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An Apple TV Refresh is Coming in 2025 - Here's What You Should Know

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Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming.


Updated A-Series Chip

The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for an update. Apple doesn't design chips specifically for the Apple TV, and it instead uses chips from the iPhone.

If Apple wants to bring Apple Intelligence features to the Apple TV, the next-generation model will have the A17 Pro or better along with at least 8GB RAM.

Apple Intelligence makes sense for the Apple TV given that part of Apple Intelligence is a new, smarter version of Siri. Siri has always been a specific focus on the Apple TV, with Apple encouraging users to ask Siri to find content to watch.

The A17 Pro would also allow for higher-quality console-style games because it supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The iPhone and iPad can support console games like Resident Evil 4 and Death Stranding, and those games are also likely to be playable on the next Apple TV.

Wi-Fi 6E

Apple is expected to use a custom Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip for the ‌Apple TV‌ 4K. The chip will support Wi-Fi 6E, which will allow the ‌Apple TV‌ to connect to faster 6GHz networks when available.

Right now, Apple offers both a Wi-Fi only ‌Apple TV‌ 4K and a Wi-Fi + Ethernet model, and that could continue with the next-generation model. We could also see the next ‌Apple TV‌ adopt Bluetooth 5.3.

The ‌Apple TV‌ is expected to continue to offer Thread integration and support for Matter when used as a home hub for smart home products. Wi-Fi 6E could theoretically improve connectivity for smart home products because the 6GHz band typically has reduced signal interference and more bandwidth.

Design

It's looking like Apple has no plans to redesign the Apple TV. We're not expecting form factor updates, and the next-generation Apple TV will continue to feature the same slimmed-down black plastic body that the current model uses.

Pricing

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has been saying that Apple might debut a cheaper Apple TV, and that under $100 would be the "sweet spot." Apple may lower prices on the new model, but it's more likely that the current version will stick around and be sold at a discount.

The current Apple TV starts at $129 for 64GB of storage.

Launch Date

We're expecting the Apple TV to see a refresh sometime in late 2025, likely in September or October.

Article Link: An Apple TV Refresh is Coming in 2025 - Here's What You Should Know
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/05/apple-tv-2025-whats-coming/
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Honestly, fairly happy with any of the last two boxes for streaming shows off various services, and using RetroArch app for any other games I want to play with a controller. Generally getting any decent quality high framerate game off the app store has nine times out of ten always been a miss, even on iPad. Pipe dream.
 
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I am finding it hard to understand why Apple keeps investing time and money when it puts no effort into making the AppleTV competitive.

With a $30 GoogleTV dongle I can add Ethernet, SD card and external storage options via USB-C for under $50. Have access to AppleTV+ including all the other Big Name streaming services and more so. Plus I can add a web browser and use it as an ultra portable computer in a pocket.

Apple seems to be lost when it comes to AppleTV, iPad/OS and VisionPro. Not sure what is happening in the spaceship.
 
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jicon said:
Honestly, fairly happy with any of the last two boxes for streaming shows off various services, and using RetroArch app for any other games I want to play with a controller. Generally getting any decent quality high framerate game off the app store has nine times out of ten always been a miss, even on iPad. Pipe dream.
Click to expand...
If it’s gaming you want then NViDIA Shield it is.
 
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IronTek said:
As long as they keep the Ethernet option, I don't care if the price goes down or not.
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The so called rumoured SONOS tv box will follow the path of the AppleTV box, nothing competitive and overpriced. If Apple is serious about this segment it can take a loss on it as it’s not a big seller and open TvOS like iOS in the EU. All this gate keeping is insulting to its customers, permit a developer or unrestricted mode stop being Nanny Tim Apple.
 
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Any difference streaming Netflix from my current gen Apple TV to the next one? I have mine connected to ethernet so speed is not an issue. Besides that, I don't see any need to upgrade as I'm not playing any games.
 
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jicon said:
Honestly, fairly happy with any of the last two boxes for streaming shows off various services, and using RetroArch app for any other games I want to play with a controller. Generally getting any decent quality high framerate game off the app store has nine times out of ten always been a miss, even on iPad. Pipe dream.
Click to expand...

Realizing the "Pipe":
  1. Buy/Build gaming PC with Nvidia card.
  2. Install Sunshine app on that PC.
  3. Install Moonlight app on the AppleTV.
  4. Stream anything on that PC screen through AppleTV to your TV.
  5. Immediate access to all PC games as if they are available on AppleTV.
What's happening here? The PC is doing the heavy lifting and then streaming the game frames much like streaming a movie. I did not expect this to work so well but it really works well.

I too am enjoying Retroarch natively on AppleTV. But do the above and you can put the mighty Launchbox/BigBox on the PC of which a much more capable version of Retroarch is but one background player. This too "just works" really well.

Bonus: if you have any needs for anything Windows, no need leaning on ARM Windows emulation (which is not full Windows). Instead, you can use actual Windows running on native hardware.
 
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com.B said:
Unless they add the cooling fan back (current Apple TV starts overheating after merely half an hour of play), and allow games on tvOS to actually save your progress permanently (instead of only a temporary cache + iCloud, which often fails and erases your progress), it's still going to be useless for gaming.
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Its really not meant for gaming

Even though retro gaming performs fine the lack of persistent storage is of course a deal breaker

It doesn’t have the gpu power for anything beyond that anyway
 
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The A17 Pro would also allow for higher-quality console-style games because it supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The ‌iPhone‌ and iPad can support console games like Resident Evil 4 and Death Stranding, and those games are also likely to be playable on the next ‌Apple TV‌.
Click to expand...

Good luck getting any big game studios to offer titles for tvOS, but it’s good to know what is possible.
 
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