Poll: ** The official 2022 Apple TV 4K thread (it has the A15 chip, HDR10+ and everything!) **

[kmax86]

Hi, is the apple tv 4k 3rd gen still worth buying at £160 for the 128gb? I am in the market for a streaming device as i am getting fed up with the clunky UI of the built in android ui in my TV.

Will it work as the only apple device in a home? Can it still function without an apple tv+ sub?

Thanks

 

[ChrisD.]

Hi, is the apple tv 4k 3rd gen still worth buying at £160 for the 128gb? I am in the market for a streaming device as i am getting fed up with the clunky UI of the built in android ui in my TV.

Will it work as the only apple device in a home? Can it still function without an apple tv+ sub?

Thanks

Yes they are very good. Zero subscription required to use it except for the services you choose to use.

 

[Cromulent]

Hi, is the apple tv 4k 3rd gen still worth buying at £160 for the 128gb? I am in the market for a streaming device as i am getting fed up with the clunky UI of the built in android ui in my TV.

Will it work as the only apple device in a home? Can it still function without an apple tv+ sub?

Thanks

I love mine. I don't pay for any subscriptions and use it for YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, ITVX and a couple of other free ones I forget the name of. But it is by far the best streaming device I've ever used.

 

[ic1male]

I love mine. I don't pay for any subscriptions and use it for YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, ITVX and a couple of other free ones I forget the name of. But it is by far the best streaming device I've ever used.

Apart from the ropey app support, it really is the fastest device I've used for streaming services. And very stable, my Fire Stick 4K Max (only a couple of years old) is slow as treacle and crashes in the middle of watching something. Apple just need to get BBC onside for the UHD stuff.

 

[Cromulent]

Apart from the ropey app support, it really is the fastest device I've used for streaming services. And very stable, my Fire Stick 4K Max (only a couple of years old) is slow as treacle and crashes in the middle of watching something. Apple just need to get BBC onside for the UHD stuff.

I still have a 1080p TV . If more UHD comes along I'll have to get a 4k one at some point!

 

[ChrisD.]

Yeah I tried an NVIDIA shield and it's garbage in comparison. In fact it's sat behind me unused!

 

[picnic]

Is it just me then that hates the Apple remote, I'm forever skipping passed the app/setting I want and have to go back, usually several times before I get the right thing highlighted. Then it jumps as I press it and I run the wrong thing.

 

[Cromulent]

Is it just me then that hates the Apple remote, I'm forever skipping passed the app/setting I want and have to go back, usually several times before I get the right thing highlighted. Then it jumps as I press it and I run the wrong thing.

Did you turn off the touch controls? The touch controls are horrible and the controller is so much better when it is in standard mode. Also which generation controller are you using? Does it have a Siri button on the side?

 

[picnic]

Oh I didn't know about the touch control option so no I've not turn that off. It's also not the latest generation, I don't use Siri so I'm embarrassed to say I don't know about the button on the side! Will turn off the touch and see how I get on . Thanks

 

[ic1male]

Yeah, I only recently started using Siri. I didn't even know she was capable of some things like "rewind to the start" or "fast forward 10 minutes" which makes using the remote much easier. As you say, the touch controls are wacky.

 

[Reuben klang]

Apart from the ropey app support, it really is the fastest device I've used for streaming services. And very stable, my Fire Stick 4K Max (only a couple of years old) is slow as treacle and crashes in the middle of watching something. Apple just need to get BBC onside for the UHD stuff.

What is the actual deal with that? Why isn’t there UHD support for the Apple TV with the BBC

 

[Feek]

What is the actual deal with that? Why isn’t there UHD support for the Apple TV with the BBC

You'd have to ask the BBC.

 

[ic1male]

What is the actual deal with that? Why isn’t there UHD support for the Apple TV with the BBC

I think it's because Apple mandated tvOS streaming apps had to integrate with the Apple TV app, which a lot of providers did but it meant certain features weren't available that apps used on other platforms. e.g. if you look on the BBC website, I think they say something like Apple didn't support HLG for HDR (but they now do) and subtitles aren't available either because of something or other. Yet ITVX has live subtitles and integrates with the Apple TV app. BBC Sounds isn't available at all...

Unfortunately, BBC Sounds is not available on Apple TV. Sounds on TV is built using HTML5 technology which works on most connected TVs. However, as Apple TV does not support HTML5 we are unable to provide Sounds to these devices. You can use Apple AirPlay to stream content from BBC Sounds on your iPhone or iPad to an Apple TV.

Why are there no subtitles on BBC iPlayer via Apple TV?​

There are technical challenges associated with delivering subtitles to Apple TV which will require a significantly different solution to that which we use on all other platforms. We are working towards it but don't currently have timelines associated with this support.

But I think what I've written above is all probably completely out of date in the fact that iOS supports everything so surely the codebase to get the iOS apps on tvOS cannot be starkly different. BBC is just lazy, they may see the userbase as too small to not bother and I've also read that Apple didn't send the BBC the latest Apple TV boxes so the BBC won't bother fixing their apps for it.

Just decided to nag them a bit via their contact form so we'll see what their latest response is.

 

[Cromulent]

One of the things I've always wanted was for companies like the BBC to provide a public API for developers to build platforms using BBC material with understanding that they would only be used by people who had paid their TV license. That way third parties could customise things to the way they like them and the BBC still gets their TV license money.

 

[Reuben klang]

I think it's because Apple mandated tvOS streaming apps had to integrate with the Apple TV app, which a lot of providers did but it meant certain features weren't available that apps used on other platforms. e.g. if you look on the BBC website, I think they say something like Apple didn't support HLG for HDR (but they now do) and subtitles aren't available either because of something or other. Yet ITVX has live subtitles and integrates with the Apple TV app. BBC Sounds isn't available at all...




But I think what I've written above is all probably completely out of date in the fact that iOS supports everything so surely the codebase to get the iOS apps on tvOS cannot be starkly different. BBC is just lazy, they may see the userbase as too small to not bother and I've also read that Apple didn't send the BBC the latest Apple TV boxes so the BBC won't bother fixing their apps for it.

Just decided to nag them a bit via their contact form so we'll see what their latest response is.

**** sake at that last bit. I can picture the **** at the head of that department going “oh we’ve got not a free Apple TV so let’s just not bother with it at all”

Public broadcaster should be catering to “all” if there is a demand.

Think I’ll contact them as well.

 

[Cromulent]

**** sake at that last bit. I can picture the **** at the head of that department going “oh we’ve got not a free Apple TV so let’s just not bother with it at all”

Public broadcaster should be catering to “all” if there is a demand.

Think I’ll contact them as well.

OK so iPlayer isn't the most of up to date streaming software but I find it nearly impossible to tell the difference between 1080p and 4k. I don't have an HDR TV so I have no idea what that looks like though.

 

[Reuben klang]

OK so iPlayer isn't the most of up to date streaming software but I find it nearly impossible to tell the difference between 1080p and 4k. I don't have an HDR TV so I have no idea what that looks like though.

It looks like - note a lot of the stuff I’ve been reading is from 2021 and 22 hardly anything up to date as it looks like people have just given up - it’s 720p rather than 1080p.

Lot of discussion was around the World Cup that I was reading. Looks like everyone just used the native app on their tv to get the UHD. That’s what I done/do.

Frustrating as the two of them should be aiming to push it up to 4K.

 

[kmax86]

Thanks all for the feedback. Do these often go on sale? Not sure what Apple is like for sales.
I think I can get the 128gb for about £130 by stacking nectar and company discounts from Argos

 

[Feek]

You don't need the 128Gb version. I know it's only twenty quid or so more than the 64Gb one but the internal storage doesn't really serve any purpose except for downloading apps and 64Gb is plenty.

 

[Kol]

I ended up getting the 128gb over the 64gb solely because it had thread. I have have absolutely no need for it… BUT I felt like I was losing out if I didn’t get it Sucker.

This was upgrading from my Apple TV HD which was perfectly adequate for what I was using it for but the latest one is sooooo much faster and with touch controls disabled the remote is miles better than the last one. I hated that.