New Apple TV 4K vs. Google TV Streamer: How the two streaming boxes stack up

Craig is a reporter for Pocket-lint based in Toronto. He earned a diploma in journalism from Seneca Polytechnic and holds a Media Foundations certificate from Humber College. Craig previously interned and wrote for MobileSyrup, a Canadian tech publication. He enjoys reading and writing about consumer technology, especially phones, tablets, and PCs.

At its recent "Welcome home" event, Apple unveiled a trio of new home products, including its new HomeView smart home hub, the HomePod mini 2, and, after four years of waiting, its new Apple TV 4K (4th gen).

There have been plenty of rumors and leaks about the new Apple TV 4K over the past few months, and now that Apple's official announcement is here, many of them have turned out to be true. Notably, the new streaming box is powered by the A19 chip, supports Siri AI, and retains the same design as its predecessor.

While the new Apple TV 4K is undoubtedly powerful and capable, it also comes with a $300 price tag. At that price, it's hard not to compare it with other streamers that offer similar features, particularly the Google TV Streamer, one of the most popular Android streaming devices around.

Here's how the new Apple TV 4K (4th gen) stacks up against the Google TV Streamer, from design and pricing to specs, software, and more.

Price, specs, and availability

• 	Apple TV 4K (4th gen, 2026)	Google TV Streamer
  Brand	Apple	Google
  What's Included	Apple TV 4K (4th gen), Siri Remote	Google TV Streamer, Remote
  Bluetooth codecs	Bluetooth 6	Bluetooth 5.1
  Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7	Wi-Fi 5
  Ethernet	Gigabit Ethernet	Gigabit Ethernet
  Supported video	Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG	Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
  Supported audio	Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos	Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos
  Storage and RAM	128GB/8GB	32GB/4GB
  Connections	HDMI 2.1	HDMI 2.1

The new Apple TV 4K (4th gen) is now available for pre-order and launches on November 13. However, unlike the previous third-gen model, it comes in just one configuration: a 128GB model with Wi-Fi and Ethernet. That means there's no cheaper 64GB Wi-Fi-only option like there was with the Apple TV 4K (3rd gen).

At $300, the new Apple TV 4K is $50 more expensive than its predecessor, which previously sold for $250.

It's also worth noting that Apple raised the price of the Apple TV 4K (3rd gen) in June due to the ongoing memory shortage, bumping the 64GB Wi-Fi-only model from $130 to $200 and the 128GB model with Wi-Fi and Ethernet from $150 to $250. So, looking at it from that perspective, the 128GB Apple TV 4K has doubled in price in just four months, going from $150 to $300 thanks to the price hike and the launch of the new generation.

On the flip side, the Google TV Streamer has been around for two years now, having launched in the fall of 2024.

Back in August, Google also raised the price of its Google TV Streamer by $50, from $100 to $150, again due to the ongoing memory shortage. Even so, at $150, it's still half the price of the new Apple TV 4K (4th gen).

Design and internals

The new Apple TV 4K is very powerful

The new Apple TV 4K (4th gen) largely retains the same design as the third-gen model, with the same rounded-square shape and black plastic build. The biggest difference is that it now has three far-field microphones, letting you interact with Siri and control the device hands-free.

Under the hood, Apple has equipped it with its A19 chip, which it says delivers 50 percent faster CPU performance and twice the GPU performance of the last-gen A15-powered Apple TV 4K.

The Google TV Streamer's design differs quite a bit from the Apple TV 4K: it has a slanted, pill-shaped oval design rather than a square one, and it's white (porcelain) instead of black.

The hardware is also substantially different: the Google TV Streamer uses a MediaTek MT8696, a quad-core chipset running at 2.0 GHz, and has 4GB of RAM. In comparison, the A19 is much faster, with a six-core chipset with two performance cores and two efficiency cores, with 8GB of RAM. The Google TV Streamer also has 32GB of storage, while the Apple TV 4K (4th gen) has four times as much at 128GB.

The Google TV Streamer has Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1, while the new Apple TV 4K has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, both faster and more reliable. Both the Google TV Streamer and the Apple TV 4K have Gigabit Ethernet and Thread support for smart home devices.

Looking at the remotes, the Apple TV 4K (4th gen) comes with a revised Siri Remote that now includes Precision Finding, letting you locate it through the Find My app if you lose it. Otherwise, it's the same Apple TV remote, with familiar navigation, playback, and volume buttons, a Siri button on the side, and USB-C charging. The Google TV Streamer's remote has similar navigation, playback, and volume buttons, but it also includes dedicated YouTube and Netflix buttons, plus a customizable Star button that you can program to open any app you want. It uses AAA batteries rather than being rechargeable. I've used both remotes and like them, and both get the job done fairly well in my experience.

Features and software

The Google TV Streamer offers the freedoms of Android

For 4K streaming, both the Apple TV 4K (4th gen) and Google TV Streamer offer many of the same streaming features. Both support HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. So shows and movies will look and sound great on either. The biggest difference is the software experience that gets you to the playback screen.

The Apple TV 4K (4th gen) comes with tvOS 27 out of the box, known for its minimalism, lack of ads, and speed. The biggest change with the new Apple TV 4K is that Apple is adding Siri AI to the mix, bringing AI features to Apple TV for the very first time. This means you can now interact with Siri AI on your Apple TV and ask it anything from simple to complex questions, like pulling up a specific movie to watch or getting recommendations. It can also use your personal context (if you have an iPhone that supports Siri AI too), so you can ask more personal, complex questions, like pulling up a movie a friend suggested to you over text. Thanks to the built-in microphones on the new Apple TV 4K, you can also interact with Siri AI hands-free instead of relying on your remote.

Interestingly, Apple has said that Siri AI will also launch next month on the second and third-gen Apple TV 4K. So it's not exclusive to the new Apple TV 4K (4th gen). However, because Siri AI can use a mix of on-device hardware processing and private cloud compute, it will almost certainly run much more smoothly on the new Apple TV 4K thanks to the A19 chip.

Turning to the Google TV Streamer, as the name implies, it runs Google TV, which in my experience, also has a solid user interface, though its biggest disadvantage compared to the Apple TV 4K is that it has a lot of ads.

Additionally, the Google TV Streamer uses Gemini, which lets you do many of the same things as Siri, and more, whether it's finding a show or movie to watch or answering any complex question that pops into your head. Gemini also a hub right on the Google TV home screen, where you can go to ask questions, learn new things, and also create and remix images. However, unlike Siri AI on the Apple TV 4K (4th gen), you can't interact with it hands-free, since the Google TV Streamer lacks built-in microphones, so you need to use the remote.

The biggest advantage of the Google TV Streamer is that, since it runs Android, you can install custom launchers and sideload any Android apps you want, giving you much more freedom to customize your experience. Because the Apple TV 4K runs tvOS, it's locked into Apple's ecosystem and its App Store, which is far more limiting. For example, one custom launcher you can get on the Google TV Streamer is Arc Launcher, which turns the device's home screen into a minimalistic, ad-free, Apple TV-like experience.

Verdict: Is the new Apple TV worth it, or is the Google TV Streamer the better buy?

That $150 difference is quite substantial

At $300, Apple is asking a lot for its new Apple TV 4K (4th gen). But if you want the fastest, most capable streaming device, are already tied into Apple's ecosystem, and don't mind the price, it's undoubtedly a compelling option.

On the flip side, if you want a capable 4K streamer that doesn't break the bank, the Google TV Streamer is the better buy. While its hardware isn't as powerful as the Apple TV 4K's, it costs half as much, and your wallet will thank you.​​​​​​​

However, if you're set on getting an Apple TV but don't want to spend $300, your best bet is to look for a second-hand third-gen model. Its A15 chip is still plenty fast for streaming, and the only two big things you'd be missing are the faster A19 chip and hands-free navigation.

Overall, the Apple TV 4K (4th gen) is powerful, and if you want the smoothest possible streaming experience, it's worth considering. But if you'd rather spend less, the Google TV Streamer is still just as capable. Plus, thanks to the flexibility of Android, you can customize its experience to make it feel more like an Apple TV if you really want to.

The Google TV Streamer is available now, while the new Apple TV 4K (4th gen) is available for pre-order and launches on November 13.