# Apple TV 4K

323 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple TV 4K and 160 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 5 years (17 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a fast, private replacement for spammy smart TV software, controllable with one remote via CEC, though Apple pushes its own promotions and it is pricey.

## Why people recommend it

- Escapes smart TV ads, spying (8 comments): "Had to go back to a set-top box - to use the same apps I have built into the TV - just because Apple won't spam me with this shit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175686)) "It’s a great solution for those who just want to browse and watch content without distracting ads everywhere." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847318)) "Another device might not give the free reign for all shitty malware like they do. Apple TV for one wouldn't." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49003258))
- Fast, polished interface (6 comments): "its so much better though. android junk UI and TV OS are so bad I will happily pay the Apple TV price just to get the remote" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685167)) "It's my primary tv interface and while expensive it beats all the built in primary interfaces shipping in tvs today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912998)) "the single biggest benefit of AppleTV over any other streaming OS is that it’s genuinely a fast user interface" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081438))
- One remote via HDMI CEC (5 comments): "Offline smart TVs are great. As long as they support wake over CEC, they are close enough to a dumb display connected to an Apple TV." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46254466)) "Once you've set it up you won't even need two remotes: your Apple TV, or whatever, will turn the TV on and off for you" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46593384)) "CEC on the appleTV remote will turn all 3 on, and long pressing (power button on appletv remote) will turn all 3 off" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46285378))
- Replaces built-in smart TV software (5 comments): "It's my primary tv interface and while expensive it beats all the built in primary interfaces shipping in tvs today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912998)) "HDMI CEC works pretty well to discard the garbage TV smarts and replace it with something Android-based, Apple TV" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46541955)) "We use none of the features that came with our Smart TV, and stream through an Apple TV instead." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48835417))

## What people warn about

- Apple's own promos and trailers (5 comments): "I hated how some time ago they started showing trailers at the start of a show, with no option to turn this off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45867268)) "They won’t actually let you delete the Apple TV app, but if you move it out of the top row you will never see the ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255367)) "Apple also advertises their own TV shows through notifications, which I view as an even worse breach of etiquette." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48347461))
- Laggy apps and network delays (3 comments): "any time it makes a network call (which it does for damn near everything) it can take some amount of time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46591592)) "the device itself is fine, but the Apple TV apps are mostly terrible and often very laggy/poorly written" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46590806)) "For a couple years I have been noticing regular new glitches in the Apple TV interface accumulating faster than old ones disappear." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46122279))
- Expensive for a set-top box (4 comments): "its so much better though. android junk UI and TV OS are so bad I will happily pay the Apple TV price just to get the remote" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685167)) "It's my primary tv interface and while expensive it beats all the built in primary interfaces shipping in tvs today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912998)) "this is actually a really friction free option if you can stomach buying two devices for the same purpose" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47222756))
- Glitches and bugs accumulating (2 comments): "For a couple years I have been noticing regular new glitches in the Apple TV interface accumulating faster than old ones disappear." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46122279)) "I have these insane bugs where my apple tv will connect to my mbp even tho my mbp has blutooth disabled." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46413134))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Nvidia Shield TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-shield-tv.md): 113 recommend
- [Apple TV 4K](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-tv-4k.md): 93 recommend
- [Roku streaming player](https://hackerapproved.com/p/roku.md): 20 recommend
- [Amazon Fire TV Stick](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-fire-tv-stick.md): 19 recommend
- [Roku streaming device](https://hackerapproved.com/p/roku-streaming-device.md): 14 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+TV+4K&tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-4k/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple TV 4K", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-tv/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).