Apple TV Gets YouTube 4K Playback, but Still No 60fps or HDR

Oct. 5, 2020



AppleTV users can finally streamYouTubein glorious 4K, thanks to a new software update that started rolling out to the device last week. The developments are believed to have been firstnoticedby Redditor,u/vulcan, before being widely reported by the US media. It has since been officially confirmed by the company.

According toFlatPanelsHD, the 4K option for YouTube isavailableon Apple TV 4K boxes runningtvOS 14.0, tvOS 14.0.1, and tvOS 14.2 beta.

As can be seen in the screenshot shared by the Redditor, users will now get the option to stream 4K YouTube videos in their native resolution, butthere’s still no support for HDR or 60fps, which means users will still be stuck with 30fps streaming. Those insisting on a smoother, 60fps frame-rate, will have to drop down to 1440p.

Do note that the feature has just started rolling out and is not yet available to all users, but that is likely to change in the coming days.Image Courtesy: u/vulcan (via Reddit)

Googleand Apple are also reportedly working on rolling out 4K support toiPhones and iPads, although, there’s still no official ETA for that yet. According to Google,support for 4K streaming on YouTube will be available ‘soon’ on Apple’s phones & tablets, but the company is yet to announce more details on the subject.

Meanwhile, the lack of 60fps and HDR support is raising speculations that Apple may be reserving that forfuture Apple TV 4K hardware, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out going forward.

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