The new Apple TV 4K will start arriving at customers and will launch in stores on Friday, November 4. Ahead, early reviews of the latest Apple TV have now been shared by select publications and YouTube channels.
Key new features in the third-generation Apple TV 4K include the A15 Bionic chip, 4GB of memory, HDR10+ support, a USB-C charging port on the Siri Remote, and a slimmer, lighter design and without a fan. The Apple TV 4K is now available with 64GB of storage for a lower starting price of $129, sitting below a 128GB model for $149 that also has an Ethernet port and a USB port. Thread networking support. We’ve collected written and video reviews of the new Apple TV 4K below.
Written notices
The Apple TV 4K’s performance improvements were somewhat noticeable to reviewers, especially when switching apps, but they noted that there’s little that can practically take advantage of it other than gaming. . TechCrunchby Darrell Etherington:
If you have a 2021 Apple TV 4K, which I do, you probably won’t feel the pinch in terms of performance. In fact, I still have a first-generation Apple TV 4K in active use, and although it’s now six years old, I’d have a hard time telling the difference between it and my 2021 Apple TV when tested at the blind.
That said, the 2022 Apple TV 4K generally seems to make things faster when it comes to navigating between the home screen and apps, and even potentially within apps as well. It also offers a boost when it comes to using the Apple TV as a gaming device, helping it keep up with the most graphically demanding Arcade and App Store titles. With expanded controller support via the latest tvOS update, the Apple TV is a better gaming console than ever combined with the performance prowess of the A15.
On the other hand, CBSEli Blumenthal found gaming on the Apple TV 4K disappointing and noted that the A15 Bionic chip still doesn’t help rival Apple TV game consoles:
NBA 2K23 loaded quickly and the game finally has feedback that brings a console quality that was missing in previous editions, but that’s where the similarity ends. In my few games, the title looks and feels a bit slower than the console version. Even with an Xbox controller paired to the Apple TV 4K, there’s no direct pass through and the animations lack the smoothness and sharpness of gaming on Xbox One, let alone Xbox Series S/X.
The face models are fine, but lack detail in the tattoos of players like D’Angelo Russell and Marcus Smart. Standard basketball game staples like instant replays and quick or batch substitutions also remain absent, as do 2K23 game modes like The City.
Gameloft’s Asphalt 8 Plus also loaded quickly and worked well using the included Apple TV Siri Remote. But there’s no ray tracing or other modern graphical enhancements that would make this title mistaken for a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X game.
All told, there doesn’t seem to be anything more the A15 Bionic brings to gaming on Apple TV 4K…
The edgeChris Welch said that while the new Siri remote’s USB-C charging port is a welcome change, the remote could still do so much more:
Other than ditching Lightning for USB-C, the included Siri Remote is identical to the previous generation. That’s largely positive: it’s ergonomic and easy to use, and once you pull down the clickpad’s spin gesture to quickly skim through a movie or show, you’ll rarely bother with the less-efficient old method of fast-forwarding. and rewind. I do wish Apple had included a U1 chip in the new remote that would have made it easier to search accurately using a nearby iPhone. Failing that, even a built-in speaker would have been nice for a “Siri, find my remote” command. This remote isn’t as easy to lose as the stupidly slim previous version, but it still happens to the best of us. You can add backlighting and a raised button on the play/pause button (which makes it easier to find by touch) to my wishlist for the next iteration of the Siri Remote.
Video reviews and unboxings
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