ATV HD and ATV 4K

[Trhodezy]

Hey all.

New to the streaming scene (well, since selling my first gen ATV). My friend is selling his ATV HD 32GB for £100.00. I can get the ATV HD 4K 32GB for about £145.00 elsewhere.

I know the difference between the two and our (partner and I) use case is to simply stream Netflix, YouTube and ATV+. We may occasionally attempt to game on it but not heavily (I work too much). We don’t have a 4K TV (likely won’t for another few years and not big TV users anyway) - my question is; do I really need the 4K ATV?

Thanks,
Thom

 

[Juicy Box]

I currently own every ATV model, and have a lot of experience with them.

IMO, even if you do not have a 4K TV, the ATV4K would be a much better choice than the ATV4 (HD).

When the ATV4 launched in 2015, it came with an already old A8 chip, under-powered compared to what the rumors predicted what it would have. It would have been more appropriate to have an A8X, A9, or A9X in the ATV4, over the A8.

We are heading into 2020, and that A8 is not getting any faster.

On the other hand, Apple learned from their mistakes, and put a beastly A10X inside the ATV4k. It is faster, smoother UI, and overall a much better machine than the ATV4.

The A10X is just a much better chip than the A8, and it isn't even remotely close.

Another important note, is that the ATV4k has 50% more RAM than the ATV4.

I personally would not buy another ATV4 unless I got a killer deal on it. I am not sure how things are at your location, but £100.00 doesn't sound like a killer deal to me.

 

[Juicy Box]

I guess I should also share that there are some other benefits of the ATV4K over the ATV4, but more minor or niche in nature.

The ATV4k has faster Ethernet port, although there are only a very few situations that I can think of that a user could benefit from the faster transfer speeds.

The ATV4K has newer wifi and Bluetooth standard, probably wouldn't really matter to most people though.

Maybe a few really minor differences that I can't think of at the moment.

Besides price, the biggest advantage of the ATV4 over the ATV4K would be storage related situations, as the 4K version of OS and apps would take up more storage space versus the 1080p version.

But, it is rare for people to run out of storage space on Apple ATV4 or ATV4K, although I have.

 

[Rigby]

New to the streaming scene (well, since selling my first gen ATV). My friend is selling his ATV HD 32GB for £100.00. I can get the ATV HD 4K 32GB for about £145.00 elsewhere.

I know the difference between the two and our (partner and I) use case is to simply stream Netflix, YouTube and ATV+. We may occasionally attempt to game on it but not heavily (I work too much). We don’t have a 4K TV (likely won’t for another few years and not big TV users anyway) - my question is; do I really need the 4K ATV?

Depends on how much you value £45. I think there is only a very marginal difference for what you want to do with it. I have both models and when it comes to video watching on a 1080p display, I'd be hard pressed to tell a difference. Even though the 4K obviously has faster hardware, the UI and everything are fluid on the HD model as well. OTOH, perhaps future-proofing is a consideration.

Perhaps you can haggle a bit with your friend. I think £100 for a used HD model is kind of a steep price among friends.

 

[iloveavocados13]

If you're running an Apple TV 4 (HD) or Apple TV 4K on a 1080p TV there's going to be almost no difference whatsoever. The 4K has more ram and a faster processor but this isn't really going to be perceptible in real-world usage. The only major difference between the two is if you use a file server like Plex with HEVC files, because the 4K added hardware support while the HD doesn't and can lag.

 

[Trhodezy]

Thank you all for the input. It's appreciated. I managed to haggle my friend down to £80.00 and then thirty seconds later found a 4K 32GB one online for £100.00. Went for the 4K one. Happy guy. Merry crimbo all!

 

[Juicy Box]

I managed to haggle my friend down to £80.00

Still seems like too much to me, at least in my area.

then thirty seconds later found a 4K 32GB one online for £100.00.

Good choice. The ATV4K is so much better than the ATV4.