Apple’s fourth-generation Apple TV 4K adds a faster chip, Find My support for its remote, far-field microphones for Siri and a dedicated AV1 decoder. It also drops the cheaper configuration, leaving a 128GB Wi-Fi and Ethernet model priced at $300. For home theater enthusiasts, that is a premium bill attached to a box that still skips several features they have been asking for.
It has been four years since the previous Apple TV 4K, according to The Verge’s John Higgins, leaving plenty of time for expectations to accumulate. Some were met. Finding a remote swallowed by sofa cushions is a practical improvement, and the AV1 decoder can enable higher-quality streaming in apps that support the format, including Netflix. More processing power is welcome, although Higgins notes his third-generation model was still running quickly.
The built-in microphones could make Siri easier to use, with one small catch: the Apple TV needs to be somewhere it can hear you. Put it inside a credenza, as Higgins does, and the hands-free pitch becomes less compelling. Technology remains stubbornly attached to the laws of acoustics.
The bigger disappointment is what Apple did not add. There is no audio passthrough, which would let a receiver decode the original audio stream rather than having the Apple TV handle it through its Continuous Audio Connection. Higgins says that connection can cause playback issues. He already uses an Atmos system with SVS and Revel speakers, so Apple’s new option to build surround sound from paired HomePod 2 and HomePod Mini 2 speakers does not solve a problem he has. It asks him to replace a system he already owns.
There is no 120Hz output, either. That might have made the Apple TV more attractive for game streaming through services such as Moonlight, and helped distinguish it from streamers that top out at 60Hz. For movies, Higgins points out, the omission matters less: the Apple TV can output at 24 frames per second, which a 120Hz television can display with 5:5 pulldown.
Other enthusiast-friendly additions, such as an HDMI input for passthrough or a digital optical output, are also absent. Higgins acknowledges that including them could have pushed the price higher. That is a fair concern; $300 is already an awkward amount to charge for a streaming box when Google, Roku and Amazon offer devices at half the price or less.
Most streamers probably do not need audio passthrough or 120Hz gaming output. But Apple positions the TV 4K as a premium choice, and a premium price invites comparison with the features customers can get elsewhere. The new decoder and remote locator are useful additions. They just do not answer the question raised by the price: what, exactly, makes this box worth so much more?
Apple’s new streamer may still be a great box. The trouble is that “great” has to work harder when the competition costs less and the enthusiasts being asked to pay extra are still waiting for the features they actually want.
Sources: Glitch Please! and The Verge — As a TV enthusiast, I was hoping for more from the Apple TV 4K — https://www.theverge.com/tech/1011324/apple-tv-4k-missed-features — John Higgins
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