Apple TV 4K (2021) Review
Introduction
Being addicted to physical media, I have never been much of a streamer, but I have tried several music streaming services including Tidal Hi-Fi Plus and Qobuz Studio and Netflix for movies. So after my tech savvy daughter bought a 4K TV with many embedded applications for her new apartment and then opened various video and music streaming accounts, I decided that maybe that there was now something worth listening to and watching out there.
So after a little research and being somewhat of an Apple household, already owning the original Apple TV (2nd Gen), Apple TV 4K it had to be. Especially as I could own one at no real cost to me having just moved the household connectivity and phones over to Verizon and FIOS.
I understand that the upgrade from the previous 4K model is only minor, having a faster processor, 32GB or 64GB storage and being able to handle higher video frame rates, but the new Siri remote beats its forerunner hands down. Some may want just this remote upgrade but it isn’t inexpensive at $59.00. It is compatible with Apple TV 4K (2nd generation), Apple TV 4K (1st generation) and Apple TV HD.
Apple TV 4K is not inexpensive either with an MSRP of $179.00 for 32GB and $199.00 for 64GB, especially when compared to the rival streaming devices like; the Google Chromecast with Google TV at $50, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K costs $50. Even the Amazon Fire TV Cube undercuts the Apple TV, at $120.
APPLE TV 4K (2021) BASIC TECH SPECS:
- Resolution Up to 4K HDR, 60fps
- Bluetooth version 5.0
- Wireless: 802.11ax
- HDR formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG (No HDR10+)
- Audio formats include: AAC, FLAC, WAV, AC3, E-AC3, Dolby Atmos
- Connectivity:
- 1 HDMI 2.1b (eARC) HDCP 2.3
- 1 Network
- 1 AC power
- Remote control: Yes – Bluetooth or IR
- Memory options:
- 32GB
- 64GB
- IR Receiver
- Bluetooth 5.0: keyboard & remote compatible
- Rechargeable battery
- Dimensions (hwd) 3.5 x 10 x 10cm (1.4 x 4 x 4in)
- Weight 425g (15oz)
Video streaming app (or any app) installation is a snap with support for Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, AMC+, Showtime, Starz, Epix, HBO Max, Hulu and Peacock plus of course Apples iTunes Movies. The UK has other apps that can be loaded to support their various streaming services.
While there is no HDR10+ support (yet), not too greater loss, it does support Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and SDR. Audio format support is quite broad to include: MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC and WAV for stereo, and surround formats up to Dolby Atmos. However, Apple TV 4K DOES NOT support Hi-Res audio from apps, supporting only 16bit 44.1/48kHz streams, currently the same as Airplay 2. With Apple Music now supporting 16-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/48kHz, and hi-res 24-bit/192kHz formats Apple should make it a priority to support Hi-Res audio streams from apps, like their competitors products.
Release tvOS15 brought support for spatial audio via AirPods Pro and AirPods Max headphones giving late night listening via headphones a leg-up. Plus Apple Music and Tidal are now offering music in the Dolby Atmos immersive format. While Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify and Amazon Music are catered for by installing their apps, Qobuz and Deezer are only available via Airplay.
While Apple TV is mainly just an access point for streamed media content, it uses its storage for its operating system, apps, movies, music etc. Whether you select 32GB or 64GB depends upon how you intend to use Apple TV and of course your budget. If like me you are not a gamer, have a high speed internet connection and mainly use Apple TV for movies and music, then 32GB should be sufficient. If however you are an avid gamer, especially with 4K graphics, have a lot of news and current affairs apps and a slower internet connection you may want to consider the 64GB version. This extra storage will allow additional caching and buffering of large files, graphics and general downloads, helping to minimize any download lags. The 64GB version also future proofs your purchase to a greater degree allowing for a larger operating system and additional future features from Apple.
Performance
All stereo, multi-channel audio and video (4K and HD) monitoring was completed in my dedicated home theater AV room. Stereo listening was achieved using my Oppo 205 DAC (ES9038PRO) and its balanced analog outputs with either the players HDMI, network or USB digital inputs. All multichannel audio and some comparative stereo listening was handled by my Denon AVP-A1 using HDMI and balanced analog audio inputs. I cannot decode any immersive sound formats.
Well let me put the music part straight to bed. I quickly loaded up the apps for Tidal (Hi-Fi Plus) and Spotify and while their music and that of Apple Music was very good, nothing that I listened to, Apple Lossless, AAC, FLAC, WAV equalled the sound quality of my shiny plastic and vinyl discs. Unfortunately Apple TV 4K does not support MQA and as previously mentioned only 16bit 44.1/48kHz CD quality is available for all music streaming apps.
I briefly compared the Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify apps on my laptop and mConnect on my iPhone to see how different to Apple TV 4K they sounded. Now I could feed Hi-Res PCM and MQA directly into the USB DAC in my OPPO 205 and Hi-Res FLAC and WAV over my network to the same DAC. There were no significant sound improvements over the Apple TV 4K at 16bit 44.1/48kHz. As expected all Hi-Res material and MQA produced significant improvements in the audio quality when compared to the APPLE TV 4K. However, many of these Hi-Res and MQA music files lacked in various aspects of audio quality when compared to my shiny plastic and vinyl discs.
What music streaming on the Apple TV 4K did offer was good sound quality plus a great and really fast choice of a vast range of material together with the tremendous convenience all being on one simple to use device. Unfortunately I wasn’t looking for any of those, I just wanted the BEST sound quality possible and physical media still gives me that.
That brings me to movies, WOW! what a choice of providers, and to be honest the Apple 4K TV streamer with its new remote is not only very user friendly but offers a great range of movie services, well almost all of them actually. I had five streaming services available to me; Netflix, HBO max, Disney+, Paramount + and Apple iTunes Movies. Owning an Apple TV (720P60) this upgrade to the Apple TV 4K was a HUGE leap. 4K and 1080 video quality was very good as was their associated audio quality. NO it doesn’t quite match what a piece of shiny plastic can produce, but it can produce what is sufficiently close for me to give it the benefit of doubt for all that choice and convenience. This device is an excellent streamer for movie video and associated audio and good for general music listening.
NOTE: The Dolby Atmos stream is not the original bitstream format. Apple in their ‘wisdom’ has repackaged (encoded) it as Dolby Metadata-enhanced Audio Transmission (Dolby MAT) Atmos. This is lossless uncompressed pulse code modulation (PCM) requiring a higher bandwidth to support it and some ARC and device inputs like Oppo, will not handle it.
Gamers are catered for, to a degree, with one-off purchases or an arcade subscription from the Apple TV Store. Support is available for game controllers (including those that come with the PS5 and Xbox Series X) making for a more enjoyable console-like experience as graphics become more advanced. Not being a gamer I cannot comment on the improvements brought about by the new faster A12 Bionic chip, or having 64GB of memory. However, I found the user interface with the new remote very snappy to use making navigation a breeze. The improved 4K 60fps HDMI 2.1 is obviously a benefit once streams can support it fully, but unfortunately there is no current support for AV1 compression so programming and games for those higher frame rates maybe a while in coming.
There is a huge range of selectable video output standards from SD to 4K, SDR or HDR and 24, 30, 50 and 60Hz frame rates. Apple TV 4K will automatically select the highest quality video connection your display device can support or you can select the standard yourself. Once the video standard is set Apple TV 4K will scale all material up or down to that standard. Apple TV 4K will not feed your display with the NATIVE standard that the material you select comes in, unless it is what you have setup. There is also a menu feature called Match Content. Once Match Dynamic Range is enabled it will correctly display material in Dolby Vision, HDR and SDR. Enabling Match Frame Rate will display material at its original frame rate. So, movies will typically show in 24 frames per second, rather than 30 or 60 frames per second. As mentioned earlier video is very good and once the video output is set to native 4K everything will be scaled up to that resolution with minimal scaling artifacts or visual problems.
Also of note is its HDMI 2.1’s eARC functionality which lets the Apple TV 4K box receive audio from your TV screen, including its tuners and HDMI ports, and send wirelessly to HomePod. Apple TV becomes a sort of receiver, but this function is only supported on Apple TV 4K 2021.
For any new comers Apple TV 4K has a feature called ‘Color Balance’, that in conjunction with Facetime on your iPhone, measures your TV’s color balance and adjusts the video signal output so that it’s closer to ‘industry standards’. You can apply this Color Balance data to standard HDR and SDR signals but not Dolby Vision. Generally speaking the picture created is warm (reddish) being closer to 6500K and for some its results may not be optimal. Once you have run the routine there is a pre and post balance comparison so you can apply the calibration or not, your choice. For many, if your display has a THX, 6500 or ‘warm’ setting you may find that image preferable to the Apple calibration.
Finally using either a wired or wireless connection provided very reliable performance with no dropouts, hesitations or hiccups in streaming.
In short, if you’re looking to buy what might be the best video streamer currently available, the new Apple TV 4K is it. Hopefully Apple will add Hi-Res audio support for music apps one day soon.
