New Apple TV could feature 120hz support
The rumours are increasing around a new Apple TV model and another mention of new hardware has been unearthed – this time in the iOS 14.5 beta code. The references point towards the new Apple TV supporting 120hz refresh rates for smoother content reproduction.
It can’t be a software update for current devices because 120hz would require an HDMI 2.1 port. The current Apple TV 4K doesn’t have this and supports 4K 60Hz.
The code contains references to 120hz and “supports 120Hz”. The mentions were found in PineBoard, which is essentially the internal Apple name for the Apple TV interface. SpringBoard is the equivalent on iOS.
The news is the latest in a very slow line of rumours around an update to the current-generation Apple TV 4K which was introduced in late 2017. We had expected Apple would announce something during 2019 to go alongside its then-new Apple TV+ streaming service.
And that had been rumoured to support HDMI 2.1 alongside an Apple A12 chip but the device never appeared and it’s likely that a new device now would include a more powerful chip, potentially A13 or A14. We also wondered whether a new device might be a streaming stick, which is where the market has headed over recent years of course.
Recently Bloomberg reported that we will get one in 2021 and we also reported that there was a possible new remote in the works, though that turned out to be a third-party device.
