Apple Arcade

Your smart TV or Roku box may be able to stream content from Apple TV+, Apple Music, and all of your other favourite streaming apps, but there’s one thing that an actual Apple TV 4K can do that nothing else can, and that’s get access to the great library of games available through the Apple Arcade subscription gaming service.

For $5 a month — or less if you have it as part of an Apple One bundle — you get to play a library of almost 200 games across a wide variety of genres, all entirely free of annoying ads and in-game purchases. While precious few titles are up to the level of what you’ll get on a PS5 or Xbox, there are some incredible gems in the mix, like Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s absolutely stunning Fantasian, which was bankrolled by Apple and developed exclusively for Apple Arcade.

Apple is also pouring incredible amounts of money into getting quality titles onto the service, and great new ones are appearing all the time.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that if you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you’ll be able to play these games not only on the big screen, but also take them with you on the go on your iPhone, or sneak a few turns in during a coffee break on your Mac.

Obviously, an Apple TV doesn’t even hold a candle to a PS5 or Xbox when it comes to being a gaming platform, but Apple’s set-top box is considerably cheaper, and there are definitely some really fun titles for the more casual gamer who just can’t justify investing in a dedicated console.