The new Apple TV 4K goes on sale Friday and it should be a big seller. Apple has dramatically cut the price by $70 on all models while doubling the storage and adding features, making it the best Apple TV value ever.
But for the most part, the new Apple TV is still largely unchanged from the previous model. Over at The Verge, Chris Welch praises the new A15 chip as “more snappy and responsive than ever before” but also admits that “the only area where I’ve noticed the extra speed this time is when pulling up the multitasking view.” He also notes that apps are faster to load, but “you’d be hard-pressed to feel that difference if you’re upgrading from the prior 4K.”
Eli Blumenthal at CNET tested the new processor with the NBA 2K23 Apple Arcade Edition and found that animations lacked “fluidity and sharpness” despite the extra power. And TechCrunch’s Darrell Etherington noted that while the chip did “generally make things snappier when it comes to navigating between the Home Screen and apps,” he also said he’d be “hard-pressed to tell the difference between it and my 2021 Apple TV in a blind test.”
The other big change is the addition of HDR10+, which reviewers were glad to see. It’s mainly a feature for Samsung TVs, however, as that’s only of the only manufacturers that doesn’t support Dolby Vision. And the Siri Remote is the same despite the addition of USB-C. So you won’t get a U1 chip for precise location tracking. And while it’s lighter and a touch smaller than previous versions, Welch noted, “ it looks like the same old Apple TV with a matte top and glossy, dust-magnet sides.”
We’ll have our own review of the Apple TV 4K soon, but in the meantime, you might want to consider picking up the 2021 model for $100 ($79 off) at Amazon.
