The More You Know: Officially, What does the USB port do on the Apple TV?
As an original 40gb Apple TV model owner, I often think of how awesome it would be if I was able to plug in an external USB hard drive to that USB port on the back of the Apple TV, especially with HD movie purchases now available. So if it’s not possible to plug in an external USB hard drive or any other USB device, why did Apple even put it there?
Officially, the USB port on the back of the Apple TV is only used for service and diagnostics. A USB keyboard, mouse, hard drive, or any other device will not be recognized by Apple TV.
Unofficially there are hacks to enable the USB port for external storage, but how about Apple making it easy and just enabling the USB port for things other then service and diagnostics in their next update.
Written by Eddie V. on April 2, 2009
CommentsView Comments
View CommentsCalebC
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I don’t understand the desire for external storage on an Apple TV. Unless streaming does not work for you (works perfectly for me) then I don’t understand why you would want your media strewn all over the place instead of in one central iTunes library.
CHASH
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:32 pm
There is one useful thing you can get from Apple tv’s USB port – USB power. I actually use it to power an AudioEngine AW1 wireless sound transmitter… It’s great for sound sync’d to video since it’s for all intents and purposes zero delay.
KR
April 6th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I second the use of the USB port for power. I have a USB powered cooling fan plugged into the port with the fan pointed at the AppleTV. The fan does a fantastic job cooling the AppleTV box.
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