If recent rumours are to be believed, you may soon need YouTube Premium in order to see 4K videos on the service. According to screenshots shared by YouTube users on social media sites like Reddit and Twitter, it appears that YouTube Premium will soon be the only method to view 4K videos on the platform, which may not be popular with everyone.

Recently, several users on iOS and other platforms have begun to notice this. YouTube has changed its policy to simply state that if you want to watch videos in 4K, you must be a YouTube Premium user. You should be aware, though, that not everyone is currently able to use this service, and it’s unclear whether the firm will actually carry out this plan.

So, after testing up to 12 ads on YouTube for non-Premium users, now some users reported that they also have to get a Premium account just to watch videos in 4K. pic.twitter.com/jJodoAxeDp
— Alvin (@sondesix) October 1, 2022

Another crucial point to keep in mind is that the normal YouTube Premium plan will set you back $11.99 in the United States.

In exchange, you will receive ad-free video playback, background playback, the option to download videos for offline viewing, and other benefits.

At the time of writing, it is unclear whether or not this 4K option will be the next feature added to YouTube Premium. But if the business does so, I think it would be doing so dishonestly given that you are just taking away a feature that is already accessible to everyone and keeping it behind a barrier.