Apple TV catches up to competitors by adding 4K and HDR

During the iPhone launch keynote, Apple shed some light on the future of its Apple TV range. With competition already offering a range of 4K enabled products, Apple are playing catch-up by finally introducing Apple TV 4K, complete with the high 3840 × 2160 pixel count and HDR functionality.

Roku users have been able to enjoy 4K content since back in 2014 with the release of the Roku 4, and the company even added HDR functionality to its 2016 lineup. Unfortunately, it’s taken about as long as Apple to join the 4K set-top box party as it has for producers to offer enough content at the resolution to warrant the purchase.

The Apple TV 4K set-top box still requires a compatible television and internet speed to make use of its new 4K and HDR features, but does a good job bundling them in the same sleek black casing as its older models, even if this can be a little confusing.

Everything has been upgraded, with the device housing the same A10X processor found in the iPad Pro, to which Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President touts is twice as fast as previous Apple TV models. Even your existing iTunes library makes the jump to 4K apparently.

Apple has improved various parts of the software powering the new Apple TV, with it running the new tvOS 11. This new operating system has improved the way in which downloading and updating applications works, making it much more user friendly. Of course, compatibility for other Apple products such as AirPlay 2 and AirPods are included as well as a neat little addition of an optional dark mode.

The most comforting news for all potential buyers is that Apple are bringing Amazon Prime Video to Apple TV, enabling users to enjoy Amazon Originals in their glorious 4K format, provided you’re subscribed to Amazon Prime of course.

Apple themselves are also investing $1 billion into creating up to ten original shows, that rival the quality of Amazon and Netflix. This puts the company much lower than Netflix’s $7 billion investment and even Amazon’s $4.5 billion but it is a start nonetheless.

The Apple TV 4K will begin shipping on September 22nd for a starting price of $179 for the 32GB model and the 64GB costing $199.

KitGuru Says: Honestly, Apple is so late to the party at this point that it is concerning as to whether anyone was still waiting for its addition to the market. That being said, now 4K content is catching up, it might be a perfect time to launch such a product. What do you think of the Apple TV 4K? Do you plan on buying a new set-top box?

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