YouTube may soon require users to have a YouTube Premium subscription to view videos in 4K resolution, as indicated by screenshots posted by users on Twitter and Reddit.
Reddit (1,2) and Twitter users says they have started to see notifications on iOS, and presumably across other platforms also, saying that in order to watch YouTube videos in 4K, the user must be a paying YouTube Premium subscriber. Not everyone is seeing the 4K quality option as blocked behind a YouTube paywall, making it uncertain whether or not YouTube plans to move forward with this.
A YouTube Premium plan costs $11.99 per month in the United States and includes ad-free videos, background playback, and the ability to download videos for offline viewing.
(Via MacRumors)