Podcast #1274: Apple's Welcome and 4K Sports

On today's show we look at Apple's "Welcome Home" announcements and we talk about watching sports in 4K. Which apps should you use and on which devices. We also read your emails and take a look at the week's news.

News:

• Disney+ will stream Super Bowl LXI, plus two Monday Night Football games this fall.

• Newer Hue lights get a firmware update to use Zigbee and Matter at the same time.

• Google TV users are starting to get ESPN 4K HDR

• Google's next TV Streamer reportedly adds a built-in mic and presence sensing

Apple's "Welcome Home" announcements are official.

Everything below comes from Apple's press releases, and pre-orders are open now.

HomeView, $299, ships Nov 13. It has a 7-inch screen and an A18 chip and comes in two versions: one that sits on a speaker base you can tilt, and one that mounts on a wall. It recognizes up to six people's faces so each person's messages and calendar stay private, and it can show up to nine camera feeds at once. Siri AI works from day one. It isn't sold in the EU. Schneider makes wall mounts starting at $59.95.

Apple TV 4K, $299, ships Nov 13. It has an A19 chip, a dedicated AV1 decoder and three microphones for hands-free Siri (S Lady), and it works as a Thread smart home hub. The new remote works with Find My, with Precision Finding to point you to it. One rumor missed: it ships Nov 13, not Oct 30.

HomePod mini 2, $149, ships Oct 30. It has an S10 chip, five colors and a light show on top. The big home theater news is that four HomePod mini 2s or second-gen HomePods can now act as surround sound with the new Apple TV. Siri AI comes later in a software update.

Apple Home Collection from LG and Schneider, starting in December. All of it uses Thread and sets up in the Home app.

• LG cameras cost $199.95 to $399.95, and recordings save to iCloud+ with no separate camera subscription.

• LG's video doorbell is $249.95.

• LG's smart deadbolt is $349.95. It unlocks automatically as you approach and keeps working without internet.

• Thermostats from LG and Schneider are $199.95, with $39.95 room sensors.

4K Sports Is Finally Here, So Why Doesn't It Always Look Better?

Baseball's playoffs are streaming in 4K, ESPN is rolling out 4K HDR one device at a time, and Peacock's Sunday Night Football is still the picture everyone compares against. In this episode we dig into what's really streaming in 4K right now, why some of it looks stunning and some of it looks like regular HD, and what you can do about it.

Who's actually streaming in 4K right now

1. ESPN is finally in 4K HDR, but only on Apple and GoogleTV devices so far. Monday Night Football, the NBA, the NHL, some college football, and the Super Bowl get it in the ESPN app on Apple TV 4K and GoogleTV. Other TV platforms and Disney+ are promised "this fall," with no dates given. FlatpanelsHD notes some of it is upscaled 4K.

2. FOX One has every FOX and FS1 playoff game in 4K. That covers the NLDS, the NLCS, and the World Series on Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, and Google TV. Last year FOX's 4K was upscaled from 1080p HDR, and that HDR is why it often looks better than "4K only" feeds.

3. Peacock's Sunday Night Football is the one to beat. Peacock promised 4K HDR, Dolby Vision, and Atmos for live sports this year, including SNF. ecoustics found it worked best on Apple TV 4K and was hit or miss elsewhere.

4. YouTube TV's 4K Plus is cheaper but doesn't promise HDR. The add-on dropped to about $10 a month, but HDR depends on each network's feed.

Real 4K versus upscaled 4K

Not every "4K" label means the same thing. FlatpanelsHD points out that some of ESPN's 4K is upscaled from a lower resolution. Listener Brian has seen it firsthand: ESPN's 4K college football looked no better to him than YouTube TV, and Fox's 4K, which includes HDR, looked much better than YouTube TV's 4K, which doesn't. His takeaway, and ours, is that HDR can matter more than the extra pixels.

Buying advice: the streaming box matters more than the TV. Right now Apple TV 4K is the only box that gets all of these. And 9to5Mac says a new Apple TV is reportedly close, so anyone shopping might wait a bit.