Apple TV 4K (2022) overview: unmatched energy, unrealized potential

The newest Apple TV 4K is Apple’s strongest and full-featured leisure field but. And it’s lastly accessible for a decrease, if not fairly low-cost, $129 beginning worth. Now in its third technology, the brand new Apple TV is powered by the identical chip as final yr’s iPhone 13 — true overkill for a streaming participant, one may argue — and has adopted assist for the HDR10 Plus format that’s widespread on Samsung TVs, which have lengthy lacked Dolby Vision. The Siri Remote has additionally transitioned to a USB-C port, a development that’s inevitably coming for the iPhone. 

The {hardware} itself is barely smaller and noticeably lighter than the second-gen 4K from final yr. That’s as a result of Apple has eliminated the cooling fan (sure, there was a fan in there earlier than) in favor of a passive thermal design. But on the entire, it appears like the identical previous Apple TV with a matte high and shiny, dust-magnet sides. This is a field that sits on a shelf and connects to your TV by way of a (offered individually) multi-foot HDMI cable. There’s simply an Apple emblem on high — no extra “tv” branding. Upon saying the brand new system, which works on sale November 4th, Apple lastly discontinued the traditional Apple TV HD.

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So 4K HDR video now comes commonplace. But there’s nonetheless a significant divide between the 2 Apple TV 4K configurations that Apple is promoting. For one, the bottom 64GB mannequin lacks an ethernet jack. You’ll must spend an extra $20 to achieve gigabit ethernet, double the storage, and Thread networking assist. The latter is a crucial future-proofing measure for good dwelling fanatics. Both fashions can act as hubs for Apple’s HomeEquipment ecosystem, however solely the $149 128GB SKU is absolutely ready for Thread and Matter-enabled Thread equipment. If you go for the cheaper unit, you’ll wish to have a separate Thread border router — akin to Apple’s personal HomePod Mini — to keep away from lacking out on the common good dwelling each time we really get there. 

Now pushed alongside by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, the Apple TV 4K is extra snappy and responsive than ever earlier than. Honestly, the last-gen {hardware} was already very fast, and the one space the place I’ve observed the additional pace this time is when pulling up the multitasking view / app switcher. It’s completely fluid each time with none trace of stutter. Apple says that apps are quicker to load, however once more, you’d be hard-pressed to really feel that distinction in the event you’re upgrading from the prior 4K. It’s all these individuals coming from the Apple TV HD that can actually respect this bump in pace. Nothing in tvOS ever feels uneven or comes wherever shut. It’s an easy person expertise that’s free from the homescreen advertisements and sponsored content material you’re so typically served by Amazon and Roku. The A15 Bionic comes with a foolish quantity of horsepower for an leisure gadget. I feel its important objective is to open up extra headroom and lift the graphics potential for future video games on the platform for many who really play them. tvOS now helps a ton of third-party controllers, even when Apple Arcade has by no means taken off.

Part of why tvOS is so nice to make use of is that it’s pretty unambitious while you take a step again. The Apple TV has by no means managed to reinvent the way in which we watch and luxuriate in TV exhibits and flicks. The way forward for TV is likely to be apps — however provided that you’re speaking about the very same streaming must-haves which can be accessible on competing platforms like Roku, Fire TV, and Google TV. Apple’s try to discover a place on the TV display for common cellular apps like Airbnb by no means panned out: a variety of early tvOS apps are buried in cobwebs and haven’t seen updates in years. Many have ceased working altogether. 

The tvOS homescreen remains to be a grid of apps similar to all the time. The Apple TV app is the place you go for personalised suggestions and your Up Next watchlist. It’s the place you lease or purchase content material and stream Apple TV Plus originals. You can subscribe to some streaming companies right here (hardly a singular idea anymore) and watch exhibits from these channels with out bouncing between apps. 

But the actual heavy hitters like Netflix, HBO, and Disney don’t combine with it and nonetheless make you employ their very own apps if you’d like their content material. Live sports activities scores and a devoted children part spherical out the Apple TV app’s options. I don’t find yourself utilizing what’s supposed to be a serious hub all that usually, maybe as a result of it’s so siloed off from the homescreen. 

And there are nonetheless areas the place Apple is badly trailing Amazon, Google, and Roku — significantly in terms of stay TV. Fire TV and Google TV correctly combine streaming TV companies like Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV proper into the OS, granting fast entry to particular person channels and even offering a conventional cable-like information while you wish to peruse what’s on. 

The Apple TV 4K can’t match that. It will get you some of the way in which there: you possibly can inform Siri to drag up channels in apps like FuboTV and DirecTV Stream, however most other popular live TV services aren’t supported to begin with. Some suppliers like Spectrum allow you to use the Apple TV as a set-top field and entry your full channel bundle by way of their software program, however that’s completely different from integrating these apps and programming into the core tvOS software program. 

In my overview of the newest Fire TV Cube earlier this week, I discussed that I may say “Alexa, tune to ESPN on Sling TV.” From an off state, my TV would activate, the suitable HDMI enter would take management, and the Fire TV jumped into stay programming in seconds. I want I may say the identical for the Apple TV 4K, however the cohesion isn’t as robust. The hands-free voice element is there in the event you’ve bought a HomePod or HomePod Mini, and you’ll pull up particular person apps like ESPN, CNN, or CBS utilizing your single sign-on credentials. But it’s time for Apple to extra tightly accommodate a few of these streaming TV platforms. A information of stay programming within the Apple TV app would undoubtedly get me utilizing it extra commonly.

All of that is to say that in the event you’re in search of some trailblazing makeover of TV consumption as you already know it at the moment, the Apple TV 4K isn’t that. But for individuals deeply rooted in Apple’s {hardware} and companies ecosystem, it will possibly ship a blissful expertise, at occasions, and spectacular cross-device performance. 

This begins with the setup course of: you simply maintain an iPhone close to the Apple TV after plugging it in, and your Apple account, Wi-Fi credentials, and settings preferences are transferred to the brand new system. It took below two minutes for it to totally restore my homescreen structure and obtain each app I’d had on the previous one. Your iPhone can play the position of distant management and, extra usefully, you should utilize its acquainted keyboard when logging in to all of these apps. Purchases and leases could be authenticated with Face ID or Touch ID. You can pair AirPods with an Apple TV for personal listening or watch one thing collectively from afar with mates utilizing SharePlay. Other platforms assist Bluetooth earbuds and have comparable distant capabilities, however having tried all of them, Apple’s execution is probably the most seamless. Apple Fitness Plus can sync with an Apple Watch — and now an iPhone, for many who don’t personal a watch — to point out exercise metrics in your TV. AirPlay stays current for simply beaming content material from one other system onto the large display, and you’ll management HomeEquipment-compatible good dwelling devices with the Siri Remote.

It’d be nice to have a correct Home app on the Apple TV 4K itself, particularly when it serves as a hub for that universe, however for now, you’re caught with Siri instructions and operating your favourite scenes and viewing digital camera feeds in Control Center. The Apple TV 4K nonetheless helps a number of person profiles, and later this yr, Siri will be capable to distinguish between the voices of as much as six individuals to modify profiles or convey up personalised strategies. But Apple’s method to profiles nonetheless wants extra refinement, like separate homescreens for each person. Streaming app builders additionally are typically lazy about linking their particular person person profiles with tvOS profiles, leaving the entire idea helpful for Apple’s first-party companies and never a lot else.

Speaking of Siri, tvOS 16.1 not too long ago launched a extra compact on-screen interface for Apple’s voice assistant. When activated, the pulsating Siri emblem seems within the decrease proper of the display, and any visible responses (film search outcomes, climate forecasts, and so forth.) are pushed to the suitable aspect in a vertical listing to keep away from getting in the way in which of no matter you’re watching. It’s a welcome streamlining that makes Siri really feel useful however not obtrusive. However, there are nonetheless many queries that produce an “I can’t help you search for that here” response. I perceive that Siri is targeted on leisure on the Apple TV, however it’s too inflexible of a cutoff in comparison with Alexa and Google Assistant. Asking for sports activities scores is okay, however Siri on tvOS will refuse to do a simple arithmetic equation or inform you who the president of the United States is. Apple’s assistant wants extra consistency throughout platforms.

Other than ditching Lightning for USB-C, the included Siri Remote is an identical to the prior technology. This is basically constructive: it’s ergonomic and simple to make use of, and when you get down the clickpad’s rotational gesture for shortly scrubbing by way of a film or present, you’ll hardly ever hassle with the previous much less environment friendly method of fast-forwarding and rewinding. I do badly want that Apple had included a U1 chip within the new distant that may’ve made it simple to seek out with precision utilizing a close-by iPhone. Failing that, even a built-in speaker would’ve been good for a “Siri, find my remote” command. This distant isn’t as simple to lose because the earlier stupidly skinny model, however it nonetheless occurs to one of the best of us. You can add backlighting and a raised nub on the play / pause button (making it simpler to search out by really feel) to my want listing for the subsequent iteration of the Siri Remote.

As for its dwelling theater chops, every part is just about the identical because it was with the second-gen Apple TV 4K, however now, HDR10 Plus is added to the video combine together with Dolby Vision. This will likely be welcome information to Samsung TV house owners, as Apple’s unique programming is now streaming within the format, and plenty of films you could lease or purchase in Dolby Vision must also fall again to HDR10 Plus on appropriate TV units. HDR10 Plus provides the identical important advantage of Dolby Vision, utilizing dynamic metadata to permit for per-frame changes to the image that align with a filmmaker’s intent. The traditional settings for matching dynamic range and frame rate are nonetheless accessible, and it’s best to use the previous to maintain the Apple TV 4K from operating in HDR always.

The third-gen Apple TV 4K has one other little bit of future proofing up its sleeve: later this yr, a software program replace will add assist for what’s referred to as QMS VRR. This permits appropriate TVs to modify between completely different body charges with none black screens or noticeable image interruptions. How many TVs work with QMS VRR, you ask? Well, zero in the mean time. But you’ll begin seeing them hit the market subsequent yr; keep tuned for extra information about this function at CES. I’ve by no means been that bothered by the brief flicker when altering body charges, however I received’t miss it, both.

The $129 Apple TV 4K is a worthwhile improve for anybody nonetheless caught on the traditional HD mannequin. It’s a pace demon of a streaming field that ticks off all of the essential bins if you wish to benefit from the richest doable dwelling theater expertise. And the worth is now extra affordable. It’s nonetheless dearer than the price range Roku and Fire TV streaming sticks of the world, however that added price frees you from advertisements plastered on the homescreen and comes with some reassurance that Apple isn’t as taken with monitoring your viewing habits at each waking second like some rivals. If you depend your self as an A/V nerd, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the additional 20 bucks for the 128GB mannequin that features ethernet and Thread assist. It will solely assist the Apple TV 4K last more in your media cupboard. That step-up $149 mannequin is nonetheless cheaper than the previous-gen 4K, which offered for $179 and solely got here with 32GB of storage.

As for current Apple TV 4K house owners, except you’ve bought a Samsung 4K TV in your lounge and have been ready with bated breath for HDR10 Plus, there’s no compelling motive to improve from a previous mannequin to this one. You’re unlikely to understand any of the pace enhancements, and Thread / Matter is simply simply getting off the bottom, so there’s loads of time to attend for no matter Apple’s bought subsequent within the Apple TV pipeline. It’s not about reinventing TV anymore. Like a lot of Apple’s merchandise this yr, the Apple TV 4K makes its case with gradual refinement.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge