Some people can watch 4K YouTube videos on Apple TV, but there's no HDR

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Tvos 14 Preview Youtube App
Tvos 14 Preview Youtube App (Image credit: Christopher Close / iMore)

What you need to know

  • Some people can now watch 4K YouTube videos on Apple TV.
  • There's still no support for HDR, though.
  • Only 30fps videos will work, too.

Some people are reporting that they can now watch 4K YouTube videos on their Apple TV, according to Flatpanels HD.

According to the report, people are noting via Reddit that they can now see a 4K option when watching YouTube content via the app on Apple TV, but there are caveats. You'll need tvOS 14 or later to be installed and even then, it seems to only be working for select people – suggesting this is a server-side change that needs to happen for all of us. You'll also need to be using an Apple TV 4K but you knew that already.

Apple Tv 4k Youtube

Apple Tv 4k Youtube (Image credit: u/vulcan_on_earth)

It isn't all good news, though. There is no support for HDR right now and not all 4K video is supported. Anything that runs at more than 30fps is out, too.

At this time, Apple TV 4K supports YouTube videos in 4K resolution at up to 30fps frame rates. Videos in 50fps or 60fps drop to 1440p resolution.

Still, it's a start and we can only hope that the feature will be rolling out to everyone in due course. Hopefully, the 30fps and HDR limitations will be worked out, too.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.