Apple TV 4K (4th gen) review: faster and smarter, but harder to justify at $299

Engadget's review of the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K concludes that Apple's premium streaming box remains the best-performing option in its class, while questioning whether the new features and higher price make sense for most buyers.

What's actually new

The external changes are minimal. The status light has moved from the right edge to the center, and the chassis is marginally larger and heavier — differences Engadget describes as easy to miss. The Siri Remote is unchanged in size.

The internal changes are more substantial. Apple swapped the A15 Bionic for its A19 chip. The company claims 50 percent faster CPU performance and up to twice the GPU performance versus the previous model; the reviewer says those figures couldn't be independently measured, but reports that navigation and the interface feel noticeably smoother. The A19 also adds a dedicated AV1 decoder for more efficient HDR rendering.

Siri moves into the room

The box now packs three far-field microphones, so owners can address Siri without reaching for the remote. The assistant can search across apps for live TV, films, shows and sports, and — using expanded personal-context capabilities — can act on references drawn from Messages and other apps. Apple says audio from the far-field mics is processed inside the A19's Secure Exclave, keeping it away from apps, the operating system and Apple itself.

Engadget singles out Precision Finding for the remote in the Find My app as a genuinely useful addition, particularly in households where the remote goes missing.

Home theater and smart home

The audio setup expands from a pair of HomePods or HomePod minis to as many as four compatible speakers, provided the front pair and rear pair match. Engadget tested two second-generation HomePods at the front and two HomePod mini 2s at the rear and found the combination effective: the larger speakers supply bass and a fuller stage, while the minis work as rear channels. A four-mini arrangement, heard in a demo, was judged a step up from TV speakers but less capable. A Whole Room Audio mode lets all four speakers play the same content.

The device also continues to serve as a smart home hub for HomeKit and Matter accessories, with HomeKit Secure Video processing clips locally before encrypted storage in iCloud. Camera feeds can appear on screen, and doorbell notifications can be answered from the TV.

Where it falls short

Price is Engadget's central criticism. At $299, the new model costs $150 more at launch than the equivalent previous generation did, and Apple has dropped the cheaper Wi-Fi-only, 64GB variant; the fourth-gen box ships in a single 128GB configuration. The reviewer notes the third-gen model's own price had already risen to $249 this year.

Engadget also questions how many households will assemble four HomePods in one room, given that doing so ties up speakers that would otherwise provide multiroom audio and Intercom. It frames the quad-speaker arrangement as a bonus for movie nights rather than a soundbar replacement. Separately, the reviewer flags a tvOS quirk: the Home icon doesn't appear in Control Center until a camera is added or a Scene is created, which makes controlling non-camera devices on a device marketed as a hub more awkward than expected.

Who should buy

Engadget's verdict is that the Apple TV 4K remains the top premium streamer on performance, but is less easy to recommend than before. Owners of the third-generation model are advised to keep it. First-time buyers are pointed toward sales, refurbished units or a used third-gen box, accepting that the newest features — including always-listening Siri — would be lost.