Apple TV+ Offers Highest Quality 4K Streaming, Averaging Up to 29Mbps

Apple TV+ has the highest 4K streaming quality offered by a streaming service that supports 4K, according to testing conducted by FlatpanelsHD founder Rasmus Larsen.

Larsen says that the ‌Apple TV‌+ offers higher quality 4K streaming than most iTunes movies, based on averages of the variable bitrate employed by the service.

dickinsonappletv
"See" had the highest bitrate of an ‌Apple TV‌+ show tested, averaging a 29Mb/s video bitrate and a 41Mb/s peak.

"The Elephant Queen" averaged right around 26Mb/s for video bitrate, and other content, such as "Snoopy in Space" also performed well.

According to Larsen, the ‌Apple TV‌+ offers 1.5 to 2x the video bitrate of a typical HD Blu-ray disc and around half of a typical UHD Blu-ray disc.

Comparatively, Netflix's 4K bitrate appears to max out at right around 16Mb/s, though Netflix requires a 25Mb/s connection to stream 4K content.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18.2.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhone

Saturday December 21, 2024 4:45 pm PST by
Apple appears to be internally testing iOS 18.2.1 for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software update in our website's analytic logs this week. The logs have accurately revealed many iOS versions before they were released. iOS 18.2.1 should be a minor update that fixes bugs and/or addresses security vulnerabilities, but it is unclear which specific issues might be resolved. The update...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...

Top Rated Comments

Mr. Turtle Avatar
67 months ago

Bitrate means nothing. It's the compression settings that matter more. If anyone's used handbrake with some advanced settings, you'll know that bitrate only matters so much. I can compress a full length 2hr 1080p movie down to about 3.5gb in file size with almost no noticeable difference in picture quality unless you pixel peek overlaying the original and compressed still frames. Granted, the 3.5gb file size is typically with movies where there isn't a lot of noise/grain.

Furthermore, bitrate is absolutely a moot point when the content sucks. Given Apple's inability to produce a solid product even in their own tech market... I have ZERO confidence in Apple knowing how to make a movie or TV series.
regarding your first point... that is technically wrong. The compression determines the Bitrate and less compressed, higher quality content, (in general) has a higher Bitrate. Of course the Compression type is also a variable, but it’s way less important then the compression “strength”.

furthermore, you really have no idea what you’re talking about and at this point your just trolling so I’m not going to waste my time any further.
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bladerunner2000 Avatar
67 months ago
Bitrate means nothing. It's the compression settings that matter more. If anyone's used handbrake with some advanced settings, you'll know that bitrate only matters so much. I can compress a full length 2hr 1080p movie down to about 3.5gb in file size with almost no noticeable difference in picture quality unless you pixel peek overlaying the original and compressed still frames. Granted, the 3.5gb file size is typically with movies where there isn't a lot of noise/grain.

Furthermore, bitrate is absolutely a moot point when the content sucks. Given Apple's inability to produce a solid product even in their own tech market... I have ZERO confidence in Apple knowing how to make a movie or TV series.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Iconoclysm Avatar
67 months ago

Given Apple's inability to produce a solid product even in their own tech market... I have ZERO confidence in Apple knowing how to make a movie or TV series.
This makes everything else you said mean absolutely nothing. Not that you were even correct in your assumptions around bitrate based on experience with handbrake... I mean, you're completely clueless about it in fact. It's no wonder you make such ridiculous statements about Apple and technology in general - just stop embarrassing yourself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zachari Avatar
67 months ago
Honestly, as a complete skeptic I have loved everything I have watched so far. The Morning Show is my favorite (binged all 3 episodes in a night), Dickinson was quirky and witty. I am looking forward to more content from Apple. Glad Apple is doing everything they can to make it worthwhile.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
67 months ago
Given Apple's inability to produce a solid product even in their own tech market... I have ZERO confidence in Apple knowing how to make (insert category)
I Keep reading this since my first Internet connection in 1998. Like a constant, whining note. Which proves itself wrong,year after year, while the company makes metric tons of money selling solid products.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
67 months ago
Awesome!
Apple is the best - again - as always!
Thank you Tim!
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)