Apple tv unit running hot

I unpacked mine today and the initial setup went fine. About an hour into the sync, itunes no longer showed a connection. I went to the settings on the AppleTV and I found all of the settings okay. I disconnect the power and I noticed that the unit wasn't warm, it was Hot! I let it cool down and I reset the settings to factory and tried to reconnect again but this time it would not communicate with the computer. It seem to find my Airport connection though. I'm not sure what is happening.

I just did a first time "major sync" to my ATV and afterwards it was very hot to the touch. I will have to see how hot it is after sitting in standby overnight. Apple has a tendency to let products run hot so I am not concerned...so far.

Same here, hot to touch during sync, other than that warm to touch. I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point unless it malfunctions. I trust apple design engineers. If there is a problem with the heat that effects performance, Apple will address and correct it ASAP as AppleTV is vital to their future - they will not let it go unchecked.

Mine is also VERY hot right now. It's syncing so that seems to be in line with everyone else, but it makes me nervous to leave it like that over night. I can't recall having any appliance that runs that hot before.

I'll wait to see how it does when it's not syncing to see if I similarly can get comfortable with it, but if it runs at the current temp I'd be worried about it ruining the shelf it sits on.

The disassembly pictures that have been published on the web show a fan to provide general ventilation for the unit.

The CPU and graphics processor apparently use the aluminum case as a heat sink, which would account for the case getting fairly warm when these processors are under load.

The hard drive is also mounted to the aluminum case and appears to use the case as a heat sink.

All of this looks intentional: namely the aluminum case is part of the cooling system for the apple-tv. So a warm/hot case should not necessarily be a cause for alarm.

Nothing should be placed on top of the apple-tv.

Same issue here - extermely hot. Plus synching was taking forever - 3 songs in 1 hour over a wireless G network with all bars intact - so I cancelled it. My iTunes library is on a Lacie external HD hooked up via USB 2.0 to my Ti PB. Anyone else in the same boat?

Yes, my Apple TV is running very hot too. Also slow sync over my new Airport Extreme. Seems to be running warmer than my MacBook Pro, (which gave me a second degree burn at one point) as a reference point.

Mac Book Pro Mac OS X (10.4.9) New Airport Extreme, New Apple TV

PB G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

My Apple TV is very hot. Especially the metal sides. It only cooled a little after being off for the entire night. I am going to continue to monitor it over the weekend. If the unit remains that hot, I am calling apple support. I am hoping that the heat is just during initial setup. I am crossing my fingers.

That's a reassuring explanation -- hope it's real. It was definitely running HOT during the sync last night. I mean hot to the touch. Much cooler this morning. Now I wonder if I should move it, though. It's on top of a dvd player in a cabinet with not a lot of room around it. Reception is no problem and apart from having to completely restart and rename my network during install, it's awesome.

PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

My unit also gets hot when it is not in standby, but looking at the online pics, it would appear it i supposed to get hot. Cools down in standby to warm to the touch. Moved it away from other components to give it room to breath..

No porblems at all with syncing for me, 15g of music, 10g of vids, and 2g of photos all moved right on up..

It is VERY warm. I am concerned about other very expensive equipment on my media system getting hot because of it. I used a switched plug on the receiver to power the Apple TV down when the rest of the system shuts down. Any ideas on things I could use as a heat sink to quench the heat and protect the surrounding equipment.

funny, Apple must have deleted my previous post where I was comparing my MBP which gets as hot as fire within 5 minutes of starting up (causing a fire hazard in my house) and the aTV.

Hmmmm.

Anyhow, I just spoke to my father who did get one today and that was of course the first thing I asked him: he checked and ... yes it's super hot he said (he's in the process to copy stuff in it, from his iTunes) and he rushed to move it on a safer platform.

So guys, is this another firehazard from Apple ? I would love to know ! I want this product, but can't add another heat machine in my apartment.

yes, very warm to the touch. my amp is below it (on another shelf) I thought this was what was throwing off all the heat. I even elevated the AppleTV in a makeshift fashion in order to let some air underneath. Seems like a slight cooldown after the synch. I synched a number of times to get the content that I wanted. all is working very well, however my photos disappeared, reappeared after I rebooted the system.
Glad I have a wired ethernet connection to synch. can't imagine that over the wireless. ouch.

Jsut got my Apple TV today, hooked it up and performed a synch. Played it most of the day (about 5 hours) and it is very hot. It is on top of my other components right now but iit is certainly warm. I have left it off for the past couple of hours and it is still scorching.

I would worry that it will not cool down and I am wondering if I should unplug it for the night. If it is the heat synch design, I will worry less. I also assume that this has gone throug some thorough unit testing and that it ran hot then also. I am wondering if the push back in delivery was a manufacturing problem or a design issue.

Love the unit and Apple on the whole, just don't want to ruin my other equipment or have a fire hazard. I run my DVR box 24x7 and it barely gets hot although, it has a fan for cooling.

I'm having the same problem, the metal sides are VERY hot to the touch and the top is also hot. Mine is sitting out in the open on a cabinent top. Seems a little too hot???????????

PowerMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.9)