Introduction

The Apple TV has been around for a while, since 2007, but Apple released its first real update, since its inception, in November of 2015. With Siri, a new remote, and an App Store, the Apple TV 4 shapes up to be the all in one streaming package. It’s still small, but it’s much more powerful than it was before. The Apple TV 4 is Apple’s “future of television” and although they didn’t get the TV network deals they were hoping for, Apple still feels that their newest iteration of their streaming box is the best around.

Design –

The design of the Apple TV 4 really isn’t that important since, more often than not, it’ll be sitting right under your TV in some cabinet. Basically, the Apple TV 4 looks like a taller Apple TV which means its a small black box with a white LED light on the front. It’s meant to disappear under your TV and it does just that.

Power –

The Apple TV 4 is powered by Apple’s A8 chip, previously found in the iPhone 6 and several other iOS devices. This speed bump allows for the Apple TV to run games and apps downloaded from the App Store with ease and its 2GBs of RAM allow for the Apple TV to switch between apps, like an iPhone. A majority of the Apple TV 4’s innards are taken up by a huge heat sink, suggesting that Apple has clocked its A8 chip higher than usual in an effort to push more power from it. It’s obvious that the A8 well suits the Apple TV 4 as its UI, games, and apps all run perfectly, without stutter.

“This speed bump allows for the Apple TV to run games and apps downloaded from the App Store with ease…”

Siri Remote –

The Apple TV 4’s most important new feature is its Siri Remote. With a touchpad, home button, menu button (which acts as a back button), volume buttons (which use an IR blaster), a play/pause button, and a Siri button, the new Apple TV remote has a lot going for it. The glass touchpad on the top of the remote lets you swipe, tap, and click with it, making traversing the Apple TV interface kind of fun and whimsical, although it still doesn’t fix the keyboard problem.
With the double-click of the home button, you can switch between open apps on the Apple TV, just like an iPhone. But the most important button on the new Siri Remote is the Siri button. When pushed and held, Siri is invoked on the bottom of your screen. By speaking into the microphone on the remote, you can ask for the weather, search for content within iTunes/Hulu/Netflix, play songs from Apple Music, control content playback, and much more. Siri is incredibly accurate and fast on the Apple TV 4, more so than the iPhone, and is pretty useful when trying to find content or control the show you’re watching.