Apple TV 4K review (2022): Still the best streaming box by a long shot

After Apple lastly gave us an honest Siri distant final 12 months, I could not think about the Apple TV 4K getting significantly better. It is not like anybody is clamoring for an 8K improve – all we want as of late is help for quick 4K streaming, in addition to the multitude of HDR (excessive definition vary) codecs on the market. The brand new Apple TV 4K can simply meet these calls for, however what’s actually spectacular is that it’s miles quicker than earlier than and it is loads cheaper at $129 (down from $179)! Eventually, there’s an Apple TV I can advocate to anybody with out hesitation.

Let’s begin with what’s new: this 12 months’s Apple TV 4K is powered by an A15 Bionic chip, which launched with the iPhone 13 (and remains to be getting used within the iPhone 14). That is an enormous leap ahead from the 2018-era A12 within the earlier mannequin. The brand new field additionally ships with 64GB of storage, as an alternative of a meager 32GB. When you’re planning to load up a ton of video games and apps, there’s additionally a 128GB mannequin for $149, which provides an Ethernet port and help for the Thread internet-of-things protocol. Lastly, Apple has built-in HDR10+ help, which works much like Dolby Imaginative and prescient for delivering extra correct HDR in each scene.

At first look, the Apple TV 4K seems to be the identical because the earlier fashions: a easy black field with obscenely rounded corners. Peer a bit nearer, although, and you will discover it is really smaller, like a prop rendering of its predecessor. Apple says it has 20 p.c much less quantity than earlier than, a results of dropping the fan from earlier fashions (this one runs silently) and being powered by extra environment friendly {hardware}. Apple would not say what, precisely, led to the dramatic value drop. However I might guess it is all the way down to easier manufacturing, in addition to a dip in element pricing throughout the board.

If you wish to hear me wax poetic about Apple’s Siri Distant, simply take a look at my evaluation of the final Apple TV. I am nonetheless enamored with it a 12 months later: It is simple to carry, has the entire fundamental features you’d need, and it’s miles tougher to lose than the earlier super-thin distant. I am nonetheless baffled why we have been pressured to make use of a glass-backed distant with a crummy touchpad on the unique Apple TV 4K. Lengthy reside the brand new mannequin and it is touch-sensitive, directional clickpad.

So certain, the {hardware} is nice, however how’s the software program? Organising the Apple TV 4K is now surprisingly straightforward, assuming you are already beholden to Apple’s ecosystem. After plugging it in, I simply needed to faucet my iPhone to the field to ship over my WiFi and iCloud credentials. I selected to synchronize my residence screens, which made the entire apps from my present Apple TV pop over. At that time, all I needed to do was log into my standard streaming haunts, and I used to be able to go.

After utilizing each Apple TV the corporate has put out over the past decade, I had one quick thought as I began utilizing this new mannequin: Holy hell this factor is quick. That is to not say the final model was gradual, by any means. However there is a snappiness to this 12 months’s field that simply feels liberating. I can swipe by the entire apps on my homescreen with ease, launch Netflix a couple of seconds quicker than earlier than, and drill by my library of films with out breaking a sweat. No extra slight loading delays or pinwheels.

It may simply be that I am experiencing the push of a model new machine, one uncluttered by a 12 months’s price of use. However utilizing the brand new Apple TV 4K feels just like the distinction between utilizing an iPhone X and an iPhone 14 — every little thing simply occurs quicker, with a larger sense of urgency. I discovered that almost all helpful once I was flipping between apps and completely different movies. Whereas I used to be catching up on Guillermo del Toro’s Cupboard of Curiosities on Netflix, I may rapidly jump over to take a look at my YouTube channels whereas my spouse wanted a rest room break, after which resume the creepiness when she returned. Once more, that is one thing I did steadily with the earlier field, however now the Apple TV feels fully unencumbered.