Some 4K content being incorrectly labelled as HD on new Apple TV 4K

It seems the new Apple TV 4K box could have few gremlins in its system. Some users have reported that the 2021 device is incorrectly labelling their favourite 4K movies and TV shows as 'HD', according to 9to5Mac.

The glitch seems to affect third-party apps such as Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Max, but it's also been spotted in the standalone iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps. Apple TV+ seems to be unaffected.  

The initial thought was that the glitch could be the result of faulty HDMI cables but several users have switched out Apple's supplied HDMI cable and the issue has remained.

If you're experiencing the bug, you might be wondering whether the content on your screen is appearing in HD or 4K. There's some confusion around this point, but it seems that this is simply a labelling bug within Apple's user interface. 

According to Reddit users, the glitch is present in both in the public tvOS 14.6 release and in the tvOS 14.7 beta which was released on 19th May. Apple has yet to comment but 9to5Mac claims the tech giant is "aware of the issue". 

In the interests of fairness, we fired up our Apple TV 4K (2020) unit (keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming review) and found that the 4K content was correctly labelled.

The latest Apple TV 4K (2nd Gen) supports 4K at up to 60fps, meaning it should offer the highest video quality of any Apple TV box. It has plenty of other tricks up its sleeve, mind, including the ability to stream audio from your TV to your HomePod.

MORE:

Should you upgrade: New Apple TV 4K vs old Apple TV 4K

Check out our list of the best TVs you can buy right now

Which media streamer should you buy?