Small RISC-V cores are weirdly all over the place. I think NXP and some others have a RISC-V core inside some of their ARM cores as their security coprocessors and other peripherals. The architecture is getting around it’s just not hitting much toward the application processor yet. It’s getting there but running a full on PC is such a complex task over micros or special purpose devices.
It would be nice if you can use handlebar controls rather than have to remove hands and touch it.
Also people using handle mounts for phones have found that some phones break due to the vibrations. Modern phone cameras seem particularly susceptible to breaking since they have tiny little mechanisms to move the lenses and so much vibration can shake them to death. So it’s better to be able to keep your phone in your pocket where that gets dampened.
My understanding is that x86 originated from Intel and x86-64 was an extension of it by AMD who had been licensing x86. They agreed to trade so neither paid to license one from the other. So Intel got to use x86-64 because they let AMD have free use of x86. As a result they both keep anyone else from using x86. And of course now a days x86-64 is the only one that really matters. Presumably another company getting involved like Qualcomm would mess up that old deal.
The difference is how low spec the series S is.
Something like Baldurs Gate 3 on existing PS5 was able to handle everything they needed including the split screen co-op. However, they couldn’t release on Xbox at all because they couldn’t make a version that worked on both S and X but also they weren’t allowed by MS rules to pull features from the S.
A PS5/PS5-Pro pair would be easier since the bottom spec is still about comparable to the Series X and the new tier is just a bit extra for some nice-to-haves and less having to handicap a game to get it to run on the low spec machine. It’s still extra work but shouldn’t mean having to rework an entire game to get it to work at all.
We hired a guy 2 years ago and his company was still using MS Virtual SourceSafe. Dudes, that was released in 1994 and the last update was 2005. Just crazy.
It is basically like a basic iOS device so the apps are separated and by each developer. You can rearrange the Home Screen and do folders in the same way. The App Store is similar and just has the tv specific apps.
The Apple TV app is exactly the same as the app on other Apple devices, but you don’t have to use it. (You may have to change a setting so the home button goes home and not the tv app but I forget)
The third party apps are pretty much like using Netflix/youtube/whatever on an iPad. So if you hate them they’re you’ll not like this.
If you can try one I’d give it a shot.
Also: some people don’t like the remotes (especially the older one), but I really like it. It’s nice that it charges with usb and I only charge it like one a year.
I know it’s not a popular option around here and expensive but I absolutely love my Apple TV.
Besides the set up plug for Apple TV+ I never get any ads from the OS outside of the specific apps. Yeah, you go into Amazon or something you get their ads all over but not sure you can do anything about that. Even without a pinhole it’s a much better experience compared to my TV (when I allowed it online) or a friend’s Roku with piholes.
Overall though it’s an unobtrusive OS, has apps that are updated well, supports high quality output (4K/atmos etc.). You just have to pay up front for it, but of all the Apple stuff it’s the best bang for the buck. I love to tinker with my tech but for TV, me (and especially) the family need something that just works nicely without needing to fiddle with it.
Smol Mac Pro would have been the best possible reality here.