Switch off AppleTV completely (no standby mode)

The only way to "turn off" completely is to remove the power cord, or turn off at the power source (ie. plug socket).

If you disable the "photo" screensaver, this reduces the disk use when you're not using the unit, the "moving apple" screensaver does not require as much (if any) disk access and therefore not as much heat is produced.

Hope this helps.

fraid so :S

one option i guess could be getting one of those power plug deviders not sure the propper word
which have a special plug for tv's and when the tv is not drawing more power then a bit as when it's in standby mode the other devider plugs are turned off

one can get them for computers too as they too are never truely off unless one pull the plug or if the psu have a power swith on the back

You've got to realise that the AppleTV is a computer, running OSX. Sleep is fine. Pulling the plug is like pulling the plug on your Mac.

I agree! I got my AppleTV two days ago and I really enjoy it, but the fact it doesn't have a real "turning off" or "auto-turning off" or "auto-sleeping" feature when not used for a while , it's a real shame. With all the environmental problems we have and need to save energy, how that can be possible? All my Macs turn off by themselves when I don't use them for a while (i.e. Energy Panel).

Apple are you listening here? Could you please put an update to allow AppleTV to go in sleep mode automatically after 10-20 minutes of not use?

I repeat: this is a shame!

I plugged a Kill-A-Watt EZ into the line between my 40GB first generation AppleTV (with updated Take 2 software), and made an interesting and annoying discovery...

Running a show stored on the hard drive or pulled in over wireless network, the AppleTV 40GB burns 22 watts pretty continuously. Not horrible at all for an object in use, though more than many DVD players, but less than my DISH Player (32 watts).

The annoying discovery is that there is no sleep mode at all.
At the menu, before the screen saver kicks in, the AppleTV burns 18 watts.
Once screen saver kicks in with a photo slideshow it burns 21 watts, continuously.

Previously this was an always-on device... No I am annoyed and want it to go to sleep.

I know 21 watts is not a lot - but there is no need for it when not in use (~22 hours a day).

Apple Inc; please make a software update that will let these amazing and wonderful devices go to sleep and burn less power, and wake up periodically to fetch updates/re-sync, but auto sleep again.

is everyone missing the obvious here ?

you put it to "sleep" by pressing and holding the play/pause button for 5 seconds. this puts it into "sleep" mode. i believe someone already measured what wattage it was pulling when in this mode and it was minimal.

Thanks for pointing that out - it helps a little. Power consumption of my AppleTV 40GB in standby (after holding play/pause for 5 seconds) drops to 18 watts. Better, but not outstanding.

My observations made using:

Apple TV 40 GB
Connections: HDMI at 480p, optical audio out, 100BaseT ethernet
Software version: 2.0.2

KillAWatt P3 AC power meter

Apple TV average power consumption:
Boot-up: <= 19 Watts
Main menu: 15W
Playing movie: 18W
Screen saver (flower images): 16W
"Sleep" state (TV on): 14W
"Sleep" state (TV off): 13W
Apple TV "on" but TV off: 13W

I note that even when sleeping (i.e., after pressing the play button for five seconds until the front panel status light turns off), the Apple TV is still visible and fully accessible via iTunes.

Conclusion:
For my set-up, at least, "sleep" offers no significant reduction in power consumption over simply turning off the television, but there is a small advantage for the case where the TV is powered on but the Apple TV is not in use. Heat output should closely mirror the power usage.

Contrast this with my G4 Mac Mini:
Active: <= 35W
Idle: 14W
Sleep: 1 W

Clearly, there's a lot more Apple could do to reduce power consumption when the Apple TV is not in use. Ideally, when sleeping, the unit would spin down the hard drive and power down the network interfaces and all other hardware not necessary for monitoring the infrared/remote interface (there's got to be a way to turn it back on, after all). As it is, the only option that I'm aware of to seriously curtail the Apple TV's power consumption is to unplug it when you're not using it.