The Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) has very little meaningful improvement over the model from four years ago, yet the minimum price has doubled. It remains the best streaming device for those with lots of Apple devices, or those who care about data privacy — but its price now feels less proportionate to its advantages, and it hasn't kept up with the rest of the world in areas such as game streaming.
The new remote that emits a noise is genuinely useful, but Siri AI is far too inconsistent to be useful upgrade.
Excellent format support and great Apple integration, but no game streaming and half-baked Siri AI are disappointing.
Best-in-class video quality, and general performance in the OS is as slick as it gets for streaming boxes.
A nice small box and hardy aluminum remote, though the latter is maybe too simple in places. Not everyone will love the built-in mics.
The difference in quality and features between this and a cheaper streaming stick is not easy to justify, even it does bring better privacy.
Excellent picture quality and format support
Features such as instantly entering passwords from your phone are great
Siri AI is inconsistent and not smart enough even at its best
Integrated mics will put off some people
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The Apple TV 4K (2026) has been a strange product to review. I’ve been an Apple TV user since the Apple TV 3rd Gen, released in 2012 — in over a decade of sticking with it, I upgraded to the first 4K version, and the 2021 4K version with the better remote. I skipped the Apple TV 4K 2022 version, since the upgrades were minimal.
Despite this, I still recommended that version wholeheartedly to people buying for the first time, for the same reason that home theater enthusiasts online have recommended it.
Its picture quality is best-in-class, its format support is excellent, and it offers more privacy protection (and an ad-free home screen) than its rivals from the likes of Roku, Amazon and Google — even though it’s more expensive than those models. The premium was worth paying.
But the premium has changed. The 2022 model launched at $129 / £149 / AU$219 as the starting price. In the middle of 2026, the price rose to $199 / £249 / AU$399. Now the new model is $299 / £299 / AU$449.
This is compared to $84.99 / £99.99 / AU$149 for the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which has also had a price rise this year. The two products have basically the same format support, too.
I should mention here that the Nvidia Shield Pro is also now $299, but has much older tech in it than that this new Apple TV 4K. So the new model isn't bad value compared to the most direct competitor, the question is whether anyone really wants to pay this much for what's on offer from either of these compared to the cheaper equivalents.
Let's address it bluntly. Is the Apple TV 4K worth its higher price for upgraders from previous 4K models? Short answer: no.
Is it worth its higher price if you’re new to Apple TV boxes? Only if you care a lot about image quality and privacy.
Let’s start with the basics. The box runs tvOS, which is software specific to these devices, and is a spin-off from the iOS software used on iPhones. As a result, the Apple TV 4K is more versatile than most other streaming boxes. Yes, you have all the big streaming apps, but you also have practical apps that might be useful…
