Apple TV

Print

Email

Bookmark

Share

Connectivity
The Apple TV has a decent set of network and A/V jacks crammed onto its backside, but it's by no means comprehensive. There are two video output options: Component (red, green, blue) and HDMI. If you connect to a TV or an A/V receiver via HDMI, that single cable will handle video and audio. Otherwise, audio can be output via analog stereo (red and white RCA jacks) or optical digital. The dearth of composite and S-video connectors means that the Apple TV is not just HD-friendly, it's pretty much HD only--if your TV can't support a 480p (enhanced definition), wide-screen image or better, you can't use Apple TV. While we're all in favor of future-proofing, a little backwards compatibility would've been nice, too.

The entire backside of the Apple TV is jammed full of ports--but none for connecting to older TVs.

Apple TV is the first digital media adapter we've seen to include built-in support for 802.11n wireless networking. That's the latest--and fastest--iteration of the Wi-Fi standard. Designed to support speeds of up to 200Mbps, the 11n standard is fast enough (on paper, at least) to deliver the high bandwidth required to stream high-def video. The device will still interact with older wireless standards, but don't expect 802.11g, and especially 802.11b, networks to reliably stream video. Thankfully, an Ethernet port is present for those who prefer to bypass wireless altogether and opt for a wired connection instead.

Apple TV also includes a single USB 2.0 port on the rear, but it's currently just a service jack--meaning it lacks any consumer application for the time being.

Because the Apple TV doesn't have a laptop-style external power brick, it is possible to get the device up and running with two cables--the power cable to wall outlet and an HDMI cable to the TV or A/V receiver.