if you want though. 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:04.480 More interestingly is a circular jog control 00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:10.280 like you got on an old click wheel iPod, though it's not quite obvious how that works. 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:16.520 To use it, you have to pause the video, then rest your finger on the edge of the click wheel 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.720 until a little circular dial shows up on the progress bar 00:03:19.720 --> 00:03:24.200 and then you can swirl away. It's nice, but I think what I want 00:03:24.200 --> 00:03:29.480 is to be able to turn off the swiping gestures while keeping the spinny jog dial available 00:03:29.480 --> 00:03:34.360 with regular D-pad presses, but that'll be just yet another setting too many. 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:41.440 Still, a little disappointing. I'd say that these improvements are worth another $15. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.280 Some other changes of value is the addition of a mute button, 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:54.180 which I would say is worth about $4. There's a power button to turn your TV on and off, $2. 00:03:54.460 --> 00:04:01.780 What was once mislabeled as a menu button is now properly labeled as a back button, $2, 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.940 and the Siri button has now been moved to the side, 00:04:04.940 --> 00:04:08.500 another $2. What won't add any value is the fact 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:13.340 that the keyboard remains one-dimensional and lightning charging persists. 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:16.660 So doing the calculations here, 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:24.660 that comes out to about $40, which is $20 less than the $60 00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:28.300 that Apple asks for the remote. If you already got in Apple TV 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:34.420 and are suffering with the old remote, that's a lot to swallow, but I guess it's better that you can buy it 00:04:34.420 --> 00:04:41.100 as a standalone option as opposed to having to upgrade to a completely new Apple TV for $180. 00:04:43.900 --> 00:04:48.220 And as for that Apple TV, well, the processor's been updated to the A12 chip, 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:53.500 so that should mean it should run a little bit faster for a little bit longer through more OS updates. 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:56.940 Functionality-wise though, all you really get is the addition of HDR 00:04:56.940 --> 00:05:02.140 at 4K 60 frames per second. That's great if your TV supports it 00:05:02.140 --> 00:05:07.460 and the content you watch supports it. And if you're among the few who own a HomePod 00:05:07.460 --> 00:05:10.660 or even two, this new box supports EARC, 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:15.420 meaning you can send audio from your TV through the Apple TV to your HomePods. 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:21.140 Minis will be supported in the fall. At $180 for 32 gigabytes of storage 00:05:21.140 --> 00:05:25.020 and $199 for 64 gigabytes of storage, 00:05:25.020 --> 00:05:28.860 it really is quite expensive in the world of set-top boxes. 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:32.180 In the past, it was a bad option, quite simply because of that remote, 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:36.740 but now it's a little bit easier to justify and less annoying. 00:05:36.740 --> 00:05:39.940 So that means that the final design failure 00:05:39.940 --> 00:05:43.260 that Apple needs to fix is the charging of the Magic Mouse. 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:47.900 Thank you for tuning in to this Mac Address. 00:05:47.900 --> 00:05:52.180 Be sure to like and subscribe. One interesting thing I discovered 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:55.940 is I have this original Apple remote 00:05:55.940 --> 00:05:59.660 and it still works with a current Apple TV. 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:01.380 How cool is that?