Apple may not have any immediate plans to support 4K content in its next-generation Apple TV, but if true, the decision wasn’t one the company came to lightly without weighing up all the options.

In fact, according to a document leaked to WikiLeaks as part of last year’s Sony Pictures hack, Apple has been testing and licensing select 4K content from Sony since at least 2013.

In a document signed by both Apple’s Eddy Cue and former Sony Pictures exec Jim Underwood, Apple was given permission to use Sony material for testing the possibility of “exhibition on a video-on-demand and digital home entertainment basis.”

Left unsaid by the document is what, if anything, came of these early investigations. Although it suggests that Sony was at least tentatively entertaining the idea of letting Apple distribute its 4K video content, this document only licensed the material to Apple for exploratory purposes.

The iPad Air 2, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus all currently support 4K video playback, thanks to their A8 processors, but Apple doesn’t publicize this fact.

In reality, as much as I would love to be able to get my movies in 4K from iTunes, the majority of people don’t yet have 4K TVs, and Apple as a company has always prided itself on its ability to choose the right moment to bring new features to market — as opposed to just rushing to be the first to get there for bragging rights. (*cough* Samsung!)

Source: Wikileaks

Via: Apple Insider