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Everything Coming in the 2026 Apple TV 4K

Been waiting on this so long.

It’d also be a great software update feature if on the Music App while listening to music one of the options on the now playing page would be to change the audio format. I don’t want to listen to everything in multi channel audio. I sure would like to flip the audio to basic stereo without having to go into ATVs settings app which then requires I flip it back after I’m done listening to music.
 
Surrylic said:
I’d welcome it. Mine seems pretty laggy when moving around the UI and launching apps these days.
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Sure, but that's kind of planned obsolescence, isn't it? There have not been any updates that should demand much more ressources, it's just that they changed the UI without optimizing it for older chips.

One thing that might help: See if your storage is full (there are apps that can show that). It gives you no warning when this happens, but slows down the entire system.
 
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If the rumor is true it seems this product would be "born" already pretty obsolete. Perhaps it would be followed by another more significant upgrade within two years or so. Anyway, the Apple TV I currently have does a fine job when paired with my almost equally old TV set. One thing I don't quite see is when some people comment that these devices might have been gathering dust in a warehouse for quite a while. That might be the case, but why not release a product and then enable the AI features when IOS 27 is released? I guess marketing, trying to create a hardware/software story during a release event. However, if they released the hardware it wouldn't be the first time they do that and then enable the software a few months later. Apple has done that multiple times.
 
I'd love to be able to have the ability to attach a permanently hard-wired camera... that isn't an iPhone. Simple USB-attached webcam? not sure why this isn't a thing already.
 
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Huracan said:
Anyway, the Apple TV I currently have does a fine job when paired with my almost equally old TV set.
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Me too (4K 1st gen), except they've announced no tvOS 27 for it, despite it running 26 just fine and 27 being a tiny incremental update, like most all the tvOSes.

I find that totally unacceptable.
 
Add to the Apple TV 4K all the HomeKit features - particularly AI but not the camera - rumored for new "HomePad." Apple's HomeKit focus on privacy is an advantage, but my personal preference is to not add the clutter, complcation, cost and flat inconvenience of another device.

Edit: crazy idea alternative, build all the features of the Apple TV 4K into the new 'HomePad" along with a method to connect.

For those who want the best Dolby audio, my understanding is that the Apple TV 4K handles whatever the streaming platforms send oiut just fine, so that may be okay for 99% of us. No?
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the A17Pro the most expensive process currently being used by Apple/TSMC? Wouldn't it make more sense to use a newer chip on the N3P node? That way, like the Neo, they can used binned chips that would otherwise be waste.
 
texag76 said:
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.
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My Sony is not garbage. It’s fast, has all the apps that are available for ATV (minus Apple Music and Photos, but has Airplay2), it’s accurate and the apps update frequently. We rarely use the ATV4K anymore.
 
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Still using a pre-4k ATV. When everything I own needs updating, figuring out which comes first gets tricky. Could have stretched the decision a little longer. The recent price increases hurried my decision. While my new iPad Pro and Macbook Air will strain the budget for awhile, no way I can justify the new prices, and who knows where that will be in a year or so. I don’t use Siri or AI, so what I will likely do is wait until the new ATV comes out and pick up the current model (today’s version), at hopefully a decent price. I kept putting it off and would have bought one a few years ago, but kept reading the new one is due “any day now…”
 
We have a couple ATVs in the mix; living room 4k, bedroom HD. AUG ‘25 we wrapped a 10-month long barn renovation that now has its own TV. So we relocated the HD out there with plans to move the 4k to the bedroom and put a new ATV in the living room. I told my partner that there was very likely a new ATV coming out in the SEP/OCT timeframe. Until then, we could just move the 4k between living room and bedroom as needed.

That was 2025.

By December, the hardware shuffle had slowed out of annoyance. My better half was like “can we just go get a stupid Apple TV? What’s gonna be so different about this mythical new one?” Both fair questions. At the time, I was firmly entrenched in the “why pay for 4-yr old tech when a new one is at ‘any moment’ status?” camp. FF to today, and the questions have stopped. The hardware shuffle took painful to continue. 🤪

Last year, an update was a sight unseen, day one no-brainer for me. But a year later, having adjusted our TV viewing habits (which is good), the likely price hike, it looks more likely we’ll pass on a spec-bumped Siri-capable box. Or… The update will have to be pretty legit to see me/us upgrade now. We’ll see.
 
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Right now saw an offer for the current model (4K 3rd gen w/Ethernet), and I didn't think about it. I had the 2017 4K model, and I think it's a good time to upgrade, especially considering that my previous device will no longer receive tvOS 27.
 
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Edcardo said:
Right now saw an offer for the current model (4K 3rd gen w/Ethernet), and I didn't think about it. I had the 2017 4K model, and I think it's a good time to upgrade, especially considering that my previous device will no longer receive tvOS 27.
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That's a 4 year old AppleTV
I'd keep waiting.
 
Although I missed out on the old pricing for the 3rd gen Apple TV 4K, I'll definitely wait for the new model. The one I have doesn't even support tvOS 27.
 
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I can think of a couple of hardware “upgrades’ that would definitely benefit mine and others’ setups - Large Homekit setups and those with connected Fitness eqiupment.

Firstly, an updated processor would likely improve Homekit responsiveness. I have approx 40 HK and Matter devices, including bulbs, switches, and various other pieces and at times it does get laggy, despite being an ethernet connected AppleTV HK hub.

Secondly, the maximum active bluetooth connection limitation for those of us who use AppleTV with fitness apps such as Zwift, Rouvy, EXR etc is a total pain in the arse.

We can connect our HR sensors, controllers, and equipment sensors, but not all three, because Apple insists on restricting the maximum number of active bluetooth connections to 2, because the third one is locked for the damned siri remote!
 
I've always thought it would be great to put chips in the Apple TV to enable each device to be part of a mesh network. Each Apple TV in the home can be an access point and you'll have good signal everywhere. Apple can make a router out of a HomePod or other smart home device. Why is this not a thing in any smart TV box?
 
slefkoff said:
I've always thought it would be great to put chips in the Apple TV to enable each device to be part of a mesh network. Each Apple TV in the home can be an access point and you'll have good signal everywhere. Apple can make a router out of a HomePod or other smart home device. Why is this not a thing in any smart TV box?
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From my experience, the best places to put a MESH satellite is very often NOT where the TV happens to be. MESH can often be slower if used wrong for a given home. For me personally, it violates my desire not to bundle functions since very often the best performing router (or fill in the blank for other types of devices) isn't also the best for another function. I find myself later updating to a whole new device for one of those bundled functions while still keeping the combo device for another function. And of course for those that don't use all the bundled functions then you are paying for hardware you don't use.
 
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Surf760 said:
Been waiting on this so long.

It’d also be a great software update feature if on the Music App while listening to music one of the options on the now playing page would be to change the audio format. I don’t want to listen to everything in multi channel audio. I sure would like to flip the audio to basic stereo without having to go into ATVs settings app which then requires I flip it back after I’m done listening to music.
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Yes, you have to choose one or the other. You can turn off Atmos in settings/apps/music. I have mine off for true lossless stereo streaming. Atmos/ambient is compressed.
 
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