The elephant in the bedroom has a question: “Why can’t I be a cheetah when it comes to the streaming device attached to the smart TV?” There are several options to choose from, like Chromecast with Google TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick and Mi Box 4K. They are good but not fast enough to accommodate your streaming pattern. Second, one wants to be sure about privacy-related issues. The next question: “What if my TV comes with all the apps installed?” Chances are that your smart TV has very little in way of space to accommodate a growing library of apps and you have few options to bypass advertisements served by it.
This is where the third-generation Apple TV 4K comes in. It’s the most powerful digital media player at the moment for several reasons and there are enough changes to make you upgrade from the first generation 4K device that you could be using at the moment.
Get into the thread
The improvements are visible as soon as you reach for the device inside the box. It looks smaller. Apple was able to reduce the volume by around 20 per cent. It is now a fanless design, so the thermals are all internal. In the box is the Siri-powered remote which has been redesigned to accommodate USB-C.
But what you need to know is which device to buy — the Wi-Fi version or the one that also has Ethernet because the price difference is only Rs 2,000.
I would strongly recommend the higher version because it has Wi-Fi as well as Ethernet, besides HDMI (on both). The cheaper model comes with 64GB storage while the Ethernet version has 128GB storage, which will make an important difference to a person who is into gaming, even if it is casual gaming. Plus, you get thread networking support for smart homes on the higher version. More of that later.
The Siri remote now supports USB-C charging
Inside you get the very powerful A15 Bionic chipset, one of the fastest in the market. Obviously, the jump from the previous generation’s A12 is noticeable. You’re going to have better performance while gaming, navigating through menus, the UI, everything will feel snappy.
Also important is HDR10+ support. The earlier generation device was not super-friendly towards Samsung TV owners but that gets ironed out completely this time.
On to the biggest change, at least for me. There is thread networking support and it’s an important tech for any smart home device owner to have. It’s worth paying Rs 2,000 extra for this feature. What thread networking support does is basically extend the Wi-Fi coverage across your smart devices. Let’s say you have a light bulb that’s placed in a spot where the Wi-Fi signal is iffy. If the smart home device supports thread then the Apple TV 4K device will help. It’s like having a Wi-Fi extender for your smart devices. Thread networking is a growing low-power mesh networking technology standard and it works across brands. It’s going to be the future, so you might as well get something that supports it. And this technology uses less power to stay connected.
Peace and quiet
I use an iPhone and AirPods. Now consider this. My wife hates the TV after midnight and I don’t have the courage to change her mind. With the Apple TV 4K connected, I can now put on the AirPods and enjoy Die Hard and Pelican Brief anytime; she wouldn’t even know it. Similarly, I can pair an Xbox controller and play games on the TV. There are no frame drops and I can download several games with the 128GB model.
The digital media player is more affordable than ever before
Siri can be clever
One of the new features I am looking forward to is voice recognition. If you are to pick up your Apple TV remote and ask Siri what you should watch, it’ll pop up and then show you recommendations based on who’s picking up the remote (it’s helpful in a set-up where family accounts are enabled). Once it has that voice recognition it’ll be able to play shows based on your personal preference. It might offer suggestions based on your activity. Plus, a good change has come in the way how Siri results are displayed — on the right-hand side of the screen instead of the bottom; this takes up less space.
Secret sauce
Apple TV 4K is powered by tvOS, which ensures you don’t have a choppy experience. It’s a no-nonsense approach, minus all the ads that you see on other devices. The power offered by A15 Bionic ensures enough potential for future games. Now that Apple is looking closely at live sports — for example, the company and Major League Soccer have agreed to a broadcasting rights package worth $2.5bn over 10 years — it’s interesting how the A15 Bionic (and its successors) will shape the future course of streaming.
Should you buy it?
I appreciate the whole ecosystem concept here. I can simply log in with my Apple account and then switch between devices and everything works seamlessly. This is the easiest streaming device to set-up and at the end of the day, privacy is one the cornerstones of any Apple device. It’s a no-brainer to buy the third-generation Apple TV 4K.