Apple TV Review - Review 2022

It'southward been more than 3 years, but we finally have a new Apple tree TV ($149; 32GB). The concluding time Apple updated its popular media streamer was dorsum in 2022, and information technology has really started to show its age. Specially when you consider the broad app ecosystems and 4K streaming support offered by competing devices like the Amazon Fire Telly and the Roku 4. Thank you to the new iOS-based tvOS 9, Apple has solved one of those problems; the new media streamer now offers enough of apps. And a new Siri-powered remote makes navigation via voice a breeze. All the same, it lacks 4K support, and with a price tag higher than any of our height picks (including the $99 Editors' Selection Amazon Fire Goggle box), information technology feels like likewise trivial, too late.

Pattern

The new Apple tree Television receiver has the aforementioned matte black plastic design and squarish shape of the previous model. It measures the same iii.9 inches across, merely is almost twice every bit thick at 1.4 inches. Information technology's still a very tiny box you can stick almost anywhere underneath or behind your HDTV.

This version sees the render of local storage in the course of 32GB of solid country memory (or 64GB for the $199 model), to exist used for apps and games. Unless you lot intend to download a lot of games, the 32GB model should suit you merely fine. The reintroduction of local storage doesn't explain the thicker profile of the device. It'due south likely a combination of storage and increased processing power.

While the box is bigger, its back panel actually holds fewer ports than earlier. The HDMI video output, micro USB port, and Ethernet port are all the same there, along with the two-prong laptop-mode power connector, simply the optical audio output of the last model has been removed. This is relatively small, since your HDTV likely has its own optical audio output if y'all want to run audio through a soundbar or speaker organisation. Still, it's an odd omission considering the larger frame.

The remote has been completely redesigned, and now looks and feels more than like an iOS device than ever. It'due south a flat, slender bar, with curved edges and a Lightning connector on the lesser for topping upwardly its rechargeable batteries. Yous could easily mistake information technology for a new iPod touch on ($189.98 at Amazon) . The back is sturdy aluminum, and the forepart is approximately halved width-wise into sleeky and matte black sections. The matte blackness portion holds the congenital-in touchpad for navigating on-screen menus, along with the Menu/Dorsum and Habitation buttons. The touchpad is responsive and comfortable, and physically clicks rather than relying on surface taps, so you won't accidentally trigger it.

Microphone/Siri and Play/Pause buttons occupy the glossy section of the remote, along with a volume rocker. Two small microphone holes near the acme, 1 each on the front end and back sides, are for voice control. A pocket-sized black rectangle on the front holds an infrared emitter as a fill-in control if the Bluetooth connection to the Apple TV doesn't work.

Oddly, while the Apple Telly comes with a USB-to-Lightning cable for charging the remote, it doesn't come up with an accompanying USB wall adapter. You'll accept to supply your own, or see if your HDTV's USB ports deliver enough power to charge the remote.

TvOS and the App Store

The new Apple Television uses tvOS ix, an iOS-based interface that greatly improves the media streamer's capabilities. The interface looks largely the aforementioned as earlier, with a rotating selection of featured content on the top two-thirds of the home screen and big, colorful icons for apps and services beneath. The biggest addition sits squarely in the middle of the icon bar: the familiar App Store 'A' icon.

Unlike previous Apple TVs, you no longer accept to settle for a pocket-sized scattering of Apple-endorsed streaming services. The Apple Idiot box now has a full app ecosystem, with hundreds of apps and games. Many of the large names in streaming video services are here, including Crackle, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube. Some prominent ones, similar Amazon, Google, and Vudu, are missing. The missing services offer a la carte video-on-demand purchase and rental like to iTunes' model, so their omission might exist due to some protectionism on Apple's office. That certainly seems to be the case with music services, discussed below.

Apple doesn't currently offer a gamepad for the Apple TV, merely you tin can connect a 3rd-party gamepad via Bluetooth, and some games can work with the remote's touchpad and congenital-in motion sensors. Cobblestone eight looks pretty skilful, and is playable using the remote every bit a steering wheel, just the framerate regularly stutters on tight turns with several cars around. Like near other media streamers, I can't recommend the Apple Goggle box equally a gaming platform because of its express ability and selection of games.

Most apps don't require a lot of infinite, but you tin wait to see the Apple Goggle box'south storage fill if yous download a lot of games. As mentioned before, 32GB should be more enough storage for most users.

Outside of gaming, tvOS adds some welcome multitasking support. Tapping the Home button twice pulls upward your open apps, with full-screen previews of what you'll be jumping into. Like in iOS, you can only swipe upwardly to shut unlike apps from this screen if performance starts to feel sluggish. The contempo update to tvOS nine.two adds folders, so you can organize your apps into groups. Yous can do this by pressing and property on the remote until an icon starts to shake, after which y'all can move it over another icon to create a folder. Information technology'southward another notably iOS-inspired interface option for tVOS.

TvOS also adds Siri voice command to the Apple Tv. Past pressing and holding the Microphone/Siri button on the remote, you lot can speak into the mic at the top and vocalisation any commands or questions. Siri tin open apps; search for apps, movies, Boob tube shows; respond bones sports, weather, and trivia questions; and even enable or disable features like airtight captioning. Vox search reaches beyond Apple'south media libraries, and a search for Breaking Bad brought upwardly options to watch the show on both Netflix and iTunes. The functionality is very similar to the Amazon Fire Television receiver's vox control, which now uses Alexa, Amazon'due south version of Siri.

Siri on the Apple TV now supports dictation every bit of tvOS 9.two. Aside from searching for content and answering uncomplicated questions, Siri can now enter text into certain apps and interface elements for you lot. Just hold the Microphone/Siri button down when the text field you want to fill out is highlighted and speak into the microphone. Siri will blazon what you lot say.

Music and Local Streaming

If you want to listen to music on the Apple tree TV, you'll want an Apple Music membership. iTunes-based radio stations are available to heed for gratuitous, but individual artists and albums demand Apple Music for any on-demand search and playback adequacy.

This wouldn't be a big issue if the tvOS App Shop were home to some major music services. But I was unable to find Pandora, Rdio, Songza, Spotify, or fifty-fifty TuneIn for the Apple TV. The best I found is an app called myTuner Radio, which is like to TuneIn, and Vevo for watching music videos. This is a pretty big omission for users of streaming music services, or anyone who doesn't want to rely on Apple tree's music store. Considering Apple has sat atop the app store heirarchy with iOS for years, boosted music apps could very well exist added to the Apple TV in the futurity. For at present, though, it feels like the company is non-so-subtly nudging users to cover Apple Music instead of some other service.

The beloved local streaming and sharing features of previous Apple tree TVs are still present on the new model. Apple HomeSharing lets you share media on your computer over iTunes with the Apple tree TV. While native music support outside of iTunes and Apple Music is disappointing, you can still stream any music you desire from an iOS device to your HDTV over AirPlay. AirPlay support also includes screen mirroring, and I was able to mirror my iPad'southward screen on my HDTV with very little noticeable lag.

4K and Conclusions

Apple omits a big feature here that has become standard for other flagship media streamers: 4K video support. iTunes doesn't currently offer 4K content, but Netflix and YouTube practice, and the lack of support on a device that costs more than than the Amazon Burn Boob tube or the Roku 4 is hard to overlook. Because Apple's long pauses between hardware updates, future-proofing this model with 4K should take been a no-brainer. Perhaps the device has enough power that 4K back up tin can be added with a firmware update, but for now information technology's a major hole in the feature set.

The Apple tree Television set is an attractive, streamlined, feature-filled media streamer that Apple fans will appreciate for its all-encompassing iOS back up and iTunes integration. The addition of app support and phonation control with Siri make it a signifcant improvement over the 2022 model, but it costs $150 in an era when most media streamers tin can exist found for closer to $100. The Amazon Fire TV is two-thirds the toll of the Apple TV, packs all of the relevant features brusque of iTunes and iOS-specific functionality (and those functions accept their own Android-friendly analogs, like Miracast screen mirroring), and supports 4K video, which is why it remains our Editors' Option.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/media-hubs-receivers-products/7690/apple-tv-review

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