The new Apple TV 4K will be delivered to customers and hit the shelves starting Friday, November 4th. In advance, selected publications and YouTube channels have already published initial reviews of the new Apple TV.
Key new features on the third-generation Apple TV 4K include the A15 Bionic chip, 4GB of memory, HDR10+ support, a USB-C charging port on the Siri Remote, and a slimmer, lighter, fanless design. The Apple TV 4K is now available with 64GB of storage for a lower starting price of $169, below the $189 128GB model, which also has an Ethernet port and support for Thread networking. The Apple TV 4K's performance improvements were noticeable to reviewers, especially when switching apps, but they noted that there's little that can benefit from them other than gaming. Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch writes:
If you have a 2021 Apple TV 4K, which I do, you probably won't feel the performance hit. I still have a first-generation Apple TV 4K in use, and even though it's now six years old, I'd hardly notice any difference between it and my 2021 Apple TV in a blind test. However, the 2022 Apple TV 4K seems to be generally faster when it comes to navigating between the home screen and apps, and possibly within apps as well. It's also a real asset for using the Apple TV as a gaming device, as it can keep up with the most graphically demanding Arcade and App Store titles. With expanded controller support from the recent tvOS update, combined with the power of the A15, the Apple TV is a better gaming console than ever.
Apple TV 4K 2022 available from Friday
Eli Blumenthal von CNET on the other hand, found gaming on the Apple TV 4K unconvincing and noted that the A15 Bionic chip still doesn't help the Apple TV compete with gaming consoles:
NBA 2K23 loaded quickly and the game finally has commentary, bringing a console-like quality that was lacking in previous editions, but that's where the similarity ends. In my few matches, the title looked and felt a bit slower than the console version. Even with an Xbox controller paired with the Apple TV 4K, there's no direct passing and animations lack the fluidity and sharpness of the game on the Xbox One, not to mention the Xbox Series S/X. Gameloft's Asphalt 8 Plus also loaded quickly and was easy to play with the Apple TV's Siri Remote. But there's no ray tracing or other modern graphical improvements that would confuse this title with a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X game. All in all, there doesn't seem to be anything extra that the A15 Bionic brings to gaming on the Apple TV 4K.
The latest generation of the Apple TV 4K is therefore not too different from the previous generation. It is around 20% smaller and also cheaper overall. If you are considering an upgrade, you certainly won't go wrong. Here's a reminder: The new Apple TV 4K will be released on Friday, November 4th. The WiFi model with 64 GB storage capacity costs 169 euros, while the WiFi + Ethernet version with 128 GB costs around 189 euros - the latter also supports Thread networks. (Image: Apple)
