Apple's streaming video player is getting a long-awaited overhaul as the iTunes store squeezes Hollywood for a better deal on Ultra HD movies.

As Ultra HD television prices fall, we're just at the tipping point where they're replacing Full HD as the default choice when shopping for a big screen for your lounge room. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to Ultra HD televisions, but it's still slim pickings when it comes to Ultra HD content.

Australians can forget about Ultra HD broadcasting for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile Ultra HD Blu-ray disc players are slowly taking off, but the easiest way to get Ultra HD movies into your home is via the internet – assuming your home broadband connection is up to the task.

Of course bandwidth is a lot less scarce in the US, so Apple watchers were surprised two years ago when the Apple TV 4th-gen didn't make the leap to Ultra HD.

Back then Americans already had access to a range of Ultra HD-capable streaming services, including Netflix, YouTube and Amazon but not Apple's own iTunes store. Were Steve Jobs still with us he might have described Ultra HD as a "bag of hurt", which is Apple-speak for "it doesn't suit our business model, at least not yet".

Back then Ultra HD support would have benefited Netflix more than Apple, at a time when Apple was working on its own streaming video ambitions. Two years later Cupertino is finally ready to jump on the Ultra HD bandwagon, so the Apple TV 4K has arrived right on cue.

The new Apple TV goes on sale in Australia on Friday, September 22, with pre-orders opening this Friday, September 15. You'll pay $249 for 32GB of storage or $279 for the 64GB model, while the old Full HD 4th-gen Apple TV will drop to $209. Apple no longer sells the earlier models, which didn't allow you to install third-party apps.

At the same time Ultra HD movies are coming to the iTunes store, mostly for sale rather than rental. What's particularly interesting is that you'll pay the same price as HD movies, with a free upgrade for any HD movies you've previously purchased if they're now available in Ultra HD.

Apple isn't taking a loss here, instead it's played hardball with the movie studios to strike a better pricing deal than other video services, part of Apple's ongoing power struggle with content providers. Meanwhile rivals like Google Play are forced to charge extra for Ultra HD movies, not that there's much Ultra HD content in the Australian store despite the launch of the Chromecast Ultra player.

The Apple TV 4K will gain support for Ultra HD Netflix "soon", and the good news is that the player supports High Dynamic Range, both standard HDR10 and the advanced Dolby Vision favoured by Netflix. HDR offers more vivid colours along with extra detail in the brightest highlights and deepest shadows. Surprisingly there's no mention of Dolby Atmos audio support.

The new player also packs extra grunt thanks to a new processor, although it's primarily there to support the demands of Ultra HD and HDR. There would seem little point in upgrading from an earlier Apple TV if you don't have an Ultra HD television and download speeds of at least 15 Mbps, although it will be interesting to see how app developers take advantage of that extra grunt down the track.

Is your lounge room Ultra HD ready? Where will you source your Ultra HD content?