Apple TV 2022

Yes! I have the 2021 Apple TV 4K and it works great, so the 2022 will be fine. I get all of the shadows, etc.

*least amount possible :upside_down_face:

Hoping with the move to Metal from OpenGL - the graphic / profile availability will increase / be available for iOS devices, like other games / apps have.

They’ve already done it (approaching a year ago), nothing changed.

Just an FYI that you do not get all of the shadows with an ATV (any ATV). You see landscape shadows, but not rider shadows. And the graphics detail is nowhere near what is possible with other systems. That said, I use ATV and it is certainly acceptable for my needs. I would certainly be OK if the graphics profile moved up a notch, or two, but it works for what I need.

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2017 MacBook Pro (Basic profile, no shadows)

2021 MacBook Pro (High profile, still no shadows)

So what are the differences between basic and high that you notice? And does this mean rider shadows are only available in the Ultra profile?

High should have rider shadows. It’s broken on M1, and has been for yonks.

Made this ages ago

Note that M1 is broken, and actually gets Basic.

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Interesting comments and observations!
What it needs is for someone else to go out and buy the latest ATV, due out early November, and then report back to here! Then I do not have to spend any money and be disappointed!!

The rider shadow on my iMac Pro is really nice to experience, and it would be great to see the same through latest ATV and a quality 4K HDR/Ultra HD television. I use my trainer for fun and pleasure, and treat the Zwift app as a computer game.

I have the new apple tv ordered, as I am tired of moving my apple tv from room to room whenever I want to hop on zwift. I will test Friday. However I doubt the new device will have any different settings. I doubt they even noticed its release.

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Thanks for sharing. For curious readers: This highlighted comment could give more explanation/insight.

  1. It does not purely demonstrate the difference between metal and OpenGL. It is running on an entirely different chip! A true comparison would require them to release an OpenGL and Metal version on mac to run side by side. Dave stated further up that the transition to metal had very little impact on performance if any.

  2. The original question was:

I wonder if the new Apple TV announced yesterday 18 October 2022 will give us the full shadow effects on an HDTV?

I believe another user (Dave) explained further up that the M1 is theoretically capable of shadows, but that they are broken. Further he hints at the power of A15 chip (which is on the iPhone 11 as well as the 2022 AppleTv 4k). The A15 is used in the iPhone 11, however Zwift as a company has not prioritized better graphics on this iPhone or later models. Given that detail it seems unlikely that this stance will change in November.

My opinion is that the new AppleTV 4k 2022 could probably at least handle medium 30fps or high settings with some frame dips. Unless a developer fights for this change or zwift changes the way they choose graphic settings on iOS/tvOS I doubt anything will change.

I will give it a try Friday, but I currently have a 1080p AppleTV from like 2018/2019. So at the very least I will get some better performance and maybe basic shadows.

You won’t see any difference. But you should find the newer remote control easier to use.

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Going from an ATV HD to 4K should give landscape shadows though. Correct?

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That’s right, and the game resolution goes from 720p to 1080p. I don’t recall the exact frame rate on the 4th gen but I think it’s 15-25fps. Certainly less than the 30fps on the 4K models.

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Do you not get any shadows at all (e.g. from trees) on the ATV HD? If not then sorry, I didn’t realise that. Yes, you’ll get landscape shadows on any ATV 4K.

The A15 in the new 2022 Apple TV4K is the one used in iPhone 13. It is three generations/years past the chip used in the 2021 Apple TV 4K (A12) and five generations past the original A10x Apple TV 4K. I really hope they up the graphics a little. I have this hope that Zwift are lagging with the updates and graphics because they are focusing on a full rewrite with a modern engine/graphics. Fingers crossed!…?…

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https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks/1/basic/864/050
https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks/1/basic/864/075
https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks/4/basic/864/050
https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks/9/basic/864/050

As things stand they’re just all the same.

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You must be the only other person here using a Pro level Mac desktop with Zwift aside from me (Mac Pro 5,1 and 7,1).

I doubt the ATV devices will ever get better graphics, but that’s okay since they are small and simple media devices.

“I doubt the ATV devices will ever get better graphics, but that’s okay since they are small and simple media devices.”. I don’t know if this IS okay. The ATV is such an easy/cheap/simple way to get a Zwift setup going. It seems like tweaking the profile slightly to make this entry level experience as good as it can would be worthwhile. I assume there should be SOME improvements that can be made with the latest generation one. The previous two were close. Has anyone ever seen any stats on what proportion of users use what device types? IOS/Windows/MacOS? phone/tablet/atv/pc/laptop? That would be interesting.

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