The new Apple TV 4K has a redesigned remote and some killer features

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Apple just announced a refresh for the Apple TV 4K, which is now powered by the A12 Bionic chip. It’s got a redesigned remote, lots of environmentally-friendly parts, Dolby Vision, and an HDR high frame rate that works over AirPlay.

The coolest thing isn’t even that there’s a new remote, with touch response so you can make circular motions to jog through your content. It’s not that the aluminum enclosure is 100% recycled, or that it uses 100% recycled tin in the solder, or a whole bunch of other environmentally-friendly things that will make Apple products carbon-neutral by 2030.

No, the coolest thing is that you can use your iPhone as a colorimeter to calibrate the TV your Apple TV is connected to.

That means you can now use the expensive, but already purchased, iPhone as a replacement for another, equally expensive piece of hardware that’s specifically designed to calibrate TV panels.

I can’t live without having a colorimeter for my computer monitors, so Apple baking this into the Apple TV 4K is immense. I just hope they’ll bring it to the iMac, iPad, and MacBook ranges, so I can keep all of my devices color-matched.

You’ll be able to order the new Apple TV 4K on April 30, with availability in the second half of May. The 32GB storage version is $179, and the 64GB version is $199.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.