Apple TV 4K 2022 review: An Apple Arcade playground

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited November 2022
The new for 2022 Apple TV 4K seems purpose-built for casual gamers and Apple Arcade enthusiasts. But, for everybody else, there's not much reason to upgrade beyond a USB-C Siri Remote or HDR10+.

The 2022 Apple TV 4K is the model to buy
The 2022 Apple TV 4K is the model to buy


The Apple TV is caught in a somewhat awkward place in the technological world. Users can access Apple TV+ and Apple Music on various game consoles, streaming sticks, and smart TVs, so a dedicated set-top-box appears redundant.



The situation is further complicated since existing Apple TV owners will only find a few reasons to upgrade and may have to squint at the product to see them. However, first-time buyers should jump on the latest 2022 model thanks to improvements and price drops.

2022 Apple TV 4K features

The Apple TV 4K is a set-top box with access to Apple's App Store. Users can download various streaming apps, games, and other entertainment apps while gaining access to all Apple's services in one space.

The Apple TV 4K series was first introduced in 2017 with the ability to play 4K content. This third-generation model has an A15 Bionic processor, no fan, and a 128GB storage option. It also supports the Samsung-made HDR10+ spec.

The new box is smaller, and the Siri Remote now uses USB-C
The new box is smaller, and the Siri Remote now uses USB-C


The Siri Remote moved from Lightning to USB-C for its charging port. Nothing else was updated or changed, nor is there any Find My functionality.

The box itself is smaller and lighter thanks to having no fan, and the logo removed the "tv" text, so only the Apple logo remains. This won't make much difference to users since they'll likely hide it under or near the television and forget about it.

There are two versions available. The 128GB option has Thread networking and a Gigabit Ethernet port, while the 64GB option has neither.

With a $20 price difference between models, Apple clearly wanted to be able to say "now, with a new lower price" or other similar marketing catchphrases. Because of what you get for that $20, we recommend customers ignore the base model's existence.

Let's talk about the Ethernet situation. We get it, Wi-Fi is convenient.

But, if you have a peripheral on your network that you know is a bandwidth hog, you should wire it if you can. A video-streaming set-top device is the definition of a bandwidth hog.

The ultimate constraint to a device's speed is Internet speed. Unless you've got really slow internet access, in nearly every case, a Gigabit Ethernet network will be faster than wireless -- and video streaming to it won't clog up your Wi-Fi network.

There are other issues beyond the scope of this review, like latency, and jitter, which will impact different aspects of the streaming and gaming experience. An Ethernet connection will lessen both to the device.

Outside of the hardware, the 2022 Apple TV 4K is identical to its previous models. It still runs tvOS, and all of the software works the same. Users might notice a slight improvement in game processing or fidelity, but only for certain titles.





We won't be diving into tvOS 16 in this review since it is unchanged for the new Apple TV 4K. Apple updated the Siri interface to be more compact alongside the new hardware launch, but that is available for all models running tvOS 16.1.

Using the 2022 Apple TV 4K

Anyone who has used an Apple TV since the HD model was released in 2015 will feel at home on the 2022 Apple TV 4K. Setup, downloading apps, and signing in to everything is the same as its been for years.

The 2022 Apple TV 4K won't be noticeably different for most upgraders
The 2022 Apple TV 4K won't be noticeably different for most upgraders


If Home Screen sync is left on and we begin filling that 128GB of storage, other Apple TVs that use the matching home screen feature will end up with a pile of grayed-out apps unable to download because of limited storage.

The sign-in experience has been vastly improved thanks to the Apple TV Remote feature on iPhone and iCloud Passwords. Our half-dozen streaming apps were signed in and ready to go in minutes.

Thread support was introduced in the 2021 Apple TV 4K model so that by itself isn't new. What is new is that the 2022 Apple TV 4K will act as a Thread border router and Homekit hub to ensure the network operates fast and efficiently. Apple's December run of operating system updates will improve HomeKit further thanks to reworking its foundation.

Theoretically, the A15 Bionic should improve some aspects of the smart home, though there's no way to tell and Apple hasn't said so. However, when the Apple TV is acting as a Home Hub, it helps process HomeKit requests and is constantly being fed streams from HomeKit Secure Video for analysis. More processing power and an improved neural engine likely help in this.

Users invested heavily in Apple Home gear should upgrade
Users invested heavily in Apple Home gear should upgrade


Users who routinely game on the Apple TV are a niche subset, but the 128GB of internal storage is significant for them. Install all the Apple Arcade titles and App Store games you care to play, and there will likely be space left over.

We enjoy titles like "Fantasian," "What The Golf," and "SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom" on the big screen in the living room, and the large game files are no longer an issue.

We hope that other game devs take advantage of the new Apple TV 4K. There is little reason why games like "Genshin Impact" or classic "Grand Theft Auto" titles shouldn't be available. We'd especially like to see Microsoft bring "Minecraft" back to the Apple TV with support for realms.

The increased storage is also good news for anyone who loves Apple TV screensavers. These video files are saved locally and are shown in 4K, so they take up a significant amount of storage. With 128GB of storage, users can easily store every screensaver and all their apps with room to spare.

Should you buy the 2022 Apple TV 4K?

Anyone in the market for a set-top box should get the 128GB Apple TV 4K, no questions asked. It is computationally the strongest one available and will perform much better than built-in smart TV operating systems, Amazon Fire, or Roku streaming boxes.

Streaming services know what you're watching, and you can't help that. With a smart TV app, Amazon Fire, or Roku, the streaming hardware manufacturer does too. As far as we can tell, Apple doesn't monitor this beyond what you watch on Apple TV+, so that's one less company keeping track of your viewing history.

The new Apple TV 4K has a smaller fanless design
The new Apple TV 4K has a smaller fanless design


Defining the market is a little more complicated. Anyone who doesn't already have an Apple TV, but subscribes to multiple Apple services, should consider the Apple TV 4K. Owners of the 2017 or older Apple TV models should upgrade for Thread support and faster processing.

Anyone with the 2021 Apple TV 4K can still consider upgrading despite the minimal changes in user experience. We recommend buying the new model for anyone with an HDR10+ television or who needs more internal storage for things like Apple Arcade games.

One of the best things about Apple TV 4K is its mobility as a product. Each time Apple releases a new model, we can buy it knowing the previous model will rotate to the bedroom TV, then other models moved further down. It is a good strategy for a multi-TV household.

If you take away anything from this review, take this: do not buy the 64GB Apple TV 4K. The $20 price difference is negligible, and the feature difference is everything. The only people that should consider the base model are those looking to put one in their elderly parent's home where smart home accessories will never be used, and even then, wait for a sale.

But connect it with Ethernet it if you can, even at Grandma's place.

Apple TV 4K Pros


  • 128GB storage

  • USB-C in Siri Remote

  • Improved performance for gaming

  • Potential for improved HomeKit functionality thanks to better neural engine

  • HDR10+ support

Apple TV 4K Cons


  • Almost no user-facing changes (besides USB-C and HDR10+)

  • 64GB model shouldn't exist or at least should be much cheaper

The Apple TV 4K is a purpose-built product that does its job well. Improvements in the 2022 model are welcome, but as with the last Apple TV 4K update, they only address some concerns.

The existence of the cheaper 64GB model offsets the score from being perfect, but that isn't the only thing. Apple needs to rethink tvOS and how users interact with media because the current app-based model doesn't feel right.

The 128GB Apple TV 4K is great for casual gaming
The 128GB Apple TV 4K is great for casual gaming


Apple should have designed the entire experience around Apple TV, not made it an app that users have to navigate to. This, of course, requires more streaming services to buy into the concept -- which we're not certain will ever happen.

Regardless, this is a topic of discussion for another day.

Apple could also improve the Apple TV lineup with a cheaper model dedicated to streaming and nothing else. The sub-$99 price range isn't served at all by Apple, and the market could use an model in that range. Perhaps the entry 64GB model can take that place once components become cheaper to build.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Where to buy the Apple TV 4K

The Apple TV 4K is currently on sale at Amazon, with prices for the 2022 models dipping to as low as $124.99 at press time.

Markdowns on closeout versions of the streaming box are also available at Amazon, with prices falling to as low as $99.99 for 2021 models. You can find the latest deals and discounts in the AppleInsider Apple TV 4K Price Guide.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    I have the first version of the 4K Apple TV and it is really bad at showing my videos recorded on my iPhone in 4K 60 fps Dolby HDR from Photos. These videos are shown with reduced colors (not Dolby HDR) so they look bad with burned out highlights and often in bad resolution. 

    Can I expect that to work from this model?
    lkruppwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 16
    The new 2022 Apple TV is damn fast, and it's especially noticeable in HomeKit.
    In the past, were I to reboot the HomeKit hub, in this case the Apple TV as it is hard wired, the reboot time would be slow enough that a HomePod would pick up being the hub. Were I then to reboot that HomePod the hub role would revert back to the Apple TV, as is correct, it being hardwired.
    However, a reboot with the new Apple TV 2022 is so fast that HomeKit doesn't even notice that a hub has gone down and the hub role remains with the Apple TV.
    Also, and this 'may' be placebo, everything does seem snappier :D
    (For clarity, my previous device was a 2nd gen 2021 model.)
    muthuk_vanalingamthtscstrrfwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 16
    thttht Posts: 5,420member
    But, if you have a peripheral on your network that you know is a bandwidth hog, you should wire it if you can. A video-streaming set-top device is the definition of a bandwidth hog.
    Only if people are watching 4K content right? How many TV streamers watch in 4K?

    The ultimate constraint to a device's speed is Internet speed. Unless you've got really slow internet access, in nearly every case, a Gigabit Ethernet network will be faster than wireless -- and video streaming to it won't clog up your Wi-Fi network.
    Everyone has slow Internet? Average Internet speed is about 200 Mbit/s in the USA. Then, the Apple TV have WiFi 6 at about 1 Gbit/s? So, what is the driving need to use Ethernet?
  • Reply 4 of 16
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    One of the biggest reasons to buy an Apple TV:  no ads! (well, aside from the newly promoted Featured section)
    Smart TVs (and other streaming devices) are potentially tracking and reporting everything you do--even volume changes and noting whether the volume was up during ads. My philosophy is to never hook a smart TV to the network (no ethernet or WiFi). Use a USB thumb drive for firmware updates of the TV.
    I upgraded from the previous 4K model and notice a big boost in responsiveness. As indicated by the above author, the previous model was migrated to another room and now all remotes are the same great style.
    scstrrfwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    tht said:
    But, if you have a peripheral on your network that you know is a bandwidth hog, you should wire it if you can. A video-streaming set-top device is the definition of a bandwidth hog.
    Only if people are watching 4K content right? How many TV streamers watch in 4K?

    The ultimate constraint to a device's speed is Internet speed. Unless you've got really slow internet access, in nearly every case, a Gigabit Ethernet network will be faster than wireless -- and video streaming to it won't clog up your Wi-Fi network.
    Everyone has slow Internet? Average Internet speed is about 200 Mbit/s in the USA. Then, the Apple TV have WiFi 6 at about 1 Gbit/s? So, what is the driving need to use Ethernet?
    In areas where the 5GHz spectrum is saturated, 1Gbit over wifi is fanciful. This is where wired is ideal.
    scstrrf
  • Reply 6 of 16
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    elijahg said:
    In areas where the 5GHz spectrum is saturated, 1Gbit over wifi is fanciful. This is where wired is ideal.
    It's unlikely 5GHz WiFi is saturated or even crowded almost anywhere it's available. 5GHz doesn't penetrate walls well and has many more channels than 2.4GHz WiFi.
    scstrrfwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 16
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    cpsro said:
    elijahg said:
    In areas where the 5GHz spectrum is saturated, 1Gbit over wifi is fanciful. This is where wired is ideal.
    It's unlikely 5GHz WiFi is saturated or even crowded almost anywhere it's available. 5GHz doesn't penetrate walls well and has many more channels than 2.4GHz WiFi.
    Much less likely than 2.4GHz I agree, but it still happens. Especially if people use the 160MHz wide channels, then there are only really two chunks of spectrum you can use as they span so much of the available spectrum. Ethernet is a guaranteed speed, wifi is not.
    scstrrfmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 8 of 16
    dcgoodcgoo Posts: 280member
    scstrrf said:
    I stopped doing Ethernet and switched to WiFi because I can quickly share screens from iPhones over WiFi , but can’t connect to Apple TV if it’s connected via Ethernet. I have the new 128 Gb on WiFi. I would love to connect via Ethernet.

    Has this changed? Can you have both Ethernet and WiFi connected, and do screen mirroring?
    No change there, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, not both. But that should not prevent screen sharing or airplay. I frequently share my iPad/iPhone screen with my cabled AppleTV. Now if your wired and Wi-Fi are different networks, that would break it. But that is a simple networking mistake that is easily corrected. 
    edited November 2022 watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 16
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Apple either make cheap version of AppleTV dongle like Amazon, Roku or make it better by adding DVR feature. Currently AppleTV acts as streaming device, family game console, Home kit Hub, but can not let me download contents and watch off-line like iPhone or iPad. If Apple adds DVR capability than I can record ESPN or OTA games/shows and watch later. Also, download many shows/movies and take AppleTV on trip. Now, Apple can offer 500GB or more storage at higher price.
    edited November 2022
  • Reply 10 of 16
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    tht said:
    But, if you have a peripheral on your network that you know is a bandwidth hog, you should wire it if you can. A video-streaming set-top device is the definition of a bandwidth hog.
    Only if people are watching 4K content right? How many TV streamers watch in 4K?
    I watch everything I possibly can in 4K. Why would I not?

    wood1208 said:
    Apple either make cheap version of AppleTV dongle like Amazon, Roku or make it better by adding DVR feature. Currently AppleTV acts as streaming device, family game console, Home kit Hub, but can not let me download contents and watch off-line like iPhone or iPad. If Apple adds DVR capability than I can record ESPN or OTA games/shows and watch later. Also, download many shows/movies and take AppleTV on trip. Now, Apple can offer 500GB or more storage at higher price.
    Huh? The point of instantly streaming means you don't have to record everything. DVR would be redundant for virtually all users and an expensive, unnecessary feature creep for the target audience.

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 16
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 1,987member
    wood1208 said:
    Apple either make cheap version of AppleTV dongle like Amazon, Roku or make it better by adding DVR feature. Currently AppleTV acts as streaming device, family game console, Home kit Hub, but can not let me download contents and watch off-line like iPhone or iPad. If Apple adds DVR capability then I can record ESPN or OTA games/shows and watch later. Also, download many shows/movies and take AppleTV on trip. Now, Apple can offer 500GB or more storage at higher price.
    If you’d been paying attention, you’d know that Apple doesn’t chase the low-end of the market by making cut-rate hardware. The WiFi-only AppleTV for a whopping $20 savings is as close as you’ll get. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 16
    Still no return to having a dedicated digital audio output, so you need to use an HDMI breakout box.  And digital audio still limited to 48khz.

    2 major fails.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    Still no return to having a dedicated digital audio output, so you need to use an HDMI breakout box.  And digital audio still limited to 48khz.

    2 major fails.
    Since the new Apple TV 4K is an HDMI 2.1 compliant device (with eARC), in theory the device would support HD audio up to 24/192 kHz or uncompressed audio. And Apple Music does have HD audio up to 24bit/192khz in the library. At this point, the problem would appear to be lack of support in tvOS. Hopefully this will be rectified at some point but we usually only see major feature upgrades in the fall of any given year.

    For me, all my receivers/processors are HDMI 2.0 only so I would need upgrades if and when this feature ever saw the light of day.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 16
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    elijahg said:
    cpsro said:
    elijahg said:
    In areas where the 5GHz spectrum is saturated, 1Gbit over wifi is fanciful. This is where wired is ideal.
    It's unlikely 5GHz WiFi is saturated or even crowded almost anywhere it's available. 5GHz doesn't penetrate walls well and has many more channels than 2.4GHz WiFi.
    Much less likely than 2.4GHz I agree, but it still happens. Especially if people use the 160MHz wide channels, then there are only really two chunks of spectrum you can use as they span so much of the available spectrum. Ethernet is a guaranteed speed, wifi is not.
    Fearmongering over the capacity of 5GHz to stream video is entirely uncalled for. Again, 5GHz doesn't penetrate walls well, and 4k video consumes little of the bandwidth. Even using the widest channels, 5GHz WiFi is extremely unlikely to encounter interference in a home environment. Basically it's not going to happen. (btw: 160MHz channels can't even be configured for a network if just one device must use the network that doesn't support the wide channels.) WiFi introduces other potential issues besides capacity, but this means not skimping on access point hardware and keeping the firmware/software updated. Of course ethernet is more reliable and I prefer it for that, but wireless is very convenient. Capacity of 5GHz for an Apple TV 4K is a non-issue.
    edited November 2022 watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 16
    Meh. No need for us to upgrade from the 2021 model. HDR10+ is inferior to Dolby Vision and is only on some TV brands. USB-C remote? I think I charge our Lightning remote every 2 or 3 months. A little speed bump, but I have zero complaints on my current model's performance. Our WiFi is strong, so no need for Ethernet. 

    Guess I'll revisit in a couple of years when they, I dunno. Introduce the box in six colors?
    edited November 2022
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