After Apple ultimately gave us a decent Siri Remote last year, I couldn’t imagine the Apple TV 4K getting much better. It’s not like anyone’s crying out for an 8K upgrade – all we need these days is fast 4K streaming support, plus the multitude of HDR (high definition range) formats available . The new Apple TV 4K can easily meet these demands, but what’s really impressive is that it’s much faster than before. and it’s much cheaper at $129 (was $179)! Finally, there is an Apple TV that I can recommend to everyone without hesitation.
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Let’s start with the new: This year’s Apple TV 4K is powered by an A15 Bionic chip, which launched with the iPhone 13 (and is still used in the iPhone 14). It’s a huge leap forward over the previous model’s 2018-era A12. The new box also comes with 64GB of storage, instead of a paltry 32GB. If you’re planning on loading a ton of games and apps, there’s also a 128GB model for $149, which adds a Ethernet port and Internet of Things Thread protocol support. Finally, Apple has integrated HDR10+ support, which works similar to Dolby Vision to deliver more accurate HDR in every scene.
At first glance, the Apple TV 4K looks like previous models: a smooth black box with obscenely rounded corners. Look a little closer, though, and you’ll notice it’s actually smaller, like an accessory rendering of its predecessor. Apple claims it has 20% less volume than before, due to the loss of the fan from previous models (this one runs quietly) and being powered by more efficient hardware. Apple wouldn’t say exactly what led to the dramatic price drop. But I’d wager that’s due to simpler manufacturing, as well as lower component prices across the board.
If you want to hear me get poetic about Apple’s Siri Remote, just check out my review of the latest Apple TV. I’m still in love with it a year later: it’s easy to hold, has all the basic functions you’d want, and it’s much harder to lose than the previous ultra-thin remote. I still don’t understand why we were forced to use a glass-backed remote with a crummy touchpad on the original Apple TV 4K. Long live the new model and its tactile and directional touchpad.
Sure, the hardware is great, but how is the software? Setting up the Apple TV 4K is now surprisingly easy, assuming you’re already beholden to Apple’s ecosystem. After plugging it in, I only had to tap my iPhone on the box to send my WiFi and iCloud credentials. I chose to sync my home screens, which brought up all the apps on my current Apple TV. At this point, all I had to do was tune into my regular streaming haunts, and I was good to go.
After using every Apple TV the company has released over the past decade, I had an immediate thought when I started using this new model: Damn, this thing is fast. That’s not to say the latest version was slow, far from it. But there’s a liveliness to this year’s box that just feels liberating. I can easily flip through all the apps on my home screen, launch Netflix seconds faster than before, and browse my movie library without breaking a sweat. No more slight delays in loading or reels.
I may just know the rush for a brand new device, a device stripped down by a year of use. But using the new Apple TV 4K feels like the difference between using an iPhone X and iPhone 14 – it just happens faster, with a greater sense of urgency. I found this very useful when switching between apps and different videos. While I was catching up Cabinet of curiosities by Guillermo del Toro on Netflix, I could quickly jump to check out my YouTube channels while my wife needed a bathroom break, then get the goosebumps back when she got back. Again, this is something I did frequently with the previous box, but now the Apple TV seems completely untethered.
Amidst my viewing speed, I was also impressed to see that the Apple TV handles HDR 10+ without any issues. The opening pursuit in no time to die looked glorious, with excellent reflections in brightly lit European streets, but also solid shadow detail in darker scenes. This is the main attraction of HDR10+. Like the original HDR 10 standard, it offers both brighter highlights and darker darks. But, it can also adjust these settings depending on the scene you’re watching, just like Dolby Vision. This avoids some common issues with HDR 10, where one HDR profile setting may not work well in a wide variety of scenes.
Testing the Apple TV 4K on Samsung’s 55-inch Odyssey Ark monitor, I was also able to view Dolby Vision titles from iTunes via HDR10+. This feature is particularly useful on the Ark, as it doesn’t support Dolby Vision alone. You can expect HDR10+ to work on all Apple TV+ offerings, as well as many titles available to rent or buy. Amazon has also been pushing the standard for years, so you’ll find native HDR10+ support on all of its originals. (He looked particularly good when opening The ringroad.)
If you weren’t a fan of the Apple TV interface before, this new model won’t change your mind. But as someone who has tested plenty streaming devices, I still feel more comfortable with Apple TV. I appreciate its wide variety of apps, seamless integration with iOS devices, and overall polish you don’t see on Roku’s software. Sure, you can use the Apple TV app on competing devices today (including those from Roku!), but that’s just a gateway to the content. It’s not the same as day-to-day living with an elegantly designed streaming interface.
Another plus? The Apple TV actually has some games that you might want to play. I was able to load up Sonic Racing in seconds, pair an Xbox controller, and start zooming the track without too much trouble. The A15 Bionic should allow for smoother performance on more demanding games, but personally I’ve never seen anything stress these cases too much.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the Apple TV this year: you don’t have to pay that much premium to own it. At $129, it’s a bit more expensive than the $100 Roku Ultra, but in exchange you get a much more robust app platform and more features. The $149 model we reviewed is a smarter buy if you require Ethernet or want to start using Thread IoT devices. (I unfortunately didn’t have any Thread-enabled hardware to test.) But even this model is a bit cheaper than the previous Apple TV at $179.
If you already bought last year’s Apple TV 4K for its new Siri Remote, this new box probably isn’t worth the upgrade. But if you’ve recently purchased an HDR10+ TV, it might be worth stepping up a gear, just so you see the best HDR picture possible.
It took a while, but Apple was finally able to create the perfect streaming box: a relatively inexpensive streaming box packed with modern features and fast. so fast.
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