Everything Coming in the 2026 Apple TV 4K

[il_teo77]

I wish there to be also new TvOS features upon release. Like much better home management from the AppleTV (via Siri or even a dedicated HomeApp on the TV, which is long overdue IMHO).
Given the price, I would also love for Apple to use a different material than black plastic. The original AppleTV, admittedly much bigger but also flatter, was the best, material-wise, in my opinion.
I really hope Apple uses a more capable chip than what the article says because releasing a new device with that ancient of a chip really caps the amount of Intelligence features apple can provide in the future.

Also, a new remote, or at least a backlit one (I use my internet provider issued AppleTV remote and it FANTASTIC) would be great.

 

[Brother Cavil]

My Apple TV died a month ago and I decided to use my TV's built-in apps. Much to my surprise, they're actually quite good. The UIs are all pretty much identical to the Apple TV app UIs. The TV app is great. Looks and feels like the one on my Apple TV. Apple TV has become so stupid expensive and what does it really offer over built-in apps?

 

[gigatoaster]

I rediscovered my Apple TV 4K when I discovered TorBox & Fusion last month. I even bought an extra one for traveling, before the price hike. It works well, very happy with the result. I am also confused why once per quarter for the last 3 years, we get this article. I can’t believe the new device is in a warehouse ready to be shipped for so long.

 

[Avidos1]

Most of what the apple tv does is done (badly) by most tvs now. So you don’t gain much other than ease of use and an Ai less capable than alexa. Now the price has increased so much even people like me who are baked into the ecosystem are thinking of changing to something else, so they need to do something more than a few tweaks unless they drop the price massively

 

[N0ughtsAndCr0sses]

This update was kinda useless.

Huge price increase, as apple does.

 

[lilkwarrior]

"The ‌Apple TV‌ 4K is going to get a new A-series chip". All these Mac sites need to stop with this incorrect statement. The 'new' AppleTV is going to get an OLD A-series chip. Probably the A17 Pro from a phone released in 2023, so it will be a four-year old chip by the time the device gets released, with a huge price tag too. That is the reality of it.

But even the first-gen AppleTV 4K with the A10X Fusion can stream 4K just fine with Dolby Vision. So all these people claiming they need a new AppleTV and demand that Apple release it now, are pretty much full of it. A new AppleTV isn't going to stream 4K video any better than the original AppleTV 4K. All you get is a big price hike and identical hardware.

Current Apple TVs are not capable of 4K@120hz and their audio tech limitations have left a lot to be desired by a meaningful amount of home theatre enthusiasts—myself included.

 

[dzankizakon]

The biggest problem with Apple TV box is not the hardware but the software. No one inside Apple knows what to do with it nor how to solve the "same old app grid as any other device" UI problem. That's why it hasn't been updated.

 

[kiranmk2]

Sadly... that's the way things are today, many believing they're entitled to free stuff. And then having a tantrum if they don't get it.

Is Apple hoping to turn Apple TV into a gaming console with Apple Arcade? The only reason I can think of for an upgrade is to handle more demanding games. If it can already play 4K video smoothly then an upgrade seems unnecessary to me. I have never used Apple TV hardware, just the app.

Why do I need a faster chip and more RAM in a streaming device that streams just fine already? For AI? I don't need AI to stream.

I can’t think of a reason to update the Apple TV.


What’s it going to do that it can’t do already?

The key to the update (and the delays) is that the A17Pro chip will enable Apple Intelligence, both on the box itself and to allow Home Pods and the like to offload AI processing to it. In a similar vein, WatchOS27 has introduced a new Siri app, which requires an Apple Intelligence iPhone to be connected, so the prediction is that Apple will announce that all HomePods (probably 2nd gen and minis) will be able to handle new Siri requests if there is a "new" Apple TV 4K (of the new HomePad thing) on the network.

Seriously. I've been waiting so long for the new Apple TV, I've just become fully accustomed to my LG TV's built-in software. Still, when this product is finally released, I will switch over. But I've been saying that for years now...

I had this when I got my Lg OLED a few years back. I got used to the built in OS for a few months before I got my 2nd gen Apple TV 4K, but the difference in UI speed and app opening was huge! Maybe the TV OS' have caught up a bit, but I doubt it (plus all the ads and watching habit tracking that now happens on manufacturer OS' is something best avoided).

 

[AncTreat5358]

The biggest problem with Apple TV box is not the hardware but the software. No one inside Apple knows what to do with it nor how to solve the "same old app grid as any other device" UI problem. That's why it hasn't been updated.

Apple isn't doing a good job of platform parity either. iOS has had the ability to reposition Home Screen elements for years now, but tvOS is still in the flowing grid. And Control Panel on iOS and macOS (at least) has also been customizable for years, and yet tvOS's is locked down on controls and placement.

 

[Populus]

Yeah, it’s worth the wait. The A17 Pro is quite powerful, especially its GPU. That plus the increase in RAM are reasons to wait for this upgrade. Those games and emulators are going to run smoothly! Plus, the AV1 decoder for an efficient video streaming!

 

[AncTreat5358]

My Apple TV died a month ago and I decided to use my TV's built-in apps. Much to my surprise, they're actually quite good. The UIs are all pretty much identical to the Apple TV app UIs. The TV app is great. Looks and feels like the one on my Apple TV. Apple TV has become so stupid expensive and what does it really offer over built-in apps?

This may sound simplistic, but what caused a visceral reaction that made me and visitors to my home fall in love with the ATV is its screen savers. Having moving high def works of art in my living room is incredible. Roku (at least 4 years ago) didn't have anything even close (the single moving fishtank was as close as it got). And smart TV OS screen savers are so unimpressive to me.

This may not sound important, but we experience these many times a day every day we turn on our TV, so it matters (to me, at least).

Also, the ATVs remote is the most intuitive one I've ever used. I still get a joy out of using it.

 

[dzankizakon]

Apple isn't doing a good job of platform parity either. iOS has had the ability to reposition Home Screen elements for years now, but tvOS is still in the flowing grid. And Control Panel has also been customizable for years, and yet tvOS's is locked down on controls and placement.

That and another thousand things. It's just forgotten completely by Apple.

 

[xyz01]

Why do I need a faster chip and more RAM in a streaming device that streams just fine already? For AI? I don't need AI to stream.

What I want:

WiFi 7, realtime AI upscale, "find my" on the remote - and more openness, so I can get game streaming - e.g. Nvidia, Xbox game pass, or Sony PSN - on the box.

Quick access to a good AI chat bot via voice would also be nice, but please let me choose my own. Apple's AI efforts are so far extremely underwhelming, so I'd prefer to be able to choose one myself. If Apple improves, I might choose it but I don't want to be stuck with a crappy one and no way to get something better.

Also, at this point buying the current generation will get you many years less of updates.

What I don't want: built in camera.

 

[amartinez1660]

I really hope they come out with 2 tiers. Base unit and one with higher storage, ram and an A19 or A20 pro (they could probably even fit an M series Pro chip in there as well). The other half of the story, work with MS to get native Game Pass app. Work with studios to port the most popular multiplayer free to play games (Overwatch, Rivals, Roblox, COD Mobile etc..) which could easily handle that chip. Create an in house translation layer like Crossover to play all other PC games to buy more time to port. And make it available on all recent Macs, iPads and iPhones. With the craziness of console prices, they could easily charge $500+ for this. And since they blow all this money on TV content, why not buy a couple game studios and start developing some exclusives.

Man… I’m floating in dreamland with this.
All true, and probably the compatibility layers development are doable with a fraction of the money burnt on random other things (thinking of those “Lamal spotted using Beats headphones” or “Dua Lipa/Eillish/Swift x or y Apple centric thingy” tons of millions of dollars paid ad campaigns.

If the SteamDeck can run most of the steam library on a Linux sandbox so could an AppleTV on its macOS like sandbox.
Plus I bet it is even more powerful than the handheld.
It would be a great SteamMachine disruptor too actually.

I don’t know what’s going on with Apple on this front that they don’t seem to fully commit or it’s just a very hard problem to solve tech wise that we can’t grasp…

However there’s also the communication and syncing issue with the non-stop turmoil around software and game companies: tons of studios are constantly closing or laying off from a few hundreds to thousands of people. Microsoft continues to close/reshuffle/layoff studios they bought, titles and Xbox related endeavors.
Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, etc behemoths are being hit hard.
Even old school cornerstones like id-software just recently fired like half of their workforce.
Sony likely incoming soon with major chaos too.
Except Nintendo, Nintendo salary raised 10% of all their workforce in a single shot recently.

“It should calm down at some point” but it’s been going around for years since Covid aftermath.
Maybe videogames, except for a few runaway hits, isn’t great business after all.

 

[Karma*Police]

Apple should have treated ATV like CarPlay and allowed TV manufacturers to build it into their TVs. Few people I know own ATV because Google TV or whatever OS it comes with is good enough.

 

[steve gee]

Lossless Bitstream Audio.

Not happening

 

[TIMO_737]

For only 499 !

 

[Abazigal]

My Apple TV died a month ago and I decided to use my TV's built-in apps. Much to my surprise, they're actually quite good. The UIs are all pretty much identical to the Apple TV app UIs. The TV app is great. Looks and feels like the one on my Apple TV. Apple TV has become so stupid expensive and what does it really offer over built-in apps?

For me, it's the apps that I suppose won't normally be available on a smart tv.

First would be the Apple platform apps such as photos, podcast, Apple Music, airplay mirroring and the tv app. Back when I was subscribed to Apple One, there were a few fun games on the Apple TV courtesy of Apple Arcade.

Second are some third party apps (I use Play and Infuse).

Third, I assume smart tv manufacturers are less able to spy on my usage patterns if I use an Apple TV instead of their bundled OS.

It's really the integration with my other apple devices. 🙂

 

[texag76]

Curious which TV brands have these built in. I have a few Samsung TVs and their built-in app support seems to be their own proprietary OS.

There are TV's that have built-in Roku or Fire . I think they are TCL's . Samsung , Sony and the so-called high end manufacturers only have their built-in OS and they are ALL universally GARBAGE ! Use your set for a monitor ONLY , bypass the built-in garbage , get a separate content box and separate sound bar . Only way to go.

 

[AncTreat5358]

What I want:

WiFi 7, realtime AI upscale, "find my" on the remote - and more openness, so I can get game streaming - e.g. Nvidia, Xbox game pass, or Sony PSN - on the box.

Quick access to a good AI chat bot via voice would also be nice, but please let me choose my own. Apple's AI efforts are so far extremely underwhelming, so I'd prefer to be able to choose one myself. If Apple improves, I might choose it but I don't want to be stuck with a crappy one and no way to get something better.

Also, at this point buying the current generation will get you many years less of updates.

What I don't want: built in camera.

If they do WiFi 7, then I hope they also fix the issue where, if you have an Ethernet cord plugged in, WiFi is completely unavailable in case your wired connection drops on tvOS. I shouldn't have to physically unplug the cable in order for WiFi to be usable, like every other product I've used to date.

 

[Carrspasty]

These constant cut n paste stories about the Apple TV are now getting tiresome, they tell us nothing new and just keep editors happy. Its clear Apple won't release a new one imminently so lets just stop with this nonsense

 

[F27]

It has to be up there as one of the longest unchanged Apple products on sale. Been waiting absolutely years to buy my first Apple TV because all other streaming boxes are just getting worse and worse in UI, advertising and build quality. The recently new Google TV streamer was so atrocious it really wasn't heard of much again!

I just hope this one doesn't have the shortest life of any Apple TV ever released and is refreshed in 10 months because it sat waiting to be released for 2 years because of AI and Siri.

 

[VTGuy79]

Just bought the latest model the day before the price increase. Works great for what I use it for. No lag, nothing - years ahead of my old Roku.

 

[Manatlt]

Why do I need a faster chip and more RAM in a streaming device that streams just fine already? For AI? I don't need AI to stream.

My ATV 2nd Gen is very laggy when closing and switching apps. Although it was very snappy on tvOS 18.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Will it have an Ethernet port? I use it as my HomeKit hub.