A list of the feeds Apple uses for its video screensavers

apple-tv-screen-saver-feeds.txt

tvOS 10: 1080p + H.264
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/000/Features/atv/AutumnResources/videos/entries.json

tvOS 11: 1080p/4K + SDR/HDR + HEVC
https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/2x/entries.json
https://t27q97zg19.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/prod/aerialAltJSON/4kEntites.json

tvOS 12: 4K + SDR/HDR + HEVC, 1080p + H.264, localised descriptions 
https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/resources.tar

tvOS 13: 4K + SDR/HDR + HEVC, 1080p + H.264, localised descriptions 
https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/resources-13.tar

tvOS 15: 4K + SDR/HDR + HEVC, 1080p + H.264, localised descriptions 
https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/resources-15.tar

tvOS 16: 4K + SDR/HDR + HEVC, 1080p + H.264, localised descriptions 
https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/resources-16.tar

macOS 14: 4K 120FPS + 240FPS, localised descriptions 
https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-14-0.tar

macOS 15: 4K 240FPS, localised descriptions 
https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-15-0-2.tar

THAT SAID, I saw that playback in Kodi resulted in tons of dropped/skipped frames and choppy playback on my older Intel/Nvidia HTPC (Kodi reported the HEVC software decoder). VLC on the same machine couldn't play at all. The machine doesn't seem capable of handling the 240FPS file in its current state, because it plays the 30FPS file without issue.

Yep, most hardware decoding units only do L5.1, or don't handle anything above 120 FPS. So it goes back to CPU decoding and that's a handful at 240 fps. I don't remember what Nvidia does off the top of my head but it's likely that older GPUs don't do L6.1 either.

Intel's QuickSync units are L5.1 only, but for the most recent SKUs. There's a handy table here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video#Hardware_decoding_and_encoding

I've had some reports that those don't play great on Intel macs that are still supported under Sonoma, unsurprisingly. On my end, I only plan to make these the default format in Aerial for M1 macs, because those have full hardware decoding.

Still looking for the HDR versions of the new videos, configuration still points to the -10.tar

Thanks for the update, I didn't know the L5.1 vs L6 etc. made a difference in decoding. Keep us updated if new TAR files are released with additional videos!

Edit: After reading a bit about the different levels, I see the following in terms of Nvidia cards from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_NVDEC

• 900 series cards support hardware decoding for H.264 but not High 10
• 1000 series cards add support for HEVC/H.265 4:2:0 at 8/10/12 bit
• 2000 series cards add support for 4:4:4 HEVC at 8/10/12 bit
• 3000 series cards add support for AV1 4:2:0 8/10 bit, not 12 bit
• 4000 series cards add the missing 12 bit AV1

Meanwhile, Intel CPUs based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video

• Skylake/6th Gen supports L5.1 AVC/H.264 and HEVC/H.265
• Kaby/Coffee/Comet Lake 7th Gen, 8th Gen, 10th Gen supports HEVC 10 bit
• Rocket/Alder/Raptor Lake 11th Gen, 12th Gen, 13th Gen supports HEVC 4:2:0 12 bit, and decode-only AV1 8 bit and 10 bit
• Meteor Lake 14th Gen supports AV1 12 bit

So for me on a 900-series Nvidia card and a Skylake 6th Gen Intel CPU, the only hardware decoding support I have is HEVC 8 bit video via the Intel CPU, and these are 10 bit Aerials videos. 💀

https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/resources-17.tar doesn't seem to exist. Do you know where the new tvOS 17 aerials are stored?

https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/resources-17.tar doesn't seem to exist. Do you know where the new tvOS 17 aerials are stored?

They are stored here: https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-14-0-10.tar

macOS 15 has changes to the screensaver manifest, this seems to be the newer manifest:
https://configuration.apple.com/configurations/internetservices/aerials/resources-config-14-1.plist
The binary has this file located alongside the plist: https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-14-1-0.tar
I did not see any changes on tvOS 18.

Does anyone know what settings or program were used to encode the videos here? I have tried for a long time to encode a video that is compatible with Apple's Sonoma background wallpaper video thing, but haven't been successful. So far, the default test footage h265 from an iPhone comes the closest to playing (after exiting screensaver, it flickers back and forth a few frames and only sometimes results in black screen), but anything I made in ffmpeg will play correctly once and then display a black screen once the screensaver exits. If I replace the file with another one of Apple's own, it will work correctly, so clearly there is something wrong with my videos.

@HappyMac3920 I see the new https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-14-1-1.tar but the "Sequoia Sunrise" is not there.

@HappyMac3920 I see the new https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-14-1-1.tar but the "Sequoia Sunrise" is not there.

It isn’t in the manifest. However, I can tell you where you can find the screensaver. It is built into macOS.
If you would like the full video, you’ll need to download the macOS IPSW image.
As of now, the latest version of the 15.0 beta ISPW is: https://updates.cdn-apple.com/2024SummerSeed/fullrestores/062-45756/5B063A0C-5ECA-434B-A462-CD1F65737105/UniversalMac_15.0_24A5309e_Restore.ipsw
After downloading, rename the ipsw extension to zip. Once that’s done, look for the largest .dmg.aea file in the zip file. To decrypt it, first use a tool called IPSW: https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw
Then run this command on the Terminal after installing ipsw: ipsw fw aea <.dmg.aea file goes here>
After decryption, on macOS, mount the dmg. On Windows, use 7-Zip to mount the dmg.
After that, make sure to enable hidden files. On macOS, you can do this by pressing Shift+Command+. at the same time in Finder. The wallpaper video is located in the dmg in System/Library/Desktop Pictures/.wallpapers/Sequoia Sunrise

@HappyMac3920 Thanks a lot!

macOS 15 has changes to the screensaver manifest, this seems to be the newer manifest: https://configuration.apple.com/configurations/internetservices/aerials/resources-config-14-1.plist

I didn't check the recent binaries but based on your comment, I randomly tried : https://configuration.apple.com/configurations/internetservices/aerials/resources-config-15-0.plist

And yep, it's here, it points to this : https://sylvan.apple.com/itunes-assets/Aerials126/v4/82/2e/34/822e344c-f5d2-878c-3d56-508d5b09ed61/resources-15-0-2.tar

There are 137 videos, the classic 134 + the 3 new Sequoia ones that are in a new subcategory.

Pushing an update for my Aerial screensaver later today with those.

That manifest remains 240 FPS only though. At that point I'm not sure what tvOS uses as a manifest for the HDR ones ? Maybe it's still on resources-15.tar or they use a built-in one.

I put together a quick command line tool to help with grabbing all the wallpapers, useful for people on Linux.

Check it here.