Apple TV: What It Is and How It Works

We use Apple TV regularly so we pulled together a mini-guide to help you understand what it is and how it works.

What Is Apple TV?

Apple TV isn't an actual television set. It's a streaming device similar to Roku and Amazon's Fire TV used to access streaming content from all your favorite TV and movie providers.

Essentially, Apple TV turns your television into a "smart" TV. You can rent movies or stream your collection from iTunes, stream movies and TV shows from apps like Netflix and Hulu, stream music through Apple Music and Pandora, listen to podcasts, and even use it to replace your traditional cable TV subscription with services like Sling TV.

How to Get Started

The two things you will need to set up Apple TV (besides an actual TV) are an HDMI cable (not included) and an internet connection. Apple TV includes an Ethernet port for a hardwired Internet connection and also supports Wi-Fi. It also comes with a remote control.

Once you hook it up to your TV via the HDMI cable and turn it on, you'll run through a short setup program. This process includes entering your Apple ID/Apple Account, which is the same account you use to sign in to iTunes and to download apps on your iPad. You'll also need to type in your Wi-Fi information if you're connecting wirelessly.

What Apple TV Can Do

The newest version of the hardware, Apple TV 4K, has the same fast processor that powers the iPad Pro, which makes it as powerful as most laptop computers. It also has a graphics processor with enough power to turn it into a game console.

Apple's streaming box is also part of the Apple ecosystem, which means it works great alongside your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You can view your iCloud Photo Library on your TV, including the Memories photo album videos the iPad and iPhone create automatically from your photo albums.

You can also use AirPlay to cast your iPhone or iPad screen to your Apple TV, letting you interact with any app on your smartphone or tablet using your big-screen television.

Does Apple TV Work With HomeKit?

Apple TV also gives you access to Siri and can become a base station for HomeKit. The remote includes a Siri button, allowing you to control your TV by voice.

You can also use the Siri functionality for requests such as telling you the actors in a specific movie or asking it to display movies from a specific genre, actor, or director.

HomeKit works as the headquarters for your smart home. If you have smart appliances like a thermostat or lights, you can use HomeKit to control them. You can even use your iPhone away from home to communicate with Apple TV in your home to control your smart devices.

What Are the Differences Between Apple TV Models?

The Apple TV lineup used to have two main option: HD and 4K. The last HD model came out in 2015 and is harder to find outside of auction sites like eBay and other reselling marketplaces. That version supported up to 1080p.

The 4K model, which can show video up to 2160p, has completely replaced it; there are a couple different versions of that now. It's generally smaller, lighter, and faster plus the 3rd generation remote has USB-C.

You can read the full details on every generation of the Apple TV.

What Is Apple TV 4K?

While priced higher than all of its competitors, Apple TV 4K may end up being the best bargain in streaming devices. Apple TV 4K is great for many reasons, the best of which being that if you own one, Apple will upgrade your iTunes movie library to 4K.

The average cost difference between an HD version of a movie and a 4K version of a movie is around $5-$10. If you have ten movies in your iTunes movie library, you are getting around a $75 value in the upgrade to 4K alone. If you have twenty-five movies, Apple TV 4K practically pays for itself.

In terms of picture quality, Apple TV 4K supports both 4K resolution and HDR10. While 4K has all the buzz, High Dynamic Range (HDR) may be more important to picture quality.

Essentially, 4K gives you more pixels on your screen, while HDR gives you better pixels. Instead of just increasing the resolution, HDR gives you a higher range of colors that increases the quality and depth of the image.

Apple TV 4K also supports Dolby Vision, which is a form of HDR with an even higher color range. 

But Apple TV isn't just about streaming video. Its powerful processor makes it able to play games, and it has so much power that you might start seeing productivity apps like Numbers and Pages come to the Apple TV.

Apple TV 4K also shines with internet connectivity. Not only does it include a 1 Gigabit Ethernet port, but it also has the latest Wi-Fi technology including MIMO, which stands for multiple-in-multiple-out.

If you have a dual-band router, Apple TV 4K essentially connects to it twice (once on each "band"). The doubled-up wireless connection can be faster than a single wired one, and it is especially helpful when dealing with 4K content.

What Is the Apple TV App?

Since we live in a world of streaming where lots of things are available at any time, it can be a bit paralyzing to figure out what to watch. And thanks to so many different services, where to watch it.

Apple's answer is a new app called "TV." In many ways, it is the same as what you get when you open Hulu Plus or another similar app. You'll see a variety of different shows and movies starting with those you've recently watched and expanding to suggested titles. The difference is that these videos are coming from a variety of sources like Hulu Plus and your movie collection in iTunes.

The TV app gathers this content in one place so you can easily browse through all of it. It even has a Sports channel that shows live events including the current scores. Unfortunately, Netflix isn't part of Apple's TV app, so you'll still need to check that app independently.

Is There Any Reason to Buy the Non-4K Apple TV?

Assuming you can even find an Apple TV HD at this point, and even if you never plan on upgrading to a 4K television, the upgrade in processing speed, graphics performance (which quadruples with Apple TV 4K), and internet speed are easily worth the extra you will pay for the 4K version.

The main reason to consider the non-4K version is if you're not as interested in the various apps and games you can download from the App Store. But in this case, you may be better off looking into cheaper solutions such as a Roku stick.

You have two choices of storage levels in the Apple TV 4K: 64 GB and 128 GB.