The new Apple TV 4K is pretty much the same as the previous one for most people, which means it’s still the best streaming set-top box you can buy if money doesn’t matter – doubly so if you’re already living in an ecosystem Apple.
More importantly, the substantial price reduction helps make it more attractive. However, this discount is still not big enough to make it the best deal in town.
When the Apple TV 4K was first introduced in 2017, it was billed as a reimagining of how we approach TV. As I wrote at the time, those ambitions fell far short as Apple faced the entrenched and disparate interests of various players in the TV business. However, the Apple TV 4K has a stunning interface, outstanding picture quality, powerful feature set, and flawless app support.
Since we’ve already discussed previous models in detail, this review will focus on what’s new this time around, and that starts with new pricing and configuration options.
Prices and configurations
Let’s get to the most important part first: this new Apple TV 4K is better than its predecessors. Its base configuration has 64 GB of storage, compared to 32 GB in the second generation Apple TV 4K. What’s more, this 64GB model starts at $129 compared to $179 for the older 32GB model.
You can double the storage to 128GB for another $20 at $149; the 128GB model also has a physical Ethernet port (the base configuration is entirely Wi-Fi dependent) and supports the Thread smart home networking standard.
Streaming support is pretty niche and most people won’t need Ethernet either. Also, the Apple TV 4K doesn’t download videos (only streams them), so unless you plan on downloading dozens and dozens of games, you won’t need 128GB of storage. In other words, the $129 64GB model is the right choice for most people.
This price reduction is the most important thing in the third generation model. The Apple TV 4K was the best streaming box you can buy at least a couple of years ago, but it has always been much more expensive than roughly comparable streaming boxes from Google, Amazon or Roku, making the offer questionable. The new model is still more expensive than competitors that do a great job of streaming 4K and HDR video, so those who care about the price will still want to stay away from this model. However, I’ll explain shortly why the extra cost may be justified for many people.
Please note that there is no HDMI cable included.