New Apple TV 4K vs old Apple TV 4K: What's the difference?

Apple has unveiled a new Apple TV 4K 2021 that offers a bunch of upgrades. There's a faster A12 Bionic bit within, support for faster frame rates when watching HDR content and a very clever color calibration mode that works with your iPhone.

There are quite a few changes here. including back up for HDMI 2.i and (finally) a new Siri remote. The new Apple tree TV will be available to society on April 30 and will send some time in the 2nd half of May.

Here's all the biggest differences betwixt the new and quondam Apple Tv 4K.

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New Apple tree TV 4K vs old Apple Tv 4K: Cost

There are ii models bachelor of the new Apple Tv 4K, as there were with the concluding-generation model. The 32GB version costs $179 and the 64GB is $199. Yous'll get access to Apple TV+ for one yr with the new model, so you'll be able to watch flavour 2 of Ted Lasso, which Apple likewise announced was arriving in June.

New Apple tree Television set 4K vs onetime Apple tree Goggle box 4K: Performance

Apple tree has upgraded the CPU in the new Apple TV to the A12 Bionic, while the previous model used the A10X. This gives the new model a lot more horsepower, which should make for a better experience for anyone who plays games on their Apple TV. Simply that'due south not all that this chip enables...

Apple TV 4K 2021 — (Paradigm credit: Apple tree)

New Apple tree TV 4K vs onetime Apple Goggle box 4K: Loftier frame rate

The headline functionality here is the increase in the maximum supported frame charge per unit. Previously, the Apple Boob tube supported 4K HDR (Dolby Vision) video at thirty fps (frames per 2nd). This has now been increased to lx fps.

There'southward a lot of possible excitement here. Calculation back up for HDR video at 60 fps means that anyone with an iPhone 12 can make use of its Dolby Vision support at 4K/60 and stream to the box in the best possible quality.

Information technology likewise opens Apple Idiot box up to even more streaming options. While movies tend not to utilise loftier frame rates, TV shows sometimes practise, which is of import when it comes to sports. In theory, if your favorite sport circulate has an Apple TV app, you might see games in HDR and at high frame rates in the future.

New Apple TV 4K vs one-time Apple tree TV 4K: HDMI two.1

The original Apple Television receiver 4K had an HDMI 2.0 connection, and this has now been upgraded to HDMI 2.1. This brings with it the potential for much higher information rates, from 18gbps (gigabits per second) upwardly to 48gbps.

Apple doesn't back up 8K video, and it's certainly non in the specs. Withal, the new Apple TV does seem to have hardware that could support higher-resolution video. The simply question would be if the processor could support decoding 8K at some betoken.

What HDMI ii.1 does ensure is that the quality of streamed video could, in theory, be much higher. Apple tree TV and iTunes 4K content already looks pretty expert. But perhaps nosotros'll see fifty-fifty meliorate video quality in the future.

New Apple TV 4K vs old Apple TV 4K: iPhone calibration

Ane of the most important new Apple tree TV 4K features makes use of the color sensor on your iPhone in conjunction with Apple Goggle box 4K to calibrate the box to meliorate your TV moving-picture show. This could be fantastic for getting the absolute best out of your TV without the demand to have it professionally calibrated.

This organization uses the Apple TV's image processing for compensating for your TV'due south picture contour. While Television set calibration can no doubt produce amazing results, it's expensive to accept performed by a professional, and this is a really neat mode of improving things for gratis. That is, as long equally y'all accept both a new iPhone and a new Apple Tv.

Update: after we published this story information technology was revealed that this feature will work on the older 4K Apple TV as well, one time information technology'southward updated to tvOS xiv.five. Yous'll need an iPhone running iOS 14.5 and with Confront ID to use the calibration mode.

New Apple TV 4K vs sometime Apple Tv 4K: Siri remote

Apple TV 4K 2021 remote control — We can't overstate how glad we are to encounter this... (Prototype credit: Apple)

If yous've used the onetime Apple Idiot box 4K, you lot'll exist pleased past the new remote. Gone is the bear on surface — it has been now replaced with a touch-enabled clickpad. This should give owners a lot more command over their navigation and is likely to be a huge improvement.

The new remote uses Bluetooth five.0, a step up from the previous model'southward Bluetooth 4.0. The newer remote should final longer on a charge than the quondam one, cheers to lower power consumption. At that place's still an infrared controller, which will let you modify the book on pretty much any Television set, soundbar or AV system.

The new remote replaces the "menu" push with a simple "back" symbol. The functionality hasn't inverse here, as far as we tin can tell, but the new labelling makes more than sense because the button has e'er gone back rather than to the principal bill of fare. To go to home, use the TV icon button.

Also useful is the new touch wheel, which brings waves of iPod nostalgia. Running your finger over the touch-enabled clickpad will help y'all scan through your shows smoothly in a mode that was tricky with the old remote.

The new specs don't mention the inclusion of the accelerometer and three-axis gyro. Nosotros'll have to test the new Apple Boob tube to tell y'all if that functionality remains. Charging is still handled past a Lightning cable, and i is included in the box.

New Apple tree Television receiver 4K vs erstwhile Apple Tv set 4K: Outlook

Overall, the new Apple TV 4K remains a premium streaming device, but you lot're now getting more for your money with better performance, higher HDR frame rates and the new Siri remote. Stay tuned for our total review.