New Apple TV 4K: is this an out-of-season April Fool’s joke?!
299 francs for a faster chip, three microphones and surround sound with four HomePods. Apple calls this its best home theatre experience yet. Here’s what I’m wondering: who are these guys trying to fool?
Remember BlizzCon 2018? Blizzard had just announced Diablo Immortal – a mobile game – while fans were eagerly awaiting a full-fledged Diablo title. One member of the audience stepped up to the microphone and dryly asked the developers, «Is this an out-of-season April Fools’ joke?»
Well, when Apple unveiled its new Apple TV 4K last week, I suddenly knew exactly how that guy must’ve felt. After a four-year wait, a successor to the streaming box is finally set for release. A device that could move past weaknesses, maybe even set new standards. Instead, Apple has introduced a box for 299 francs, whose most significant new features read like a solution to problems that nobody had.
Apple, what the hell?
More power – but why?
Don’t get me wrong, I love my 2022 Apple TV 4K. It’s fast, reliable, easy to use and has been doing exactly what I needed for years: playing movies and TV shows. All in outstanding quality. Now comes the successor, featuring an A19 chip, up to 50 per cent more processing power and double the graphics power.
Great. Now I just need someone to explain which of my streaming apps has been too slow up until now.
Source: Thomas Kunz
Sure, the new AV1 decoder is a welcome addition. It enables efficient streaming and makes the set-top box compatible with modern video compression. It’s a common-sense upgrade, future-proof and technically impressive. But I haven’t experienced any performance issues with my current Apple TV that’d make me want to buy a new one.
Another new feature: you can now locate your remote control using the Find function. This doesn’t have anything to do with the processor, though. But if I deliberately choose to lose my remote control between the couch cushions more often in the future, those 299 francs might at least pay for themselves – eventually.
Home theatre for everyone – except home theatre fans
Things get really ridiculous when it comes to sound. Apple’s promoting its «most immersive» home theatre experience yet. Four HomePods can at last be linked together to form a surround sound system. Automatic calibration included. Sounds interesting – until you do the math: four HomePod mini 2 units cost 556 francs. Combined with the box, that comes to 855 francs for a system whose sound quality is still unproven. With four standard HomePods, we’d actually be looking at nearly 1,500 francs.
Source: Apple Newsroom
On the other hand, anyone who already owns a high-quality AV receiver and a set of surround sound speakers is going to look pretty foolish anyway. Sure, Dolby Atmos already works flawlessly on Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV. Apple, however, makes no mention of audio passthrough, a feature that plays original audio tracks to the receiver without modification.
This will be especially frustrating for home theatre enthusiasts with their own movie collections, such as NAS users. That’s because with previous Apple TV boxes, some spatial sound was lost when playing Dolby TrueHD with Atmos or DTS:X through apps like Infuse. While the actual surround sound is preserved without any losses, the additional 3D audio information disappears. The older Nvidia Shield has long been capable of passing such audio tracks on to an AV receiver without any changes. Will Apple eventually fix this? Your guess is as good as mine.
But hey, four HomePods!
What I actually expected
My wishlist wasn’t even all that outlandish. Finally adding full passthrough audio for lossless home theatre formats, for example. Maybe a compelling gaming push that actually makes the most of the powerful A19 chip, instead of letting it sit idle while scrolling through Netflix menus. Or greater flexibility in integrating existing home theatre systems, rather than a surround sound system that requires one thing above all else: the purchase of additional Apple products.
Sure, Apple wants to strengthen its own ecosystem. But seriously, trying to pass off the next excuse to buy even more Apple products as some kind of major innovation? Sorry, Apple, just how stupid do you think I am?
Above all, I’d have liked to see a reasonable price. After all, Apple could’ve simply made some subtle improvements to the already excellent streaming box without suddenly charging 299 francs for it. I don’t need a revolutionary upgrade at any cost. After waiting four years, though, I’d have liked to have had at least some reason to retire my old Apple TV.
Three microphones, of course…
Then there are the three built-in microphones, allowing Siri to always listen to you in the future. Wonderful. Finally, I no longer have to go through the near unreasonable physical effort of pressing a button on my remote control when I’m watching a movie. Apple, I wanted a better media player. Not more microphones in my living room.
Sure, the new box will find its fans too. For newcomers and smart home enthusiasts, it definitely makes sense. This is especially true for people who are already deeply immersed in the Apple ecosystem and want to set up their home theatre with HomePods. But what about current owners? All I see is an absurdly steep price, performance upgrades with no apparent everyday use and a home theatre push that, of all things, leaves discerning home theatre enthusiasts out in the cold.
Maybe the box will turn out to be a sensation when it’s tested. Or maybe Apple will surprise me with some unannounced features before it goes on sale on 13 November. Until then, however, I’m left with the same question posed by that legendary Diablo fan eight years ago:
Apple, is this an out-of-season April Fool’s joke?
I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.
This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.
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