YouTube users may soon need Premium subscription to stream in 4K

YouTube has been looking for ways to push its subscription-based premium model on users for a while now, including testing multiple (up to 11) unskippable ads. A new restriction for non-premium users is sure to make a number of users of the platform unhappy.

As per a report by TechCrunch, a number of Twitter and Reddit users noted that over the weekend, YouTube had been asking non-Premium users to upgrade their free plan to stream in 4K.

As per a screenshot shared by Twitter user Alvin, we can see that the 4K option comes with a small banner now underneath that says ‘Premium’, while other options like 1440p (2K) and 1080p (FHD) remain available for all.