Apple TV 4K (3rd Generation) Review
The Apple TV media hub has been losing ground the last few years to competitors that are nearly as good and dramatically less expensive. Apple seeks to address some of these issues with the third-generation Apple TV 4K, which features a faster processor, a smaller profile, and—most importantly—a significant price cut. The Apple TV 4K starts at $129, which is $50 less than the previous generation and $10 less than the Amazon Fire TV Cube ($139.99). It lacks the hands-free voice control of the Fire TV Cube, however, and still costs more than twice as much as compelling options such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and the Chromecast With Google TV 4K (both $49.99). Given its premium price and targeted compatibility within its own ecosystem, the third-gen Apple TV 4K remains best reserved for dedicated Apple households.
Mục Lục
A Smaller Puck and a USB-C Remote
The Apple TV 4K is a puck-like device with the same rounded corners, matte black finish, and unobtrusively flat profile as the previous version. You easily might think they were the same, but this one is a bit smaller, measuring 1.2 by 3.7 by 3.7 inches (HWD) versus 1.4 by 3.9 by 3.9 inches for the outgoing model. An indicator LED sits on the front, while the back houses the power connector and an HDMI port (and an Ethernet port if you get the $149 Ethernet model).
Internally, the Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip, the same processor in the iPhone 14 and an upgrade from the A12 Bionic used in the previous model. The Wi-Fi-only variant includes 64GB of storage, while the Ethernet-equipped version upgrades storage to 128GB. Both models support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, and infrared.
The remote is identical to the previous model save for one upgrade that Apple has slowly begun rolling out across its products: USB-C. The new remote ditches Apple’s proprietary Lightning charging port in favor of the standardized USB-C connector. Otherwise, the remote carries over its one-piece aluminum design with a circular navigation pad near the top and a button that doubles as a touchpad. The power button and pinhole microphone are positioned above the touchpad, while back, mute, play/pause, and volume up/down buttons are below it. The dedicated Siri button is on the right side.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Out of the box, the remote can be awkward. For example, the touchpad is overly sensitive. Since you press it like a button to select anything on the screen, it’s easy to unintentionally push the cursor around and select the wrong thing. Also, by default the TV button on the remote opens the Apple TV app instead of jumping to the home screen. Since there’s no dedicated home button on the remote, you have to press and hold the back button to return to the main screen, which feels unintuitive. Fortunately, both behaviors can be reprogrammed in the Apple TV 4K’s settings menu: Under Remotes and Devices, change Clickpad to Click Only and change TV Button to Home Screen.
Simple Setup for iPhone Users
If you have an iPhone (and if you’re considering the Apple TV, you probably do), setting up the Apple TV 4K is incredibly easy, particularly compared with other media hubs.
As long as your iPhone’s Bluetooth radio is on and it’s connected to the same Wi-Fi network, simply hold it near the Apple TV 4K. A prompt will appear asking if you want to set it up. Enter the code that appears on your TV, and your phone will automatically send your Wi-Fi and Apple login information to the media streamer. Just a minute or two after doing this I was looking at the Apple TV 4K home screen with my apps already installed; I never had to enter any credentials through a frustrating on-screen keyboard. That’s Apple’s first-rate integration at work.
Making Sense of tvOS, Apple TV, and Apple TV+
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
There are three overarching aspects of interacting with the Apple TV. At the highest level is tvOS, the platform that powers the Apple TV hardware. tvOS has its own user interface for finding and running apps. Apple TV is one of those apps, but it’s also an entire service unto itself. It encompasses the basics for renting and buying movies or TV shows from Apple’s store, as well as ferreting out viewable content on competing streaming services. Lastly, there’s the Apple TV+ streaming service (found within the Apple TV app), which is where you can discover and watch Apple original movies and shows like Greyhound and Ted Lasso for $6.99 per month. This tiered arrangement could be better defined.
The tvOS interface itself is simple and iOS-like, but with more rectangular icons than square ones. The home screen shows five quick-launch apps (which you can easily rearrange) on the bottom quarter; the rest of the screen space is filled with the selected app’s logo or promotional video or stills. Scroll down from the main screen to browse the rest of your apps, which are scattered about in order of installation, though they can be rearranged to suit your preference. You can also set up folders to organize types of apps (such as games) if you wish, but tvOS won’t do it for you automatically like iOS and iPadOS do.
The tvOS App Store has come into its own. It now offers most competing video streaming services including Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Sling, Twitch, and YouTube as individual apps. There are also plenty of music services beyond Apple Music, including Amazon Music, SiriusXM, and Spotify, though YouTube Music is missing. (This last omission is puzzling because YouTube has no fewer than three apps on tvOS, including YouTube TV and YouTube Kids). Naturally, the Apple TV 4K supports Apple AirPlay 2 for streaming directly from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
If you like games, you can buy them individually from the App Store or access hundreds through a subscription to Apple Arcade. Few media streamers support games of any kind. Many of the games are mobile ports, but there are some notable gems like Shovel Knight Dig and Wonder-Boy and the Dragon’s Curse, which you can play with a compatible Bluetooth gamepad. However, even with the A15 Bionic onboard, you aren’t going to get PlayStation or Xbox gaming power, and the selection doesn’t come close to that of dedicated gaming hardware like the Nintendo Switch.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
Apple clearly considers its Apple TV app to be the centerpiece of the Apple TV 4K given its dedicated button on the remote and prominent placement within the tvOS user interface. In fact, the Apple TV app feels more like a complete modern media hub all on its own. It’s odd, because Amazon Fire TV and Google TV both combine browsing apps and content across their own and third-party services. Moreover, neither tvOS nor the Apple TV app offer a live TV guide for free streaming channels or subscription-based live TV services (Fire TV, Google TV, and Roku all do). Apple TV+ (the monthly service) is available separately from a whole host of third-party hardware, including Amazon Fire TV products, Google TV streamers and sets, Roku streamers, and a bevy of smart TVs from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, TCL, and Vizio.
Fitness fiends take note: The Apple TV 4K might be one of the best media streamers for working out. Apple Fitness is available as an app and it provides access to Apple Fitness+ ($9.99 per month), which offers guided exercises and meditations. It can also track your progress by connecting to your Apple Watch.
Last, Apple’s voice assistant Siri is accessible through the Apple TV 4K. You can summon Siri by pressing and holding the microphone button on the remote and then voicing your query. Siri can search for content, open apps, provide weather and sports info, help you find your lost Apple Watch or iPhone, and control HomeKit-compatible smart devices on your network. Siri is about as useful as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are on competing media streamers when it comes to finding content. Even so, it feels held back by the remote. The Amazon Fire TV Cube, for example, offer hands-free access to Alexa via far-field microphones. Apple clearly missed an opportunity here to bake voice access to Siri directly into the hardware.
You can use Siri hands-free with the Apple TV 4K if you connect it to a HomePod or HomePod Mini, but the same can also be said for $50 media streamers like the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and the Chromecast With Google TV 4K, both of which work with their respective platforms’ smart speakers.
The Apple TV Streaming Media Experience
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
The third-generation Apple TV outputs in 4K resolution and supports high dynamic range (HDR) content in Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and hybrid log gamma (HLG). It’s also compatible with Dolby Atmos, along with lossless media formats including Apple Lossless and FLAC.
Despite interface quirks, the Apple TV 4K is downright snappy to use. Switching between apps is quick, and while the tvOS home screen doesn’t offer much to work with compared with the content-rich Apple TV app, it offers rapid access to any individual service or app installed on the device. I had no problems switching between apps and the home screen; for example, jumping from Twitch to Apple TV to YouTube feels brisk. Video loads quickly as well, with most 4K content hitting native resolution almost immediately upon playback.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
A More Accessible Apple TV?
The third-generation Apple TV 4K is a capable media streamer that’s more appealing than its pricier predecessor. Despite its $50 price cut, however, nearly every other major streaming device is cheaper by a significant margin. While the Amazon Fire TV Cube costs $10 more, it has the added benefits of both hands-free voice control and HDMI pass-through, two features we’d love to see added to the Apple TV. Still, if you primarily use Apple products, the Apple TV 4K is an excellent media streamer thanks to its seamless integration across the ecosystem. For everyone else, the Amazon Fire TV Cube remains our top pick at the high end while any of the 4K-capable options in the $50 price range from Amazon, Google, and Roku are easy to recommend.
Apple TV 4K (3rd Generation)
3.5
(Opens in a new window)
See It
$149.00
at Amazon
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MSRP $129.00
Pros
Cons
The Bottom Line
Despite a drop in price and a boost in performance, the third-generation Apple TV 4K is still an expensive media streamer that’s best suited for Apple-centric households.
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