Apple TV 4K 2021 shows only HD video from all apps instead of 4K or UHD

My case has gone up to T2. I helped grab some logs and uploaded to Apple Support. Was told ETA is ~3 days. I'll keep this thread updated. Would be a shame to return it. Been waiting to get one.

I wish Apple had a way to get the returned devices for testing!!

With respect to model names, I have an HD, a 4K and a 4K rev 2.

In my 'Devices' list, the HD shows up as an HD, the 4K rev 1 as '4K' and, like above, the 4K rev 2 just shows up as 'Apple TV' - I don't seem to be having the trouble others are having as I was watching some Netflix that was Dolby Vision + Atmos and, best I could tell, that stuff was all being delivered correctly. Now - there was a firmware update to my soundbar (Vizio) that broke other stuff, and I get weird dropouts / format change weirdness every once in a while, but you know, probably not the ATV fault.

Hi, my new 4k 2021 has the same problem, whereas my old 4k does not. However when I check out the playback info on my Denon AVR it indicates that the streams labelled as HD are in fact playing back with Dolby Vision (on Netflix) or HDR (on Amazon) as advertised. I’m pretty sure you can’t play HDR or Dolby vision on HD, so they are probably 4k, just not labelled correctly. Had the same issue on sound , labelled 5.1 (Netflix indicating that’s all my system can play), but in fact playing Dolby atmos.

**UPDATE*** I noticed this too. I believe it is a labeling issue and not reflective of the actual stream. My Sony tv on its “picture mode” shows “Dolby Vision Dark” selected when in the menus and playing a movie that should be Dolby Vision. If I play an iTunes movie that is listed as HD only, “picture mode” automatically changes to “Standard” and changes back to “Dolby Vision Dark” when I go back to something that should be Dolby vision even though the drop down still displays “HD”...

Spoke to Apple today - the technical team had said that I wasn't showing the issue happening natively but in a 3rd party app. So they didn't think it was an ATV issue. So I rented an iTunes movie on the spot and it showed HD as well. They got me to upload a screenshot of the stream playing to prove it.

Apple is not being very forthcoming, switched me between 3 different support people. They didn't even bother looking at the logs that's been sent by the sounds of it. Looks like they are pretty uninterested in fixing it. I'll update next week when they get back.

as an update, I called the support and support couldn’t help so support asked me to bring the Apple TV to the store to get it replaced. The store originally said they couldn’t replace it but they gave me a new one at the end.

the sad thing is I have the same issue for the new one so it is definitely an issue for a big batch.

I don’t really know what to do now!

So, here we are a week after the 2021 ATV4K deployment and the HD / 4K / HDR stream quality issue / label issue remains. I know, there's a controversy over whether or not these new little hockey pucks are actually streaming and displaying 4K / UHD and its a HUD labeling issue, or if they are maligned HD models placed in the consumer pool by mistake. I'm on the fence - image is excellent but erroneous HUD 'HD' label *****. I've telephone Apple twice - both times clueless but very polite tier 1 techs would only provide the litany of 'check your hdmi cable, check your settings . . . ', but no acknowledgment of wide spread problem.

I then ordered a second identical 2021 ATV4K 64GB device, hoping that, 'no, couldn't receive two defunct models in a row', and it would function with a proper HUD. But, reading MikeyP's post about trying their 'new' ATV4K provided by a brick and mortar Apple store and observing no change in the problem, I hesitate to unseal the second ATV4K package if it's just going to continue to display bogus HUD info.

I think that what 'we' may be seeing is that 'we' ATV4K users are truly becoming another family of Apple's orphans -- took Apple what, 4 years, to come up with a model that is just slightly an upgrade over an existing model, and upon shipping, contained the HUD bug. A week after launch and Apple continues to deny a problem.

[Edited by Moderator]

Same issue with my new Apple TV 4K 2021. I contacted Apple support this week and they were no help. The issue was just starting to bubble up to them. I exchanged my unit at the Apple Store today but no difference with the new one. iTunes Movies, Netflix, Prime and Hulu 4K content show as HD in the drop down badge. Content in the Apple TV App is fine. The same native apps on my Sony OLED TV all show 4K correctly.

Very disappointed with Apple. Maybe the badge metadata is just incorrect, but for the hype of this unit and cost, everything should work perfectly. Get Tim Cook on the phone.

Also have the same issue - not showing as 4K on info .

have a problem with the circular tracking motion - reverts to backwards after one revolution of the tracker pad.

tonight,while watching an iTunes rental, the movie turned off completely 6 times.

Well considering A: no one could even tell the difference because B: as the other person on the thread has shown it is a labeling issue and doesn’t actually appear to no be delivering 4K returning it seems a bit much.

hi all,

i was having trouble playing 4k content from tv+ and netflix too. but once i switched my hdmi port to another ( the only one i assume, that supports hdcp - my tv is from 2014) it works perfectly. crisp pictures now, but netflix still shows hd badge. haven’t been able to check with the developer menu though.

ITunes movies, Netflix, Prime, Hulu and Smithsonian app all show HD badge for 4K content. Apple TV+ app shows badge correctly. . It has a different type of badge. Last generation 4K units shows all info badges correctly. It would be nice if Apple publicly acknowledge the bug to media and users and let us know they are working on a fix.

Marking it solved isn’t going to get Apple’s attention, they will think the problem is fixed. Did you not see the screenshot posted by

realdigital? The developer menu shows it is clearly streaming at native 4K resolution. Do you have proof to the contrary that it is not streaming 4K beyond the badge?