Three hundred dollars for a streaming box is a hard number to defend, and Apple has not really tried. The 2022 Apple TV 4K started at $129 for the Wi-Fi model. The new one comes in a single version at $299 (299 pounds, AU$449), so the entry price has more than doubled while the list of things it does differently is short.
Here is that list as far as I can tell: four-speaker surround using HomePods, but not the first-generation ones; the new Siri; hardware AV1 decoding; and a remote that can beep and be located precisely over UWB. The component shortage is the reason being floated for the price, and it is real, but rival streamer makers face the same shortage and none of them has jumped like this.
So who is it for? If you already own newer HomePods and the TV is in a room where four of them make sense, the surround feature is a genuine reason. AV1 is future-proofing, nice, not urgent. If your Apple TV feeds an AV receiver with wired speakers, which is most people on a forum like this, the HomePod feature is irrelevant and you are paying $299 for Siri and a findable remote.
My 2022 box stays where it is. The only thing that would change that is evidence the new hardware does something for the picture or for audio passthrough to a receiver, and nothing announced so far points that way. If the old model keeps getting the same tvOS releases, the smart move for most owners is to do nothing.
Here is that list as far as I can tell: four-speaker surround using HomePods, but not the first-generation ones; the new Siri; hardware AV1 decoding; and a remote that can beep and be located precisely over UWB. The component shortage is the reason being floated for the price, and it is real, but rival streamer makers face the same shortage and none of them has jumped like this.
So who is it for? If you already own newer HomePods and the TV is in a room where four of them make sense, the surround feature is a genuine reason. AV1 is future-proofing, nice, not urgent. If your Apple TV feeds an AV receiver with wired speakers, which is most people on a forum like this, the HomePod feature is irrelevant and you are paying $299 for Siri and a findable remote.
My 2022 box stays where it is. The only thing that would change that is evidence the new hardware does something for the picture or for audio passthrough to a receiver, and nothing announced so far points that way. If the old model keeps getting the same tvOS releases, the smart move for most owners is to do nothing.
