Apple has announced their latest iteration of the Apple TV: the Apple TV 4k.
The just announced Apple TV 4K will feature full native 4k playback in addition to HDR support with the latest HDR10 standard baked in. Additionally, Apple is promising that the latest iteration of the Apple TV will ship with the ground-breaking A10X Fusion Chip. The A10X chip is the same chipset featured in Apple’s IPad Pro line of tablets.
Due to the added horsepower provided by the A10X chip, the new Apple TV will be able to encode higher bitrates and not only deliver silky smooth 4k video but also upscale content and make things look the best they can possibly look. Whether you’re watching it on the latest OLED 4K set or an older 1080p set, the new Apple TV promises to transform the home theatre experience when it launches later this month.
Those unfamiliar with High Dynamic Range or HDR technology, the term comes from the photography world and refers to the depth of colour and black levels present in a photograph. HDR for 4K video works in a similar fashion and helps reproduce better colours and contrast alongside deeper and darker black levels.
During Apple’s keynote earlier today, Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services had this to say:
“Bring the magic of the cinema straight to your living room with the new Apple TV 4K, customers will love watching stunning 4K HDR movies from an impressive catalog on iTunes, while also getting automatic upgrades of 4K HDR movies already in their iTunes library and enjoying 4K content on services like Netflix, coming soon.”
Native Siri support will also be included with the new Apple TV which will make it easier than ever for consumers to find exactly the content they’re looking for. The New Apple TV will be out September 22, 2017, and will retail for $229 (CAD) for 32GB or $249 (CAD) for 64GB variants.