Hands-On With the New Apple TV 4K

[MacRumors]

Apple in October introduced an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, which is available as of today. We picked one up to take a look at the new features and to determine whether it's worth the upgrade for MacRumors readers who already have an Apple TV 4K.

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The third-generation Apple TV 4K looks a lot like the second-generation model, but it is a bit thinner and lighter. It's not so thin that you're going to notice a major difference, but if they're side-by-side, you can tell.

As for feature set, there's a much faster A15 chip that offers up to a 50 percent improvement in CPU performance and up to a 30 percent improvement in GPU performance compared to the A12 chip in the prior model. Whether you'll be able to notice that speed difference depends on what you do on your Apple TV.

If you play graphics intensive games, you may see a good deal of improvement, but it should speed up animations, app load times, and more across the tvOS operating system. The updated models also include 4GB RAM instead of 3GB, and base storage starts at 64GB with a 128GB option available as an upgrade.

Apple has also added HDR10+ support, which joins HDR10 and Dolby Vision. So if you have a TV that supports HDR10+, you may want to upgrade. As for the Siri Remote, it's the same, but it does charge over USB-C instead of Lightning now.

So is it worth upgrading? It depends. If you just use your Apple TV 4K for watching shows and the performance is fine, it's probably not worth shelling out extra money. If you can take advantage of the features like HDR10+ or the speed improvements, it's a good upgrade. If you have an older model like the Apple TV HD, it's definitely worth checking out the new model.

There are two variants, and pricing is lower than it has been in recent years. Apple is charging $129 for the 64GB version, and $149 for the 128GB model, which also comes with Thread and a built-in Ethernet port. If you need Ethernet, you should pay the extra $20, and you should also go ahead and get the better model if you have a smart home setup for the Thread integration.

What do you think of the Apple TV 4K? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: Hands-On With the New Apple TV 4K

 

[GizmoDVD]

Happy for the speed improvement

 

[CharlesShaw]

If only the power button on the remote could be programmed to turn my sound bar on/off via infrared, I’d have an excuse to upgrade my old HD Apple TV.

EDIT: The mute button can be trained to use any IR command (when setting up IR volume) so it’s now the power button for the sound bar (which doesn’t have HDMI) and works great. Big improvement over gen 1 remote and now I only need one remote!

 

[Juicy Box]

Has anyone tried pairing the 1st gen Siri Remote with the new 2022 ATV4K3?

I just got my new ATV delivered and was going to swap the Siri Remote with one of my older ATVs, but wasn't sure if the 1st gen Siri Remote could be used with the new ATV.

 

[Seoras]

Dan, clean your desk man!
I was wiping away at my iMac screen in the top right corner during your video until I realised it was your desk and not my screen! 🤣

 

[maxsquared]

Does Apple TV+ content support HDR 10+ now as well?

 

[Wokis]

Any technical reason as to why HDR 10+ isn't being backported into previous 4K models? It should just be some more metadata to send.

I feel they're pretty vague on explicitly calling it a feature for the new ATV, relying on an implication that this is indeed a feature of the new model, which otherwise has a pretty lacklustre new features list.

Guess we'll find out when the apps themselves are updated to fetch and output HDR10+

 

[MauiPa]

LMAO at all the complainers whining about no USBC cable. Just yesterday they were saying that apple should switch to USBC because they already had plenty of cables. Now, some people aren't happy with using one of the many USBC cables they already have? Weird

 

[Shirasaki]

What’s the appeal for 128GB of storage for a tabletop tv box that mainly used for streaming? Those so-called “graphically intensive game” can’t be more than 20GB in size per game right? Offline viewing? Content can’t be transferred outside of Apple TV so who cares…

 

[ELman]

I ordered one. Now if UPS would actually deliver on the day they were paid to deliver on.

 

[azentropy]

Still would love to see a Mac mini mini in the AppleTV case!

 

[Juicy Box]

LMAO at all the complainers whining about no USBC cable. Just yesterday they were saying that apple should switch to USBC because they already had plenty of cables. Now, some people aren't happy with using one of the many USBC cables they already have? Weird

Just speaking from my own personal experience, I literally have no USB-C charging cables.

The closest I have is one TB3 cable that is currently in use.

I wished there was a charging cable in the box.

 

[Realityck]

Does Apple TV+ content support HDR 10+ now as well?

No. See this listing of all the services (Amazon, Hulu, Google Play, Paramount +)

Update just added about a week ago see here

 

[Juicy Box]

What’s the appeal for 128GB of storage for a tabletop tv box that mainly used for streaming?

You can get Ethernet and Thread support with it. Other than that, not much for just streaming.

Those so-called “graphically intensive game” can’t be more than 20GB in size per game right?

Last I checked the static storage size limit was only 4GB for an app.

But, those large games add up very quickly. I have been dealing with out of storage messages for years on my 64GB Apple TVs. I am very happy that there is a larger storage option. For only $20, too!

Beside, even if they were 20GB in size, that means you could only hold two games on the base storage. You want to constantly having to delete games to download a new one?

 

[tonyr6]

Does anyone know the WiFi performance especially the wifi only model?

 

[Realityck]

Does anyone know the WiFi performance especially the wifi only model?

If it's like my 4K 2nd gen the 802.11 AX is very good looking at tvOS speedtest.net app.
2022 ATV4K spec = Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO

 

[NightFox]

LMAO at all the complainers whining about no USBC cable. Just yesterday they were saying that apple should switch to USBC because they already had plenty of cables. Now, some people aren't happy with using one of the many USBC cables they already have? Weird

Or maybe it was just two entirely different groups of people?

 

[citysnaps]

LMAO at all the complainers whining about no USBC cable. Just yesterday they were saying that apple should switch to USBC because they already had plenty of cables. Now, some people aren't happy with using one of the many USBC cables they already have? Weird

Yeah...it's like all of the USB-C cables they claimed that every other piece of tech in their basement uses, all of a sudden vanished!

Must be the cable thief.

 

[fbr$]

What’s the appeal for 128GB of storage for a tabletop tv box that mainly used for streaming?

Do the Photos and Music tvOS apps use the device storage for offline viewing/listening/watching? If yes, then this could be a reason.

 

[AmazingTechGeek]

I wonder why Apple said the A15 gpu is only 30% faster when even the 4-core A15 more than 50% faster than A12 Bionic.

 

[Realityck]

LMAO at all the complainers whining about no USBC cable. Just yesterday they were saying that apple should switch to USBC because they already had plenty of cables. Now, some people aren't happy with using one of the many USBC cables they already have? Weird

Yes anyone that has a few Apple products likely has a USB-C to USB-C cable with a travel AC adapter. If not they are cheap to acquire at your local computer electronics shop.

 

[SFjohn]

What’s the appeal for 128GB of storage for a tabletop tv box that mainly used for streaming? Those so-called “graphically intensive game” can’t be more than 20GB in size per game right? Offline viewing? Content can’t be transferred outside of Apple TV so who cares…

Content viewing with VLC app on Apple TV… we use it quite a bit.

 

[Juicy Box]

I wonder why Apple said the A15 gpu is only 30% faster when even the 4-core A15 more than 50% faster than A12 Bionic.

I have a prediction for this, and this was talked about on the Max Tech YouTube channel, but I think they may of gotten it wrong.

Max Tech said the performance discrepancy might be due to the lack of fan on the 2022 model, but other devices with the A15 do not have a fan, so I don't think that is the reason.

So, I wonder if Max Tech has it wrong, and it isn't that the A15 in the ATV4K3 has reduced performance due to a lack of a fan, but maybe the previous two ATV4Ks had their chips overclocked due to having a fan attached and being able to handle the excess heat.

AFAIK, the ATVs do not have any benchmark data, and everything assumed about performance of the A10X and A12 ATV chips is from the data of those chips in other devices.

Many of the performance assumptions on the ATV (other than subjective experience from use) is based off of how the ATV chips perform in other devices.

Maybe these assumptions are wrong, and the A15 in the Apple TV is performing similarly to other Apple device, but the A12 and A10X in the ATVs may have higher performance than other devices with those chips.

 

[cmChimera]

Does Apple TV+ content support HDR 10+ now as well?

No. See this listing of all the services (Amazon, Hulu, Google Play, Paramount +)

According to Engadget review, the answer is yes, Apple TV+ content supports HDR10+ content now.

While 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+. That feature is particularly useful on the Ark, since it doesn't support Dolby Vision on its own. You can expect HDR10+ to work across Apple TV+ offerings, as well as many titles available for rent or purchase. Amazon has also been pushing the standard for years, so you'll find native HDR10+ support across all of its originals. (It looked particularly great during the opening of The Peripheral.)

Full review here.

 

[Crow_Servo]

I like that the remote is USB-C, since I have two USC-C iPads and I use MagSafe wireless charging for my iPhone. I don’t really use Lightening cables anymore. Although, it would’ve been cool to have MagSafe wireless charging for the remote. Then the price would’ve been more, so I won’t complain.