As already mentioned several times, battery life is not an issue with the models released 2017 or later, since they already have 4K HDR decode support fully implemented in hardware, with low CPU usage. (I'm excluding the 2017 MacBook Air though, since that uses 2015 hardware.)The #1 complaint here is always about battery life. Letting the customer decide to drain their battery watching 4K would result in knee-jerk reactions here and threatening class action lawsuits, and you know this to be true here.
While T2 may also do hardware HEVC decode, it isn't actually necessary for this purpose, since Apple already supports such hardware HEVC decode on Kaby Lake Macs.
The difference though is the T2 appears to support a more restrictive DRM layer than what is required on other platforms.
Yes, but please also note this:So I’ll be able to play 4K content on my 16” MacBook but not on my 2017 iMac 5K?
I'm not sure how it applies to Netflix, but I wonder if it means it will be downsampled to 1080p on MacBook Pros.
Play HDR video on Mac - Apple Support (CA)
Support for high dynamic range (HDR) video, such as HDR movies and TV shows from Apple or other providers, requires the latest version of macOS, a compatible Mac model, and an HDR10-compatible display, TV, or projector.
See above. Netflix doesn't require this on other platforms. This appears to be an Apple restriction.Why do you hold Apple responsible for a poor decision by Netflix? Perhaps you should direct your anger at Netflix, as even my 2012 Retina MacBook Pro can play 4k video content. This isn't an Apple decision.