My colleague Zac Hall described HomeView as one of the best ways to spend $299 on an Apple device and the Apple TV 4K as the worst. Almost nobody thinks anyone should buy the latter at that price, but things could have been even worse …

The 4th-gen Apple TV 4K has been launched at an eye-opening price of $299 (and only a little less on Amazon). You do get some new features for your money, including built-in microphones, an upgraded remote, and support for surround sound with the HomePod mini 2. But the tech world consensus appears to be that almost nobody should buy this model, especially given you’ll get Siri AI support with a 2nd- or 3rd-gen box. You can buy entire large-screen TVs for less.

Tech journalist Glenn Fleishman put together a chart showing that the price increase is well above inflation when upgrading from almost any of the previous models. That’s true from the 2nd-gen Apple TV, which went on sale at $99, through to the 3rd-gen Apple TV 4K at a launch price of $129.

But the same comprehensive chart also shows that things could have been very much worse. The very first Apple TV box went on sale at $299 way back in 2007. Adjusted for inflation, that’s the equivalent of $491 today …

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