Apple TV 4K (1st generation)
4K, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, with existing iTunes HD purchases upgraded to 4K for free. Still saddled with the 2015 Siri Remote.
Released September 22, 2017 · Discontinued May 21, 2021 · From $179 (32 GB)
4K and HDR arrived, seven years after the box first shipped. The A10X Fusion has enough headroom to decode 4K HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and Apple quietly upgraded everyone's existing iTunes HD purchases to 4K for free, which cost it money and bought a lot of goodwill. Ethernet became gigabit. The case gained vents, because the chip runs warm. The remote was still the Siri Remote from 2015, a thin black slab symmetrical enough that you regularly pick it up upside down and scrub through a film with your thumb. Reviewers complained about that remote for six straight years.
Reviews & Reception
4K and HDR finally arrived, and the aggressive 4K movie pricing drew as much comment as the hardware.
The Apple TV 4K does everything you'd expect it to do - what's surprising is how Apple is undercutting the competition in 4K pricing.
It's just a shame that we still have to wait for Apple to score more licensing deals, get more third-party support and fix curious omissions, like its lack of Atmos support.