With Apple promising its latest Apple TV 4K delivers the brand’s “most immersive home theatre experience yet”, we’re intrigued to see how it compares to the previous iteration.
Should you upgrade if you’re sporting the 2022 Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen)? Or could the older model be a more affordable alternative to the 4th Gen?
Ahead of our review, we’ve compared the specs of the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) to the Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) to help you decide which streamer will suit you best. For more options, visit our round-up of the best streaming devices instead.
Price and Availability
The Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) has an RRP of £299/$299 and is currently available to pre-order ahead of its official launch from November 13th.
Unsurprisingly the older Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) is no longer available to buy directly from Apple, but it is still possible to pick up the streamer from third party retailers. Its exact price will vary, but we’ve seen the 3rd Gen retail for around £249.
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4th Gen features Siri AI
One of the biggest updates with the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) is that it now features Siri AI, Apple’s reinvented voice assistant that officially launched back in September. Apple has hailed Siri AI as being a “profoundly more capable and conversational” assistant and, though we haven’t specifically reviewed it within the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) ourselves, our Home Technology Editor, Dave Ludlow, has praised Siri AI for showing signs of promise and being a much-needed upgrade from its predecessor.
Essentially users can ask Siri AI questions to either find a new show or movie or learn more about a title. Apple gives the example that you can check whether something is appropriate for a 15-year-old or ask where a TV series was filmed. Plus when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, Siri AI can tap into your personal context and answer questions like “play the series my friend recommended”.
In comparison, the Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) doesn’t support Siri AI and instead makes do with the original Siri. That means you can control the streamer and find the series simply by using your voice, but you won’t benefit from the smarter Siri AI.
4th Gen offers hands-free voice control
Both the 4th Gen and 3rd Gen require their respective remote controls to activate Siri, but the newer iteration does benefit from an upgraded version. So, while the 3rd Gen’s remote control requires you to press a dedicated Siri button to interact with the voice assistant, the new Apple TV 4K’s remote is fitted with three far-field microphones. That allows you to speak to Siri completely hands-free. The remote also has advanced echo cancellation to isolate a user’s voice from background sound too.
Although the 4th Gen remote looks similar to its predecessor, it also benefits from Find My support that plays a sound on the remote when lost too.
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4th Gen can pair with up to four HomePod Mini 2s for a surround sound experience
In a first for Apple TV 4K, you can now create a four-speaker surround sound experience when paired with multiple new HomePod Mini 2s.
Apple explains that four HomePod Mini 2 speakers will work with the Apple TV 4K to recognise their position in the room, so audio timing and levels will be calibrated to the space. In addition, you can also use the older HomePod as long as the front and rear speaker pairs match.
4th Gen promises faster navigation and better responsiveness
Powering the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) is Apple’s A19 chip which the brand promises delivers up to 50% faster CPU performance and up to 2x faster GPU performance than the 3rd Gen’s A15 chip. This should result in greater responsiveness, faster navigation and smoother animations.
The A19 chip also includes a new AV1 decoder which Apple promises “more efficient, high-quality streaming” while using less bandwidth.
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Both can be used as smart home hubs
Both the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) and its predecessor allow you to manage and control paired compatible smart home devices directly from your TV. That means you can see doorbell notifications, check streams of security cameras and even unlock smart locks to let someone in too.
However, as it benefits from Siri AI built-in, the new 4th Gen model now supports automations, guest mode and enhanced with Apple Intelligence-generated camera activity video descriptions and summarised notifications too.
Early Verdict
With Siri AI, hands-free voice control and the promise of faster navigation, the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) is a solid refinement over its predecessor. However, whether there’s enough upgrades and differences to warrant splurging on the new model if you’ve already got the Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) remains to be seen.
We’ll be sure to update this versus once we review the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen).