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How to Set Up the New Apple TV

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This guide will show you how to set up the new Apple TV, connect it to your HDTV, the Internet and to start downloading Apple TV apps to your new gadget.

The new Apple TV takes about 10 minutes to install and set up in most home networks. If you want to use your iPhone or iPad to start the set up process you will need to be on iOS 9.1 or higher. You can also manually connect to WiFi using the remote control if you don’t have an iPhone or iPad handy.

Apple sells the Apple TV in 32GB and 64GB versions for $149 and $199 respectively.

Learn how to set up the new Apple TV.

Learn how to set up the new Apple TV.

In the Apple TV box is the Apple TV, the new Apple TV remote control, a power cord and a Lightning cable that you use to charge the remote control with. You will need a HDMI cable as there is not one included in the box. You will also need a WiFi network and a TV with HDMI, projector or monitor to connect the Apple TV to.

New Apple TV Setup Guide

The steps below walk you through how to set up the new Apple TV that Apple announced in late 2015. This guide works best if you have your iPhone or iPad available to simplify the WiFi setup.

Connect HDMI and power to the Apple TV.

Connect HDMI and power to the Apple TV.

Connect the Apple TV to one end of the HDMI cable that you purchased and the other end to an input on your HDTV. This is also a good time to connect your Apple TV power cord and plug it in. That’s all you need to do for the physical setup.

Turn your TV on and switch to the input that corresponds to where you plugged the HDMI cable in.

Choose how you want to set up the Apple TV.

Choose how you want to set up the Apple TV.

The next several parts of setting up the New Apple TV are a series of choices. You can choose the options you want. We will explain what we recommend for most users.

Choose the Language and Region for your Apple TV. You can change these later in settings if you need to adjust something.

When prompted place the iPhone next to the Apple TV.

When prompted place the iPhone next to the Apple TV.

If you see this Apple TV error message trying again should solve the problem.

If you see this Apple TV error message trying again should solve the problem.

Choose if you want to set up the Apple TV with an iPhone or iPad, or if you want to do it manually on the Apple TV. We recommend choosing to use the iPhone or iPad. On the next screen you will see instructions to turn on Bluetooth and place your iPhone or iPad near the Apple TV. Do this now, and wait until you see a small pop up.

Tap on Continue to set up the Apple TV using your iPhone. This will connect to the WiFi network that your iPhone is using. During this step we ran into our first Apple TV problem. The message on the Apple TV stated, “Couldn’t Activate Apple TV. Try Again Later. Is the Problem Continues, contact Apple Support.”

We restarted this process and held the iPhone near the Apple TV again and it worked. If you run into this new Apple TV problem, try this step. There is no need to wait to attempt it again.

On the iPhone or iPad enter your Apple ID and password to continue with the setup. From here you can choose options relating to the Apple TV features and data sharing. These are the options and what we choose.

Finish choosing your Apple TV options.

Finish choosing your Apple TV options.

  1. Location Services – Enable location services so apps know your approximate location. Helpful for weather and other apps.
  2. Siri – We choose Use Siri so we can control the new Apple TV with the voice assistant.
  3. See the World – We chose Automatically Download for the Aerial screensavers that show beautiful scenes.
  4. Diagnostics and Usage – Send to Apple. This is a personal preference, so choose what you want.
  5. App Analytics – Share with App Developers. Again this is a personal preference.

Finally, agree to the terms and conditions to get started using the Apple TV. Once this is done you will see the home screen of the Apple TV and you will be able to start downloading apps.

Use the remote to select the App Store and then select an app and press on the surface of the remote to start downloading it. You will need to enter your Apple ID password. Once you do this you can choose to always remember your passcode or to prompt you after a certain period of time or every time.

Start downloading new Apple TV apps.

Start downloading new Apple TV apps.

When you tap on download or buy, there will be a pop up that alerts you to the fact that you are about to download or buy an app. This will help prevent accidental purchases.

That’s all there is to setting up the new Apple TV. You can check out some Apple TV accessories you may want to buy in the slides below.

9 Awesome Apple TV Accessories

Griffin Survivor Play

Griffin Survivor Play

The Griffin Survivor Play is a protective sleeve for the Apple TV remote that can save it from potential damage.

The Survivor Play is geared toward Apple TV gamers that will likely use the remote as a game controller, providing maximum grip so that the remote doesn't fall out of your hands, especially when you're playing a game that requires you to fling around the remote to activate the motion sensors inside.

The protective sleeve is made out of silicone and has extra-thick grips on the back to make it easier to hold. It's priced at $19.99 and is available now.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Vtmartha

    11/08/2015 at 5:31 am

    The set up screen opens in Chinese, which I don’t read. Any suggestions for turning it to English?

  2. Dianna Kenrick

    11/20/2015 at 7:47 pm

    Mine is in Japanese would like English

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