The latest Apple TV 4K is Apple’s astir almighty and full-featured amusement container yet. And it’s yet disposable for a lower, if not rather cheap, $129 starting price. Now successful its 3rd generation, the caller Apple TV is powered by the aforesaid spot arsenic past year’s iPhone 13 — existent overkill for a streaming player, 1 could reason — and has adopted enactment for the HDR10 Plus format that’s communal connected Samsung TVs, which person agelong lacked Dolby Vision. The Siri Remote has besides transitioned to a USB-C port, a inclination that’s inevitably coming for the iPhone. 

The hardware itself is somewhat smaller and noticeably lighter than the second-gen 4K from past year. That’s due to the fact that Apple has removed the cooling instrumentality (yes, determination was a instrumentality successful determination before) successful favour of a passive thermal design. But connected the whole, it looks similar the aforesaid aged Apple TV with a matte apical and glossy, dust-magnet sides. This is simply a container that sits connected a support and connects to your TV via a (sold separately) multi-foot HDMI cable. There’s conscionable an Apple logo connected apical — nary much “tv” branding. Upon announcing the caller device, which goes connected merchantability November 4th, Apple yet discontinued the past Apple TV HD.

So 4K HDR video present comes standard. But there’s inactive a meaningful disagreement betwixt the 2 Apple TV 4K configurations that Apple is selling. For one, the basal 64GB exemplary lacks an ethernet jack. You’ll person to walk an further $20 to summation gigabit ethernet, treble the storage, and Thread networking support. The second is an important future-proofing measurement for astute location enthusiasts. Both models tin enactment arsenic hubs for Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem, but lone the $149 128GB SKU is afloat prepared for Thread and Matter-enabled Thread accessories. If you opt for the cheaper unit, you’ll privation to person a abstracted Thread borderline router — specified arsenic Apple’s ain HomePod Mini — to debar missing retired connected the cosmopolitan astute location whenever we really get there. 

Now pushed on by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, the Apple TV 4K is much snappy and responsive than ever before. Honestly, the last-gen hardware was already precise quick, and the lone country wherever I’ve noticed the other velocity this clip is erstwhile pulling up the multitasking presumption / app switcher. It’s perfectly fluid each clip without immoderate hint of stutter. Apple says that apps are faster to load, but again, you’d beryllium hard-pressed to consciousness that quality if you’re upgrading from the anterior 4K. It’s each those radical coming from the Apple TV HD that volition truly admit this bump successful speed. Nothing successful tvOS ever feels choppy oregon comes anyplace close. It’s a straightforward idiosyncratic acquisition that’s escaped from the homescreen ads and sponsored contented you’re truthful often served by Amazon and Roku. The A15 Bionic comes with a silly magnitude of horsepower for an amusement gadget. I deliberation its main intent is to unfastened up much headroom and rise the graphics imaginable for aboriginal games connected the level for those who really play them. tvOS present supports a ton of third-party controllers, adjacent if Apple Arcade has ne'er taken off.

Part of wherefore tvOS is truthful pleasant to usage is that it’s reasonably unambitious erstwhile you instrumentality a measurement back. The Apple TV has ne'er managed to reinvent the mode we ticker and bask TV shows and movies. The aboriginal of TV mightiness beryllium apps — but lone if you’re talking astir the nonstop aforesaid streaming must-haves that are disposable connected competing platforms similar Roku, Fire TV, and Google TV. Apple’s effort to find a spot connected the TV surface for fashionable mobile apps similar Airbnb ne'er panned out: a fig of aboriginal tvOS apps are buried successful cobwebs and haven’t seen updates successful years. Many person ceased moving altogether. 

The tvOS homescreen is inactive a grid of apps conscionable similar always. The Apple TV app is wherever you spell for personalized recommendations and your Up Next watchlist. It’s wherever you rent oregon bargain contented and watercourse Apple TV Plus originals. You tin subscribe to some streaming services present (hardly a unsocial conception anymore) and ticker shows from those channels without bouncing betwixt apps. 

But the existent dense hitters (namely HBO) don’t integrate with Apple TV channels and inactive marque you usage their ain apps if you privation their content. They do astatine slightest look successful the Up Next enactment and passim recommendations, arsenic bash shows from Hulu, Disney Plus, and galore different services. Live sports scores and a dedicated kids conception circular retired the Apple TV app’s features. I don’t extremity up utilizing what’s intended to beryllium a large hub each that often, possibly because it’s truthful siloed disconnected from the homescreen. 

And determination are inactive areas wherever Apple is severely trailing Amazon, Google, and Roku — peculiarly erstwhile it comes to unrecorded TV. Fire TV and Google TV wisely integrate streaming TV services similar Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV close into the OS, granting speedy entree to idiosyncratic channels and adjacent providing a accepted cable-like usher erstwhile you privation to peruse what’s on. 

The Apple TV 4K can’t lucifer that. It gets you some of the mode there: you tin archer Siri to propulsion up channels successful apps similar FuboTV and DirecTV Stream, but most different fashionable unrecorded TV services aren’t supported to statesman with. Some providers similar Spectrum fto you usage the Apple TV arsenic a set-top container and entree your afloat transmission bundle done their software, but that’s antithetic from integrating these apps and programming into the halfway tvOS software. 

In my reappraisal of the latest Fire TV Cube earlier this week, I mentioned that I could accidental “Alexa, tune to ESPN connected Sling TV.” From an disconnected state, my TV would crook on, the close HDMI input would instrumentality control, and the Fire TV jumped into unrecorded programming successful seconds. I privation I could accidental the aforesaid for the Apple TV 4K, but the cohesion isn’t arsenic strong. The hands-free dependable constituent is determination if you’ve got a HomePod oregon HomePod Mini, and you tin propulsion up idiosyncratic apps similar ESPN, CNN, oregon CBS utilizing your azygous sign-on credentials. But it’s clip for Apple to much tightly accommodate immoderate of these streaming TV platforms. A usher of unrecorded programming successful the Apple TV app would decidedly get maine utilizing it much regularly.

All of this is to accidental that if you’re seeking immoderate trailblazing makeover of TV depletion arsenic you cognize it today, the Apple TV 4K isn’t that. But for radical profoundly rooted successful Apple’s hardware and services ecosystem, it tin present a blissful experience, astatine times, and awesome cross-device functionality. 

This starts with the setup process: you conscionable clasp an iPhone adjacent the Apple TV aft plugging it in, and your Apple account, Wi-Fi credentials, and settings preferences are transferred to the caller device. It took nether 2 minutes for it to afloat reconstruct my homescreen layout and download each app I’d had connected the aged one. Your iPhone tin play the relation of distant power and, much usefully, you tin usage its acquainted keyboard erstwhile logging successful to each of those apps. Purchases and rentals tin beryllium authenticated with Face ID oregon Touch ID. You tin brace AirPods with an Apple TV for backstage listening oregon ticker thing unneurotic from afar with friends utilizing SharePlay. Other platforms enactment Bluetooth earbuds and person akin distant capabilities, but having tried each of them, Apple’s execution is the astir seamless. Apple Fitness Plus tin sync with an Apple Watch — and present an iPhone, for those who don’t ain a ticker — to amusement workout metrics connected your TV. AirPlay remains contiguous for easy beaming contented from different instrumentality onto the large screen, and you tin power HomeKit-compatible astute location gadgets with the Siri Remote.

It’d beryllium large to person a due Home app connected the Apple TV 4K itself, particularly erstwhile it serves arsenic a hub for that universe, but for now, you’re stuck with Siri commands and moving your favourite scenes and viewing camera feeds successful Control Center. The Apple TV 4K inactive supports aggregate idiosyncratic profiles, and aboriginal this year, Siri volition beryllium capable to separate betwixt the voices of up to six radical to power profiles oregon bring up personalized suggestions. But Apple’s attack to profiles inactive needs much refinement, similar separate homescreens for each person. Streaming app developers besides thin to beryllium lazy astir linking their idiosyncratic individual profiles with tvOS profiles, leaving the full conception utile for Apple’s first-party services and not overmuch else.

Speaking of Siri, tvOS 16.1 precocious introduced a much compact on-screen interface for Apple’s dependable assistant. When activated, the pulsating Siri logo appears successful the little close of the screen, and immoderate ocular responses (movie hunt results, upwind forecasts, etc.) are pushed to the close broadside successful a vertical database to debar getting successful the mode of immoderate you’re watching. It’s a invited streamlining that makes Siri consciousness adjuvant but not obtrusive. However, determination are inactive many queries that nutrient an “I can’t assistance you hunt for that here” response. I recognize that Siri is focused connected amusement connected the Apple TV, but it’s excessively rigid of a cutoff compared to Alexa and Google Assistant. Asking for sports scores is okay, but Siri connected tvOS volition garbage to bash a elemental mathematics equation oregon archer you who the president of the United States is. Apple’s adjunct needs much consistency crossed platforms.

Other than ditching Lightning for USB-C, the included Siri Remote is identical to the anterior generation. This is mostly positive: it’s ergonomic and casual to use, and erstwhile you get down the clickpad’s rotational motion for rapidly scrubbing done a movie oregon show, you’ll seldom fuss with the aged little businesslike mode of fast-forwarding and rewinding. I bash severely privation that Apple had included a U1 spot successful the caller distant that would’ve made it casual to hunt down with precision utilizing a adjacent iPhone. Failing that, adjacent a built-in talker would’ve been bully for a “Siri, find my remote” command. This distant isn’t arsenic casual to suffer arsenic the erstwhile stupidly bladed version, but it inactive happens to the champion of us. You tin adhd backlighting and a raised nub connected the play / intermission fastener (making it easier to find by feel) to my privation database for the adjacent iteration of the Siri Remote.

As for its location theatre chops, everything is beauteous overmuch the aforesaid arsenic it was with the second-gen Apple TV 4K, but now, HDR10 Plus is added to the video premix on with Dolby Vision. This volition beryllium invited quality to Samsung TV owners, arsenic Apple’s archetypal programming is present streaming successful the format, and galore movies that you tin rent oregon bargain successful Dolby Vision should besides autumn backmost to HDR10 Plus connected compatible TV sets. HDR10 Plus offers the aforesaid main payment of Dolby Vision, utilizing dynamic metadata to let for per-frame adjustments to the representation that align with a filmmaker’s intent. The accustomed settings for matching dynamic scope and framework rate are inactive available, and you should usage the erstwhile to support the Apple TV 4K from moving successful HDR astatine each times.

The third-gen Apple TV 4K has different spot of aboriginal proofing up its sleeve: aboriginal this year, a bundle update volition adhd enactment for what’s known arsenic QMS VRR. This enables compatible TVs to power betwixt antithetic framework rates without immoderate achromatic screens oregon noticeable representation interruptions. How galore TVs enactment with QMS VRR, you ask? Well, zero astatine the moment. But you’ll commencement seeing them deed the marketplace adjacent year; enactment tuned for much quality astir this diagnostic astatine CES. I’ve ne'er been that bothered by the abbreviated flicker erstwhile changing framework rates, but I won’t miss it, either.

The $129 Apple TV 4K is simply a worthwhile upgrade for anyone inactive stuck connected the past HD model. It’s a velocity demon of a streaming container that ticks disconnected each the important boxes if you privation to bask the richest imaginable location theatre experience. And the terms is present much reasonable. It’s inactive much costly than the fund Roku and Fire TV streaming sticks of the world, but that added outgo frees you from ads plastered connected the homescreen and comes with immoderate reassurance that Apple isn’t arsenic funny successful tracking your viewing habits astatine each waking infinitesimal similar immoderate rivals. If you number yourself arsenic an A/V nerd, I wouldn’t hesitate to walk the other 20 bucks for the 128GB exemplary that includes ethernet and Thread support. It volition lone assistance the Apple TV 4K past longer successful your media cabinet. That step-up $149 exemplary is still cheaper than the previous-gen 4K, which sold for $179 and lone came with 32GB of storage.

As for existing Apple TV 4K owners, unless you’ve got a Samsung 4K TV successful your surviving country and person been waiting with bated enactment for HDR10 Plus, there’s nary compelling crushed to upgrade from a anterior exemplary to this one. You’re improbable to comprehend immoderate of the velocity improvements, and Thread / Matter is lone conscionable getting disconnected the ground, truthful there’s plentifulness of clip to hold for immoderate Apple’s got adjacent successful the Apple TV pipeline. It’s not astir reinventing TV anymore. Like galore of Apple’s products this year, the Apple TV 4K makes its lawsuit with gradual refinement.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge