You may have forgotten about it, but the latest version of the Apple TV 4K is officially slated to launch to buyers on Friday. Ahead of that release, the first reviews of the new Apple TV 4K have been published, alongside a collection of hands-on videos. Head below as we round them all up.
The $129 Apple TV 4K is a worthwhile upgrade for anyone still stuck on the ancient HD model. It’s a speed demon of a streaming box that ticks off all the crucial boxes if you want to enjoy the richest possible home theater experience. And the price is now more reasonable. It’s still more expensive than the budget Roku and Fire TV streaming sticks of the world, but that added cost frees you from ads plastered on the homescreen and comes with some reassurance that Apple isn’t as interested in tracking your viewing habits at every waking moment like some rivals. If you count yourself as an A/V nerd, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the extra 20 bucks for the 128GB model that includes ethernet and Thread support. It will only help the Apple TV 4K last longer in your media cabinet. That step-up $149 model is stillcheaper than the previous-gen 4K, which sold for $179 and only came with 32GB of storage.
If you have a 2021 Apple TV 4K, which I do, you probably aren’t feeling the pinch in terms of performance. In fact, I still have a first-generation Apple TV 4K in active use, and despite it now being six years old, I’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between it and my 2021 Apple TV in a blind test.
That said, the 2022 Apple TV 4K does seem to generally make things snappier when it comes to navigating between the Home Screen and apps, and even potentially within apps as well. It also definitely 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 available. With expanded controller support via the most recent tvOS update, the Apple TV is a better gaming console than ever combined with the A15’s performance prowess.
TechCrunch also points out an upcoming feature that will soon come to the new Apple TV 4K via a software update:
Another excellent video quality feature that Apple has introduced here is something called Quick Media Switching (QMS_VRR), which gets rid of the momentary blackout that currently occurs when switching between different frame rates for different media. If you have the ‘Match Content’ for frame rates turned on, you’ll be familiar with this, since it happens almost any time you start streaming an actual show or movie from most apps.
QMS will get rid of that blackout — once it arrives via a software update later this year. I also wasn’t able to test this, since it’s not available, but it sounds like a nice-to-have feature, with the caveat that it only applies to switching frame rates, and not to switching color spaces like from standard- to high-dynamic range content.
The latest generation Apple TV 4K doesn’t diverge that far from the previous generation. It’s still a black box, but it’s smaller and, quite surprisingly, much lighter than the model that came before it. It’s 20% smaller in its overall size, and that mostly comes with the height of the unit.
In terms of other design changes, there’s no longer a fan here. Yep, the previous Apple TV 4K had a fan, though as someone who has used it day in and day out for many many months, I’ve never once heard it kick in. That’s gone here, though, and it’s a testament to the efficiency of the new A15 Bionic chip inside.
More reviews:
Apple TV 4K hands-on videos
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