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EETV Apple TV 4K Review

NK20026
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

‎22-06-2026 09:39 PM

Hi, thinking of taking the plunge to EETV with the Apple TV 4K box setup, but wanted to see what others thought of it first. Does it work well, ease of use, picture quality etc? I know we don’t have Now TV Ultraboost available just yet but general thoughts would be very helpful while thinking about making the change from Sky Stream over to EE TV Full Works package. Thanks.

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34 REPLIES 34
NK20026
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

‎06-07-2026 12:03 PM

Appreciate everybody’s input here. I find the picture quality excellent on Sky Stream but sick to death of dealing with problems after every upgrade with the Stream box. It’s driven me mad since the day I got it and the thought of using the Apple TV box with EE is appealing I must say.

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scgf
Established Contributor
Established Contributor
In response to Richardr66

‎06-07-2026 12:09 PM - edited ‎06-07-2026 12:13 PM

AppleTV supports HLG in the 4K model:

Video formats: HEVC Dolby Vision (Profile 5)/HDR10 (Main 10 profile)/HLG up to 2160p, 60 fps

The problem is that it doesn't support MPEG-DASH which iPlayer requires for anything higher that 720p.

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scgf
Established Contributor
Established Contributor

‎06-07-2026 12:20 PM - edited ‎06-07-2026 12:23 PM

This is why I have Sky rather than EE:

  • I can skip adverts across the board on non-live content for a small monthly fee. I hate watching adverts and it's especially bad with catch-up where regulations are more lax and where other services make it obligatory to play the ads.

  • The picture quality of the Sky IPTV service is the best I've seen on any device - it is noticeably better than TV from satellite or aerial.

  • I can view Channel 5 catch-up in HD - it is SD only on all other devices like EE (AppleTV), but HD with Sky and Virgin Media.

  • I can watch iPlayer in 1080p and UHD where available. On Apple TV all iPlayer content is a maximum of 720p.

  • Sky has a Playlist feature which works really well and allows me to keep tabs on the various series I am following.

  • The basic Netflix package is included in the Sky subscription so I just pay the extra to bump it up to Netflix Premium.

  • Other devices often lack certain features - like Freely doesn't do Dolby Vision.

Before I had Sky I would be watching most services on my Apple TV but had to use my LG smart TV for iPlayer content to get the best quality. I see posts from many who use various devices to watch TV to cover all bases. For me everything works at the highest quality available on the one Sky Stream puck. If you use different devices for different services you lose an overall playlist feature.

My package (Sky Essentials) costs me around £15 a month on a rolling monthly contract, factoring out the Netflix Premium service which I'd be paying anyway. This includes ad-skipping. So I'm paying the equivalent of less than three pints of beer a month for a comprehensive, curated TV service. I'm more than happy with that. I could pay the same for the next package up but with a 24 month contract - and given how fast technology changes I'm not willing to do that.

The disadvantages? The only thing I can think of is that the Sky puck is underpowered. To have it running on hardware like AppleTV would be the icing on the cake. However, I first tried Sky Stream in the early days and it was dreadful. Very janky, very slow and full of bugs. I was impressed when I tried it more recently. Sky has honed the software so it works pretty fluidly on the same hardware. I now find it completely acceptable.

NK20026
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

‎28-07-2026 04:28 PM

Appreciate everyone’s input here - I’ll hold on for a little while longer and see if EE ever manage to bring out the Now TV UHD option in their TV packages for use with their Apple TV 4K box.  It’s the only thing that is stopping me moving TV immediately from Sky Stream, so frustrating. I wonder if EE ever will?!

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R-Biohazardx9
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
In response to scgf

‎28-07-2026 04:50 PM

I sadly beg to differ.

The puck introduced a serijous bug that sky even admitted themselves couldn't fix. 
For my bravia 2022 50" - the puck would not accept that it was a 4K TV. No matter what I tried. TV was set to enhanced dolby vision for its HDMI port (also tried just enhanced), tried different cables, tried different setups, tried CEC on/off. and nothing would solve it.

sky puck setup then swt to UHD mode. then everything works, as soon as the TV or Box switches off (as in im going out or whatever and I turn the TV off) the handshake gets broken and when powering up the TV, the puck would complain the TV isn't 4K. - I still have said puck and did extra tests...

HDMI port 4 and Port 3 are the only two that accepts enhanced with dolby vision, ports 1,2,3 and 4 all all accept standard and enhanced.

Port 3 is also the only one with eARC to my reciever. so...

if I put puck into receiver it jams up eARC and I egt no sound.
if I put puck into HDMI4 on TV, it now upsets the TV that much, the TV puts the port to 'standard'. after switching it back to enhanced or enhanced dolby vision, then as soon as TV or puck is off, it gets upset and then that port is forced back to standard.

the HDMI cables i have tried with my sony UHD blu ray and no issues, I've factory reset the TV (with gritted teeth), and puck still misbehaves.tried my gen1 puck instead of gen2, misbehaves. 

it never did this before so Version 38 or 37 of the software has introduced something. - they let me leave penalty free  and seemed to 'know about it'.

so apple tv is a breeze. sure iplayer isn't so good, that apples fault? not really, thats BBC's fault. 

I do hope they fix the puck though, 

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scgf
Established Contributor
Established Contributor
In response to R-Biohazardx9

‎28-07-2026 05:23 PM

Sounds like there is an incompatibility with your Sony Bravia TV.  Sony TVs are not what they were and for years most are manufactured by a Turkish company, TCL, and re-badged as Sony. Same with Panasonic and Toshiba. I have an LG panel and it works faultlessly with my Sky Stream box. The message I get from your post is 'avoid Sony Bravia TVs'. To use your own logic 'is it Sky's fault? Not really it's Sony's fault'.

Handshaking between source and TV can be a problem in many situations with a whole variety of devices. It is wrong to automatically blame the input device.

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R-Biohazardx9
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
In response to scgf

‎29-07-2026 06:22 AM

It's not the TV when :

  • It originally worked fine (had it a couple of years) 
  • When software 37 / 38 arrived on the puck the issue appeared (gen 1 and gen 2 pucks)
  • Sky admitted it and allowed me out of the contract 

Otherwise you'd be right.

Tv in question runs fine for everything else. I'm certainly not going to buy a new TV to appease the puck.

If it works then great if it doesn't then you move on. 

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scgf
Established Contributor
Established Contributor
In response to R-Biohazardx9

‎29-07-2026 07:24 AM - edited ‎29-07-2026 07:25 AM

I'm not suggesting you should buy another TV to appease the puck. I just think your problem with the Sky Stream and your TV is pretty unique and does not warrant an attack on the Sky Stream puck. Maybe a warning to those with Bravia TVs might be more appropriate? 

In terms of usability Sky Stream is better than Apple TV by some margin. Apple TV hardware is clearly better, but that does not translate to a superior end user experience. There are too many compromises with the services I use, like iPlayer 720p max, no UHD; no ad-skipping; no HD for Channel 5 catchup - I highlighted all these things in my post on 06/07/25. I know people will come back at me with 'I don't watch iPlayer, I never watch Channel 5; I have no need to skip adverts and so on, but it's the same arguments people use to affirm phone manufacturers when they release a phone with inferior hardware - 'I don't game, I don't use AI, I never process video so it's fine by me.'. 

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R-Biohazardx9
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
In response to scgf

‎29-07-2026 10:55 AM

Never attacked the puck at all, highlighted an experience. Which isn't unique, others have had these issues. Common one is sound dropout (which ironically I had initially but that solved itself). As I say it is not the TV, the software update in the puck broke it. plain and simple. so I will blame the puck, but im not attacking it, those who want it and it works for them is perfectly fine. 

"to use your own logic 'is it Sky's fault? Not really it's Sony's fault'." - thats because Apple set out what their system supports, BBC chose not to support it. - vastly different from a software update on a puck breaking a fundamental function. so to use that analogy doesn't work and is suggestive that I should buy another TV.

I do hope whatever bug it is, it is fixed  and I don't want to argue, I have nothing against the product, just sharing an experience, which is what these forums are for. 

I think EE needs some credit here for having a system on solid hardware. which is working for me. Sky stream now doesn't work which is why I left. Every case is different.

we will leave it at that as I really don't want a flamewar. We live in a world where we all can have coices, voices and opinions. we can make our own descisions and all be happy.

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scgf
Established Contributor
Established Contributor
In response to R-Biohazardx9

‎29-07-2026 11:10 AM - edited ‎29-07-2026 11:11 AM

I posted a whole list of reasons why Sky Stream is better than Apple TV and your response was 'I sadly beg to differ.', suggesting you disagreed with my post just because you had a specific problem with your setup.

Pointing the finger of blame is not productive and sometimes you just have to say 'it didn't work for me'.

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