It’s been four long years since the last Apple TV 4K was released, and in that time there have been lots of hopes and dreams for features in whatever comes next. A new chip, 4K/120Hz support, audio passthrough, a remote locator, better home control integration — the 2022 Apple TV 4K is a great box, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
With the fourth-gen Apple TV 4K announced on Tuesday, some of those hopes were met, while others were unfortunately left out.
Coloring the announcement is the device’s price. Apple eliminated the cheaper 64GB, Wi-Fi-only model, leaving just the 128GB, Wi-Fi and Ethernet model — and bumped up its price to $300. I repeat, $300 for a streaming device. It’s a hefty price when every other major streamer on the market is at least half the cost.
There are new features I like about this year’s Apple TV 4K. More processing power is great — although my third generation is still running plenty fast — as is the Find My support for when the remote inevitably gets lost in the couch cushions or tangled up in blankets.
Built-in far-field mics for talking to Siri are nice, too, provided you don’t stuff the box into a credenza like I do. The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K also adds a dedicated AV1 decoder, which allows for higher-quality streaming from apps that support it, such as Netflix, which is excellent.
Any potential improvement to streaming content is a welcome one.
My primary concern, though, is how the Apple TV 4K performs as an integral piece of my home theater.