I tried to replace my Apple TV 4K and it did not go well

I have a 2017 Apple TV 4K, which means it’s a first-gen model for those of you keeping score at home. It’s coming on a decade old, but it’s still kicking and carrying the brunt of my TV viewing. It’s starting to get some hang-ups here and there, but it’s nothing a quick restart hasn’t solved. I know it’s closer to the end of its life than it is to the beginning, and my plan is to eventually move it into a different room for its semi-retirement.

This thought process was what led me to pick up both a Roku Ultra and Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Both of these are fine products, and the Roku Ultra is from 2024, so it’s seven years newer than what we see from the Apple TV 4K. On paper, I thought that’d be a big upgrade, but it just wasn’t the case. Roku boasted this iteration of the Ultra was faster than the last, and while that may be true, it’s still not as fast as a first-gen Apple TV 4K. That was a bit shocking to me, and it made me realize that no matter how many other companies are closing the gap, Apple is still ahead.

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Nothing compares to my Apple TV 4K

Somebody needs to step up

Apple / Pocket-lint

I understand Apple needed to come in swinging with the Apple TV 4K in order to gain a large market share, and I wish other companies did the same. The Roku Ultra is a powerful device, but I expected more from it. It’s serviceable, and if you didn’t have an Apple TV 4K to compare it to, I imagine you’d be very happy with it. Unfortunately, I was able to see the differences in speed between the two after testing them back-to-back. I’m not sure why my older Apple TV is still snappier, but that’s how it is.

To Roku’s credit, the Ultra still supports both Dolby Vision and Atmos, so it’s not like it’s missing out on the top of the line features. In fact, thanks to the Roku store, it might be the better option for movie viewing because of the apps it has access to. People often say the Apple TV has the best picture quality among the streaming boxes, but I don’t think it’s anything you’d notice unless you have a Roku and Apple TV set up next to each other. Despite some clear benefits, I still find myself hanging onto the Apple TV 4K.

Outside the speed, I like the way the user interface is set up, the fact there are no ads, and that my digital library is all in one spot. Moving to another platform means I have to leave my Apple purchases behind, even if the device has the Apple TV app. I like the Roku Ultra as a bedroom device and the Fire TV Stick works great in my basement, but neither of them could supplant my Apple TV, despite its increasingly old age.

Roku always feels like it’s in some sort of hot water with ads whether it’s ones appearing on half your screen or unskippable ones being tested. Apple hasn’t had any controversies like that with the Apple TV 4K, and I hope things stay that way. I’m not against ads being shown to me on devices, but if Apple started adding intrusive ones like this, then I might run into some problems.

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Apple is competing with itself

Another Apple TV is in my future

The one thing that’s going to replace my Apple TV is another Apple TV. I’ve had my eyes on a third-gen model for a while now, but I decided to hold off on that until I get more information about what the fourth-gen has in store. It’s all rumors right now, but it seems like Apple is gearing up for a release and I figure I can hold off for another year to see if that’s true. My first-gen model has already stopped getting a lot of the major new features, and even the second-gen is missing out on them at this point. The newest third-generation device is still getting everything, but I fear it’s too weak to receive an Apple Intelligence update if that’s in the cards.

As it stands, there’s not a ton out there outside of Apple Intelligence that I want my Apple TV 4K to do that it can’t already do. Even the features I’m missing out on, like expanded aspect ratios and Snoopy backgrounds, aren’t game-changers to me. The main thing I want is a fast device that’s supported long into the future, and Apple has proven that to be the case so far. If a new Apple TV 4K isn’t announced this year, I’ll likely bite the bullet and get a third-gen model considering it’s showing no signs of slowing down, and it’s not really that old in the grand scheme of things.

Something I don’t want to happen is for Apple to stop innovating due to the lack of competition. Thanks to the lower price tag of the Roku Ultra making it an appealing choice for buyers, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Apple doesn’t have much of a reason to continue improving if nothing truly challenges the Apple TV 4K. The Sonos box was going to be that device, but with news that Sonos reportedly scrapped it, it doesn’t look like there’s a true contender at the high-end anymore. Even then, it was tough to say how it would’ve panned out since the Sonos box was reportedly double the price of an Apple TV 4K.

Things could change for the better once more companies refresh their products, but if the leap is as small as the Roku Ultra, it might not be worth the wait. There’s a lot of incentive for somebody to step up and make a big jump right now because Apple is the bar. That doesn’t mean it’s always going to be the case as the top dog tends to ebb and flow. In an ideal world, somebody will challenge Apple at the top, but I just don’t see anybody stepping up in the near future now that Sonos is out of the picture.

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