Apple TV+ Streaming Quality Lowered in Europe to Reduce Network Strain

The European Union has asked streaming services to temporarily reduce streaming quality to ease the strain on broadband networks caused by people working from home, a request that Netflix, YouTube, and now Apple TV+ have complied with.

appletvplus
Netflix cut streaming data bitrates yesterday, while YouTube reduced streaming quality this morning. According to 9to5Mac, ‌Apple TV+‌ streaming quality was recently lowered as well, resulting in lower resolution streams and heavily compressed content with visibly blocky artifacts.

9to5Mac says that the lowered quality is "very noticeable," especially on larger-sized television sets, and quite a departure from the 4K HDR content that Apple normally offers. Resolutions are said to be as low as 670 pixels tall.

Compared to other services like Netflix that have also lowered quality to save data, Apple's streaming quality is described as "particularly aggressive" and akin to the kind of quality one might expect from "streaming on a phone over a 3G network."

At the current time, streaming content providers have only been asked to lower streaming quality in Europe, so the lower streaming rates do not affect the United States and other countries. The United States has not called on streaming content providers to implement data reduction measures.

It's not clear how long Apple plans to stream with reduced quality and whether tweaks will be made for a better compromise between quality and data usage. Netflix has said that it will continue using the lower quality stream for the next 30 days.

Top Rated Comments

Akiainavas Avatar
52 months ago
“Complete idiotic that politicians meddle in this. Let the ISPs do the asking, let them deal with the legitimate streaming providers and get a proxy/caching server on their networks if they still don't have that.
Moreover it's utterly pointless.Legitimate streaming is much, much more friendly on the ISPs than torrent downloads are that easily peak traffic many times higher than streaming. [peaks hurt, and a 2160o blu-ray copy over a torrent download easily saturates the highest consumer bandwidths]

Politicians should stay out of technology they have no grasp of whatsoever.”



Politicians rarely have grasp, perhaps. But neither do you mate. On both technology and politics.

Nobody is meddling. The commission ( by the way, not politicians, educate yourself, most commissioners are actually technical experts in their respective fields. That’s why commission is appointed and not elected anf that’s why they can only make recommendations, not laws ) made a recommendation. Netflix, YouTube and Apple followed it.

Nobody forced anyone to do anything.

People like you are the problem. They preempt the issue - you criticize. They don’t preempt and let the network collapse - you criticize.

It’s a shame the only thing you never do is offer actual, workable solutions - or have any perspective - we are in the middle of a global pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people may die, even more may lose jobs and you’re b...ng about slightly lower quality of a streaming service ?

We need the bandwidth for medicine, for people to work and be productive - nobody cares about your binging.

Get some perspective mate.
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Domen151 Avatar
52 months ago
I honestly doubt that Apple TV+ put that much strain on EU networks with its few shows they have available right now ?‍♂️

But its good that they did it.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cycomiko Avatar
52 months ago

Complete idiotic that politicians meddle in this. Let the ISPs do the asking, let them deal with the legitimate streaming providers and get a proxy/caching server on their networks if they still don't have that.
Moreover it's utterly pointless.Legitimate streaming is much, much more friendly on the ISPs than torrent downloads are that easily peak traffic many times higher than streaming. [peaks hurt, and a 2160o blu-ray copy over a torrent download easily saturates the highest consumer bandwidths]

Politicians should stay out of technology they have no grasp of whatsoever.
Wrong. Politicians will ask when its for the betterment of their communities. Thats why they are voted for and elected. You are an example of what is wrong with the world.

They are also asking ISPs to restrict non-essential bandwidth, so good luck with the torrents.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JVNPhoto Avatar
52 months ago
It’s kind of funny that people just accept this. Was there really that big of a problem to warrant Apple and other streaming services to throttle bit rate even though people pay extra for it (eg. Netflix)? Shouldn’t it be up to the ISP’s to figure this out? Is there really nothing more important for the EU commission to handle in this crisis?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nozuka Avatar
52 months ago

It’s kind of funny that people just accept this. Was there really that big of a problem to warrant Apple and other streaming services to throttle bit rate even though people pay extra for it (eg. Netflix)? Shouldn’t it be up to the ISP’s to figure this out? Is there really nothing more important for commission to handle in this crisis?
People have more to worry about, than getting a lower bit stream in this crisis.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GeoStructural Avatar
52 months ago
It is nice, but the impact would be negligible anyway. ?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...