Apple TV 4K 2nd Gen Vs. 3rd Gen: What Are The Differences?

Apple sells a wide array of products, ranging from smartphones to high-quality headphones. Among this catalog is the Apple TV 4K — a hardware streaming device capable of turning any old television into a massive entertainment hub. With Apple TV 4K, you can enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows across popular services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple's own video streaming platform — Apple TV+. 

However, when Apple offers a solution, it often goes above and beyond what its competitors are doing. In addition to being able to binge on a huge library of shows and movies, there are plenty of other Apple TV 4K features that set it apart from the plethora of other streaming devices. If you're in the market looking to grab a robust streaming device and already find yourself comfortable with Apple's existing ecosystem of products and services, the Apple TV 4K is an excellent choice. 

The company has refreshed the Apple TV 4K in 2022 with a few improvements — most of which are under the hood and not very obvious at first glance. However, it's easy to find the older generation of Apple TV 4K elsewhere for a discounted price. Are the few modifications and additions to the new Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen worth it? Or should you grab the older 2nd Gen version from 2021 and save a few bucks? Here is everything you need to know about the changes and improvements in Apple's updated streaming box.

Launched in 2021, the Apple TV 4K 2nd Generation featured a design overhaul compared to the 2017 model, and enabled high frame rate HDR video playback, a redesigned Siri Remote, and an updated A12 Bionic chipset — the same processor that powered the 2018 flagship, iPhone XS. The streaming box supported the faster Wi-Fi 6 standard, and came with the same fast gigabit-speed Ethernet port. 

Just a year later, in 2022, the product was refreshed again and the 3rd Generation Apple TV 4K is now the most recent streaming box that you can buy from the company. Design-wise, the new model is slightly smaller, but nearly half as heavy as the 2nd Gen — thanks to the removal of the cooling fan in favor of a more compact heat sink. You still get the same excellent Siri Remote, but now with a USB-C charging port instead. 

Both the models come with an HDMI 2.1 port and Dolby Vision, but the 3rd Generation brings support for HDR10+ and features a slightly more expansive list of compatible audio and video formats. The base variant of the 3rd Gen Apple TV 4K starts at an extra $20, but also doubles the storage to 64GB. While you cannot purchase the now-discontinued 2021 model, you can often find it at an attractive price in the Apple Refurbished store.

Coming to the internals, the Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen sports the newer A15 Bionic chip — which brings a 50% improvement in CPU performance, making app launches and navigation smoother. The newer specifications of the 3rd Gen Apple TV 4K most likely will also result in the streaming box receiving an extra year of software updates compared to the 2nd Gen.

While the TV 4K 3rd Gen seems like an obvious upgrade in most areas, in classic Apple fashion, there are a few considerations to take note of. Unlike the older Siri Remote of the 2021 Apple TV 4K that comes bundled with a USB to Lightning charging cable, the newer USB-C Siri Remote skimps on the free accessory — leaving you reliant on an existing charging cable to juice up the remote. 

Additionally, while Apple boasts about the inclusion of gigabit Ethernet and support for its ThreadNetwork protocol in both generations of the streaming box — you lose access to these features if you choose to buy the lower-tier 64GB model. If you can make do with the lack of an Ethernet port, or access to Apple's Thread-enabled ecosystem of devices, the much faster Apple TV 4K 3rd Generation is a good buy with more than adequate storage. The 128GB variant is an option for those who maybe want to enjoy on-device storage for music, games, or the multitude of apps that you can run on tvOS. 

If you don't currently own the Apple TV 4K 2nd Gen, or are coming from the much older 1st Gen Apple TV 4K from 2017, then the latest 3rd Generation of the streaming box does seem like the option to go for. It is not only considerably faster in performance than the 1st Gen, but will also receive tvOS updates for much longer. However, if you already own a functional Apple TV 4K 2nd Generation, the upgrade to the 3rd Gen box doesn't make as much sense. Sure, you get marginally better performance in a much lighter form factor, but the experience remains nearly the same — maybe apart from the USB-C powered remote. 

Both the 2nd and 3rd Gen Apple TV streaming boxes are capable of 2160p (4K) output, have Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 support, and enjoy the same slew of software features on the latest version of tvOS — and can be supercharged with dozens of free apps every Apple TV user should have installed. Even compared to some of the best streaming devices you can buy, the Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen offers good value and a familiarity that most people within the Apple ecosystem will appreciate.