Apple TV 4K 18 Months Later: I’m FED UP with TVs! 

It doesn't matter if you are in the Apple ecosystem or not, but Apple TV is a must-have for every home. This product is so underrated; whoever hasn't used it will never understand what a gem it is.

Apple tv is a no brainer. Air pods work with them, ui is snappy and responsive, built in screensaver is cool, you can live view your homekit cameras.

I’d say the Apple TV is the biggest Apple sleeper product. Picked up my first in 2016 and it still functions like the day I bought it. AND still gets the most recent updates 🤯 The UI, features and navigation is top notch👌

Not having to see ads is worth the price of admission alone, getting all my apps, using my iPhone as a remote, connecting AirPods, responsive and intuitive navigation are all a bonus!

I bought 2 Apple TV 4Ks in 2017 that still work like they’re right out of the box. I updated both of the remotes to the newest one, but other than that they are still perfect. Apple engineering is just top notch.

I remember i used to dislike the apple tv thinking it was a waste of money since most tvs at the time were “smart”. Bought one appe tv now i own 3

I had to have a small surgery this past week and Apple TV with AirPod pro’s has been a huge blessing. Watching Oppenheimer with AirPods is wild

Grabbing the Apple TV 4K was a game changer for me. While LG's WebOS is decent for the most part, I keep running into some random bug where I would randomly lose the sound for no reason at all. None of the diagnostics or troubleshooting that LG recommended helped. The only fix was resetting the TV (LG C2 42inch) back to factory settings but even then the same issue would happen again in a few days. A $1000+ TV shouldn't come with bugs like this and after a few months I got fed up and grabbed the Apple TV 4K. It was quite abit of money but well worth the price of admission. Zero bugs, smooth UI, able to use my AirPods 3 and AirPods Max for private listening and finally syncing with a pair of HomePod 2s through eARC for the best minimalist Dolby Atmos set-up (no noticeable lag even during PS5 and Xbox Series X gameplay). One of Apple's most underrated products IMO. That said, will you be doing a long term review of the Google Nest Wifi Pro? Thinking of upgrading to one of those to replace my aging Google Wifi mesh set=-up.

I switched to Apple TV 4K at the beginning of this year, and it’s been great. The smart TV OS was just pausing so much on live content. I tested the same app on my iPad and experienced zero issues. Even when the TV was connected to Ethernet vs Wi-Fi on iPad. So I took the leap and have not regretted it at all.

Having been the IT person for my past job and having to support all of the conference rooms and TVs I have found that Most "Smart" TVs are pretty dumb. They are exactly as you have noted her, but they also really stink at managing peripherals (AppleTVs, Roku Boxes, and other external sources). They would randomly disconnect and be forgotten and the auto-detect and setup for them are horrible. Huge sources like AppleTVs would just never auto-setup with their software. Basic users are hosed by them. We have a couple AppleTVs at home and we love them. Frictionless and easy to use when you want to do anything on them. Great video.

This video made me take the plunge. I’m so glad I bought one. It makes my LG 4K TV feel like a whole new unit. So buttery smooth. Perfect. ❤

Totally agree! I didn’t think much of it before I watched your video this morning but my Apple TV’s are probably my most used home devices next to maybe my Mac.

I only use Apple TV. The combination of it plus my AirPods Max is incredible. Especially watching movies at night so I don’t wake up anyone. The Dolby atmos works so well with my AirPods Max. Plus the integration with my iPhone and search is so good.

I completely agree with you! Ever since purchasing the Apple TV 4K 3rd gen, I’ve had such a smooth experience with my tv. I’m planning on purchasing a new tv and already know I’ll be getting one right alongside it.

We need a resurgence of dumb tvs so we can just have Apple TV

Also a home hub for automation and matter enabled.

I really wish that TV manufacturers would offer their "smart" TV's without the "smarts". I.E., essentially just a monitor for use with my Apple TV & Mac Mini. I realize I could just use a computer monitor, but they're not really available in sizes larger than 32" or so.

Happy to see this video cuz ive always had the same chromecast for 8 or 9 years now, needed a new one, bought whatever the newest chromecast is, and it was awful. So bad that i just put the old one back in my 13 year old tv lol. I have all apple devices so i thought this would be the better choice, just wanted to see another of your videos about it. Now its settled! I must buy a new TV and the apple tv! Thank you!

Granted, all of my TVs are still good old “dumb” TVs (I’m running my Panasonic plasmas until they die), but even if I were in the market for a brand new TV today, I would either try to find a non-smart TV, or if that isn’t an option, I’d buy the TV with the best reviewed picture quality and disable all the smart features. The data mining and ads make them a nonstarter, and I’ve never seen a built in smart TV OS that is as fluid and feature packed as Apple TV. All of the points you made are spot on, the high quality of the OS combined with the deep integration with other Apple products make this by far the best way to get content. Even if you don’t use an iPhone it’s still one of the best streaming boxes available.

I've had the AppleTV 4k 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation boxes. The hardware has never failed, never lagged, or ever been a hassle to set up. It integrates Apple music and video purchases seamlessly and provides a bit more functionality vs Apple on a Android based OS. When they moved away from iTunes to TV and Music apps, there were some issues accessing my Apple library, but support is just a text or phone call away.

I bought an Apple TV a few years ago for my 65 inch Panasonic plasma, which has a beautiful screen and preferable to my 4K TVs. Like you said, streaming on the native 4K TV apps became buggy. So I got Apple TVs for those. Great video! Thank you.

Something I love about my Apple TV 4K outside of all the stuff you said here, Moonlight streaming from my gaming PC (running Sunshine) and native Tailscale support (can even work as your hub allowing direct access to your LAN for devices not supported by Tailscale natively).

Home automation is the biggest thing that I use mine for that you didn't mention. Love that it supports HomeKit / Matter and Threads.

I've had my Apple TV 4K for 9 months now...I'll never go back to NOT having one. It's an absolute AMAZING replacement for the generic smart tv software that's usually buggy and extremely limited. 🔥

I have all Apple TV 3rd gen 4k all hardwired its the best and clean setup

Just came across your channel and was pleasantly surprised with the production quality. The snappy montage of B-roll must have been tedious to capture and time-consuming to edit, but it certainly makes for a much more pleasurable experience than a 10-minute-long talking head video. Thanks for the content and keep up the fine work!

I have the OG ATV 4, and it still works awesome, will never get rid of it.

I bought two new Samsung OLED tvs this year and got Apple TV 4K for both of em day 1. Now every tv in my house has one and it’s so good and easy to watch and do things. Love it!

I've got three apple TV 4Ks. They work great. Ive got a 2022, 2021 and whetever year the 1st 4k came out for workouts only. No issues with any of them

What app do you use for split screen? I watch a lot of sports and was trying to figure how to do this. Thanks!

The only issue I have with the Apple TV is audio sync. I've tried everything and still can't get it to work properly with certain apps.

I bought one when I made the decision to take my OLED off of wifi to avoid firmware updates. After a couple of months using the ATV4K im happy I made the deicision.

Never thought I could be pried away from Roku. I got one of these on the recommendation of a coworker because my living room tv kept crashing. Now I have 2, with relatively new tvs because the experience of use is just so so much better. With this I am confident I am getting the best performance out of my television. AppleTV has it quirks, it seems to hate my Vizio soundbar but otherwise I wouldn’t go back unless this product was discontinued.

please help :( i'm using apple tv on my samsung oled tv, and somehow the shows i'm watching always lag a little bit... just miliseconds, but still, I notice it. it happened with my previous samsung tv as well. i'm using a 4K HDMI cable, so that shouldn't be a problem. any idea how to fix it?

Question: With the Apple Event on the 10th of June coming up, would it make a big difference to wait if there will be an upgrade of the Apple TV? Maybe the 4th gen. I'm eager to buy an Apple TV system, but I'm not sure if waiting and maybe even paying more for an upgraded one makes more sense. Thanks in advance

Still rocking my 2017 ATV4K and it performs better than any FireTV or Roku device, in addition to all the other benefits you described.

Lg CX owner here but is this gonna make the picture quality better? If not why buy it ? To have a smoother UI for 180$ ( with the added tax) ?

Great video man. We got an Apple tv before we got a smart tv so just carried on using it as we had been doing. It’s definitely a great piece of kit.

I love my Apple TV and even had the very first model. I see no reason to update the hardware regularly as it works just fine. The last upgrade when I bought a 4K TV. The interface is the biggest benefit for me.

I like the sound of the gasping reader! I have Apple TVs and every room and they are must have

The one thing to think about using external smart box is that TV processing features might not work on them. For example Sony XR clear or new Alpha 11 LG G4 OLED might only do some of it's processing on internal apps in their Smart OS. Not sure how much of a thing that is, just that it has been shown at times that things can look different between an AppleTv or Shield vs internal smart TV processing.

I have four TV's in my house, and I have an Apple TV on each of them. The experience is totally worth the money.

The Apple Remote gets disconnected from my sound bar and tv. Sometimes I can’t turn on my tv with it and/ or control the volume on my soundbar.

How does it compare to a games console like Xbox? What about a Kindle Fire Stick?

Is it still worth getting even if you don't use any apple products? I just have an android phone.

Thanks for the video :) .. I really want to buy an apple tv but i don't know if i should wait for the next gen or buy it now? Thanks

I am very much still a media pc type of person. (Not that d+ or prime video gives you good quality on a pc) But mpv is such a powerful media player, add in shaders, upscaleing, and many other advanced settings. (Like dynamic tone mapping for hdr) Atv is more locked down than even ios and is just a huge hassle for me to work with. But it does have some very useful features like audio format shifting and a atmos decoder? (Mac can decode atmos to high channel pcm but mabye not atv) I guess the airpod features are cool if your in the apple ecosystem but I am extremely sensitive to audio latency and Bluetooth dosen't really cut it. (Although you can delay it out and that's mostly fine for media consumption that isn't live.) The whole home media space is a mess. Expessaly now that audio is expected to be carried over hdmi. Hq audio and vrr at the same time is very expensive to get now. Cec is still mostly a mess. Modern displays all seem to have earc now but a few years ago high end displays only had arc causing more configuration issues. Streaming services 4k distribution only comes in locked ways with weird requirements that causes signal processing to essentially be a no go and most things that work or are the distribution formats are stuck behind licenses. Like hdmi 2.1 essentially being broken on Linux because of the licensing changes from the hdmi standard.

Is there any device that one can add to a Sony tv that has an actual OS like LG’s web os that allows you to connect directly to the Internet?

When are they going to fix the Apple TV remote connected remote disconnected constantly over and over again?

I have a Roku ultra that works real good, but there’s no Citytv app, or CTV News app. Is the ctv news network on the app? And do the apps on Apple TV bloat up with cache like they do on the iPad? If they do, do you have to delete them to install them? And, do you need an iPhone to set up an Apple TV?

Love my Apple TV's!! Great video.

i preach to so many people to get one. especially if you have and iphone or multiple apple products its just such a smooth basically flawless experience. I use mine with 4 minis in 2 stereo pairs and a full size homepod "center" channel and the audio/video experience is bar none for the price. Theres nothing better.

I have Apple TVs and Google TV’s connected to all 3 TVs I use in my house, but I only use the Google TV now, for some reason I prefer Google TV and the little Google TV remote.

I have a pre 4k and a 4k AppleTV and I love the picture quality of the 4k, but HATE that the stupid control center pops up ALL the damn time for no damn reason. I ish I could turn it off/disable it completely.

100% agree just bought top of the line OLED and the Apple TV was a must. The experience is unmatched and I feel the picture is also improved. I have just purchased another two for other TVs in the house.

I completely agree,I used to watch Netflix on my 2014 Sony Smart tv system (without Android) and it was laggy and not good. I bought a Fire Tv 4K first gen and situation didn’t improve that much,plus it was riddled with ads. I managed to find an Apple TV 4K first gen with A10X chip and it was really a great experience. I said was because I don’t have it anymore. I gave it to my mum and I bought the last gen with A15 chip. It costs a bit but the experience is really great and I cannot live anymore without my Apple TV 4K.

I won an Apple TV from a work event in 2018, and haven’t looked back and have added one to my other TV. It’s the only interface used on the TVs (Samsung and LG.) Still going strong years later with the same original units.

Split screen app for Apple TV 👀👀👀 I need this

If the ATV4K was able to do all the UHD audio formats it would dominate. But, until then Shield TV Pro will be my main home theater device

Awesome video! I have many Apple TVs and glad I have them. You talked about many of my frustrations with my OS and reminded me I should use my Apple TV more.

My 2015 Sony TV been struggling since 2017, thankfully Amazkn Fire TV Box fixed that but then upgraded/switched to Apple TV for airplay but wish i still had wake up command like the Fire TV Box. I don’t wanna depend on my phone or a remote to navigate streaming services except RU-vid.

For android tv/google tv you can install a 3rd party Home Screen. So no ads on Home Screen.

Got Apple TV a few months ago, and it is a wonderful product. I am done with Smart TV apps, especially Roku.

I have an apple TV for my master bedroom and living room. I love them. I just bought a new 65'' TV last month and still use the apple tv with it. I like how the apps are already in the same space. Didn't have to download or long in to anything. It just works. I don't owe the apple tv 4k so thinking of getting that soon. My guess room could use my older apple tv.

Roku is slow now too? That’s unfortunate, I had a Roku TCL TV a few years back and I always touted it as the fastest smart TV I’d ever used (besides TVOS). Is Roku really as slow as Tizen now?

Isn't the new apple 4k TV 4th gen coming out in June? Is this late video pushing for last minute sales or what

Love mine, but recently pairing it with AirPods (late night, people asleep) has been driving me to the iPad.

Hundreds of complaints online of Apple TV owners experiencing popping and crackling sounds as well as audio dropouts when watching streaming shows on all brands of TV, myself included. They won't allow me to return the unit, so I'm replacing it. I use HDMI 2.1 cables and have tried several to no avail.

I’ve been having an Apple TV for years and the the best. I just recently switched to Fire TV and I’m not really happy with the platform. I only switched because of my smart home is Alexa powered.

I have several of these and love them!

When I got my Hisense a couple years ago, I had to use the built-in RU-vid app becuase Google hadn't updated the AppleTV app to display HDR content. Once that got fixed, I use my Apple TV and my blu-ray player (and my son uses a third input for playing Nintendo). I only use the built-in interface if I have to mess with settings.

Kudos on the overview. I’ll test to see how things look when I actually get a smart tv this summer. I’ve been running my pre smart era Sony XBR 8 for 15 years and the IC boards are starting to give out. I’ve only used the TV as a dumb display anyway as my audio gets sent to the receiver which does the 5.1.1 decoding and amplification and routing. Most of my tv watching was TiVo cable recordings with an equally of TiVo. The TV is always a display device only. Time to upgrade. The new Sonys for 2024 run Android so I’ll see what they have installed in them. I’ve been tuning the AppleTV 4K first generation and had the AppleTV Gen 1 before that, so I’m familiar with that system. It has its bugs - the podcast app just cannot seem to reliably launch a video podcast playback as of late , occasionally looses its rss back end and just will not put in the quick access the video podcast I watch most. Oh and the phone to search sky entry has become a disaster in RU-vid , but that could be a RU-vid app issue. One it the big all Apple problems beyond the crap podcast app, is the janky remote with Apple doing its weird thing of swipes and long presses. I use a programmable remote to replace ALL of my other remotes and drive everything that way and by macros. But that’s all based on the established IR remote paradigm of a button puts out a burst of codes IR light per press. This means ffwd/rew and long press to delete or move things isn’t possible on the Home Theater Remote , but hey that’s why I keep the Apple Remote in the drawer or the phone nearby. If there are any ads in the tv’s own interface then that’s that and I’ll never use it again. Period. No compromise there. For live tv I have my TiVo with cable guide (as shit as that Program guide still is , an American problem ). So I don’t really have a use case that needs me to use the TVs app ecosystem. It’s just a duplicate of what I already have hooked up via my AVR. In the slowness issue , having expedited what Apple did to my ipad2, I think for tvs the same applies. If your tv works and has the features you want - do NOT upgrade the firmware. Leave it alone and turn off auto updates. Because computers run the old software just as fast 10 years on as the day they were new. But the new software constantly expects the hardware improvements. That is critical for Apple devices whet you cannot go back to prior versions. For TVs if you can preserve software on a USB stick and downgrade at will then testing new versioned isn’t bad, just be prepared to go back.

I stopped using smart TV interfaces years ago with the advent of devices like Fire TV and Apple TV

It's a sweet little device and well worth the money. I have mine hardwired and the streaming is flawless. My only complaint is that the remote is a bit slippery in my hand so I picked up an inexpensive silicon cover for it from Amazon.

I just found your video and I totally agree with all said. Same reasons to buy one a couple of years ago, my Sony OLED TV with Android got so laggy and buggy that it was really annoying. I got one Apple TV and never looked back. And all the benefits that come with it being part of the ecosystem, I just love it!

I bought my GF and daughter an apple tv for $90 each at Costco. They both love them

I use mine for a lot of hand offs. Meaning I’ll be watching something on my phone and I can pick it right back up with ease.

I got a higher end LG OLED a few years ago and it was worth it. Runs smooth and after all the updates it’s still good. I also have an Apple TV and I do use it since I’ve noticed the interface is cleaner higher res and usually the video streaming is at a higher resolution. Luckily I don’t have any ads anywhere which I’m not looking forward to when I switch to a new tv but not anytime soon

Thks. Realy - Apple TV this a best device for TV!!!! No ads, all work with you apple device , passwords , apple ID , aipods ))) I love Apple TV!!

No ads at all on my Panasonic MZ2000 and its apps are really snappy

My FireTV and FireTV stick are SO inconsistent. I had the original one, now I'm giving in to Apple again, and it's because of 1:17--the same reason I use Macs and iPads. They just feel better. The user experience is superior.

Love my apple tv 4k,just don't like that some of the apps not being updated! Netflix, Viki are just a few examples!

Run a home media server with Jellyfin and grab infuse for your tv

I travel with my Apple TV. I really would like a stick form factor.

I’ve owned the latest Apple TV for more than a year now. Before I was really struggling with a 4k fire stick as it was so lagging even at the highest spec Amazon device you could buy. I ditched it and bought the Apple TV. All I have to say is they I love it, I would buy it again if needed.

Couple of comments. Walmart recently purchase Vizio so we can expect to see ads on those TV’s soon. One big feature of the Apple TV 4K is the ability to pair to multiple remote devices like headsets. That means more than 1 person can be listening to the TV over their headset - and different model headset - at the same time.

Have Apple TV on all our TVs. It’s so easy now for my family, same remote, same OS, and it works very fast, and NO ads. The idea that an expensive has ads is ridiculous.

My only complaint with my Apple Tv is the Bluetooth connection. I'm not sure if it's the housing on the box, if the chip is under powered, the dolby audio or whatever but the connection gets spotty when going around corners and is randomly unstable. It happens both with my Airpod PROs and my Sony M3s. For reference I never have this problem with my iPhone or iPad, and I can literally leave it one end of my house and walk to the other end and have no problems. Other than that I love my Apple TV. I'm pretty sure I owned the very first one that was silver and much bigger but it's definitely a must have on all my TVs. I don't even connect my TVs to the wifi just to avoid any software updates they might force on me that might hurt the performance of my tv.

agree on everything you said. Apple TVs are amazing, they’re a must for any TV in my house

First! Big fan of the AppleTV, Have them on both main TVs at home and recommend them to family and friends, I cannot imagine going back to the built in rubbish. Not to mention being able to use the remote app on our phones when we inevitably lose the remote.

Well done 👏🏼 thank you for the info and demo 👍🏼✌🏼🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

Is it useful if it is set on an Android-based environment ? Would it be worth buying on this situation?

Here's an example using the RU-vid TV app (subscription) on Apple TV versus running it directly on my Sony TV. While viewing the program schedule, the Apple TV version shows live video in the preview box in the upper right of the screen versus a static image on the Sony. Another is that moving through the scheduled program listing can be scrolled quickly by pressing and holding a remote button, but on the Sony you have to keep pressing the button to move to the next time slot or channel. This is unusable if you want to check the schedule more than a day ahead or quickly scan the channel listing.

I love the Apple TV. My only complaint is I can’t pair two Apple remotes to the same unit.

In addition to this accurate review, it was the picture quality that was a really pleasant surprise. It's dramatically better. That's not hyperbole in my experience. The most obvious signs of artifacting and low throughput are the black to gray levels. It's been decades since I haven't seen some sort of black level banding, pretty much with all of the digital non OTA signals, cable, satelite, or internet based. Unless you've seen enough film or analog, you might not even realize that the picture isn't supposed to be banded like that. This was really the 1st time I fealt like I was getting the full use of the gorgeous 4k OLED screen outside of physical discs or an OTA sports broadcast.

I have a sony x90j tv. Google tv platform is so snappy on sony high end tv. However, I still use apple tv box for better picture quality across the apps

tv operating systems have never really been good for streaming. I have always used devices. Can you side load 3rd party apps on the Apple Tv? This has been a big reason why I have never used Apple devices. I mean it's great for your basic apps like hulu, netflix, disney +, but how about 3rd party apps? Thanks. I use the buzz box and love it because it is android and has NO BLOATWARE and extremely fast.

Buying Apple tv 4k was the second best Apple product i bought after Apple watch ultra. Was very hesitating before buying it but one day i wake up i decided to buy it with pair of HomePod for the full experience and i become addicted to the smoothest experience i ever had. thank Kyle for the recommendation you was one of the reason i get one !

I agree! I also have the Apple 4k tv (first iteration) and i'm waiting to see if they release a new one after WWDC. If not i might pick one up. It just runs so much smoother and now, with my new tv, having all the newest features would be nice. Especially 120Hz. Since my 75" Samsung tv goes up to 144Hz. Would be nice if Apple could support that.

Same here man. I've grown to hate my apple TV. Mostly because the remote is a pain to navigate the OS.