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Bit by flake, we've seen companies moving towards 4K and HDR technologies. Progress has been boring and fitful on the PC side of things, owing to extreme DRM requirements and a protected 'path' beyond the entire OS ecosystem. Apple, to date, hasn't shared much information on how it might approach this space, but iTunes and Apple TV evidently now show that certain movies are 4K and HDR-capable when you lot view your own history.

As reported start by MacRumors, Apple is retroactively stating that certain films are bachelor with modernistic features similar 4K and HDR.

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Image by MacRumors

Now, with that said, actually buying movies that are listed as 4K doesn't announced to get you a 4K choice. MacRumors did some testing of their own and discovered that while a movie might look 4K, when y'all test information technology, it'south still actually in 720p. This move wouldn't be without precedent; earlier this year Bloomberg reported that Apple was working on a 5th generation Apple Television receiver, and that it would have higher colour reproduction and 4K capabilities.

The Apple TV, even now, has been picayune more than than a hobby for Apple — think a set-height box you can run iPhone apps on, but zippo much more than that. Looking back at the original Bloomberg article on the topic, it reports that Apple'due south marketplace share was slipping year-over-twelvemonth, on stiff competition from Roku and other companies that brand boxes that practice more than and cost much less.

A new Apple tree Tv with features similar 4K and HDR, plus a proven backend claw to the iTunes Store, would exist a formidable way for Apple to hit reset on its own ambitions in this infinite. The TV market remains an essential component of how many people experience movies and various "Smart TV" online services. That may explain why Apple's kept its paw in the market, and who knows — perhaps it's finally interested in bringing those features to the Apple TV itself.

The current-generation Apple TV doesn't support HDR or 4K output, but Apple's CPUs and custom GPUs are likely ability enough to bulldoze both capabilities. If the Cupertino company can lock down distribution agreements that give its own platform early on access to films before other companies' tin deploy it — and Apple has often loved these sorts of arrangements — it could help them increase the perceived value of the hardware without having to spend more than on the devices themselves.