Tuesday, November 15, 2022 2:59 pm1 Comment

• Review

Apple last month unveiled the next generation of Apple TV 4K — more powerful, entertaining, and affordable than ever, and offering impressive cinematic quality. Driven by the A15 Bionic chip that delivers faster performance and more fluid gameplay, the new Apple TV 4K features endless entertainment options for everyone to enjoy on the biggest screen in the home. HDR10+ support joins Dolby Vision on Apple TV 4K, so users can watch their favorite movies and TV shows in the best quality possible across more TVs. Running tvOS, the powerful and intuitive OS for the living room, and featuring the popular Siri Remote, Apple TV 4K simplifies the way users discover and enjoy their favorite content. Its seamless integration with other Apple devices and services magically transforms the living room in different ways for the entire family, while also adding convenience as a smart home hub.

The new Apple TV 4K is available in two configurations: Apple TV 4K (Wi-Fi), which offers 64GB of storage; and Apple TV 4K (Wi-Fi + Ethernet), which offers support for Gigabit Ethernet for fast networking and streaming, Thread mesh networking protocol to connect even more smart home accessories, and twice the storage for apps and games (128GB). Customers can order the new Apple TV 4K with Siri Remote today for $129 (Wi-Fi, 64GB) or $149 (Wi-Fi + Ethernet, 128GB).

Parker Hall for Reuters:

I liked the second-generation Apple TV 4K, but I rarely recommended it to anyone except Apple die-hards. Sure, it has a good remote, but it was expensive compared to streaming devices from its peers, like Google, Amazon, and Roku. It didn’t perform significantly better either.

With the 2022 revision, there are finally enough reasons to pick the Apple TV 4K over the pack, even if it’s still pricier than the competition. Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, a USB-C port on the remote, and decent gaming performance make this a worthy addition to any living room, and one that will likely outlast the clunky OS inside your smart TV.

Inside the new Apple TV 4K is where you’ll find the biggest change: A huge upgrade in chip technology with the A15 Bionic—the same that powers the iPhone 13—making the streaming box capable of supporting HDR10+ (its predecessor maxed out at HDR10). That means better colors from supported content, and more future-proofing as media gets better and brighter down the line. This is also a big differentiator over cheaper streaming sticks as you’ll hardly ever experience any stutters or lag moving through the menus.

It leans toward Apple TV+ content in the same way that an equivalent Fire TV streaming device will put Amazon content front and center, or how Roku advertised the Weird Al biopic on its homepage. But Apple doesn’t force you into thinking its content is the only stuff available. That’s classy.

MacDailyNews Take: There simply is no better streaming box on the market. The new Apple TV 4K has no real competition.

Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!

Shop The Apple Store at Amazon.