New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Launching in 2025

[rymc02]

Why do we still bring up "gaming"?

Apple has no interest in being a good supportive partner for third party gaming companies, which is what's needed for that to flourish

It's not a hardware power issue -- it's a developer relations, support and cooperation issue

Apple is horrific at that, as they are so far up their own rear-end thinking that everyone should kowtow to them and their interests

That was blatantly obvious with the AVP. The one thing it did best would be immersive VR for movies and gaming. I thought for sure it would launch with a triple A game. Crickets. In a year they have produced 1 10 minute movie in spatial video. 🤣

For the longest time, I thought Apple should make their own gaming studio to compete with Nintendo. I thought they could be the one company that could compete with the switch considering their myriad of devices. If they dedicated the resources they could create iconic games and characters like Nintendo has. But in reality, Apple is just terrible at this stuff.

 

[montuori]

You have to be truly, truly stupid to have any "smart home" products in your house.

Eh. If someone wants to know that my blinds go up at sunrise on weekedays and 7:30 on the weekend I'm okay with that. Hell, if someone in <insert country here> wants to make them go up at a different time, I think I'll survive.

Everybody has a certain risk tolerance. Identifying where that is and acting accordingly is not stupid.

 

[maclaw_]

So, what do you think, I need an apple tv. Wait or not?

 

[turbineseaplane]

That was blatantly obvious with the AVP. The one thing it did best would be immersive VR for movies and gaming. I thought for sure it would launch with a triple A game. Crickets. In a year they have produced 1 10 minute movie in spatial video. 🤣

100%

So frustrating

The ONE THING that a VR HMD is truly useful for in a reasonably mainstream way right now is gaming ...

...so naturally Apple had no support there, no story, no narrative, no working with key devs to have some release games that were incredible .. no super useful for gaming hardware controllers because .. "reasons"

...and they of course priced it in the stratosphere so even casually interested buyers were turned off

Just a master class in releasing a flop

 

[Chungry]

No-one here should be told to "shut up" about any feature requests in any Apple product, nor voicing their opinion for as long as they stay within the rules we all signed up for.
That obviously doesn't mean I agree with all opinions ...

I'd love for any and all fruitless discussions on Apple gaming to be restricted from discussions broadly across every area, and cordoned off to a dusty corner of the forums where the echo chamber can fester in its futility. Thats just my sensible take 😛

 

[Slix]

Hoping for a nice upgrade when I finally get a 4K TV to go with my future 4K Apple TV. My 4th gen from 2015 is still going strong after 9 years!

I think just general speed increases for things like HomePod requests would be nice, but I probably wouldn't upgrade my current minis for a long while.

 

[Smoovejayy]

I have been waiting to purchase one or two more HomePod Minis but do not want to pay the same price for four year old hardware, especially if it won't support AI etc.

AppleTV - eh, not sure... mine works perfectly fine. If it has AI and some other cool features, then maybe...

Hopefully next year is the year.

 

[Chungry]

Hoping for a nice upgrade when I finally get a 4K TV to go with my future 4K Apple TV. My 4th gen from 2015 is still going strong after 9 years!

I think just general speed increases for things like HomePod requests would be nice, but I probably wouldn't upgrade my current minis for a long while.

This is a testament to how good Apple TV is and possibly why upgrades are so few and far between (with a couple of exceptions)

 

[Slix]

It's a complete privacy nightmare. All those cameras and sensors and devices are recording tons and tons of data about you and your house and selling them to advertiseres or giving them to gov agencies for surveillance. Not to mention the fact that having the doors to your house unlockable if someone in russia or venezuella gets your account password lol

You have to be truly, truly stupid to have any "smart home" products in your house.

Good thing a majority of smart home things don't require a separate account (just your Apple ID, logged in through the Home app) and Apple isn't selling any of that data you're talking about. What would the government or advertisers (or people in other countries) even do with the fact that my door sensor is open or that it's humid in my basement?

This is a testament to how good Apple TV is and possibly why upgrades are so few and far between (with a couple of exceptions)

Yup! The only reason I'd want to upgrade is for 4K support (which my current TV doesn't have), and for the FaceTime and eARC audio support for the HomePods. Otherwise it's totally fine for my needs.

 

[OGdrknight]

Mixed feelings on this as I just bought an ATV 4k 128Gb just 30 days ago to replace my Nvidia Shield Pro that Nvidia never updates anymore. If it’s a major update over the current high-end 4K model I may bite the bullet and buy it.

120Hz support would be much appreciated!

If it came with an updated Netflix app that was a replica of Android TV’s current version, I’d buy it in a heart beat. The current version feels like working public beta.

 

[kiranmk2]

Would be nice to see an Apple TV Pro device with support for gaming, if Apple ever wanted to push into this area.

There already is an AppleTV-like gaming device - it's called the M4 Mac Mini and costs $599. Any gaming Apple TV is going to need to have an M4 and probably more than 256 GB storage to be useful. (The M4 seems to be the first base M chip that will give you a solid 30 fps at 1080p with med-high graphics in AAA games). Add in a controller and you're getting up to PS5 Pro cost levels

I anticipate that it will have at least an A17 for AI and Gaming.

The A18 seems like a good choice to allow "local" AI processing for Homepods of the same wifi network (and perhaps non-supporting iPhones, but probably not)

Good. Apple TV urgently needs hardware decoding support for AV1, and it will eventually also need hardware decoding support for H.266 VVC.

VVC seems to be a dead codec - it's been a finished codec for 4 years and there is pretty much no adoption. My guess is it's going to need 8k or VR to take off to make it worth companies investing in the encoding hardware / resources.

The State of VVC Adoption and Implementation

If you're a video publisher who doesn't rank high in the VVC patent list, it's likely that you won't consider VVC until 2026 or later. If you're looking to augment your H.264 encodes with a more efficient codec before then, your most likely choices are HEVC and AV1, with LCEVC also an option...

www.streamingmediaglobal.com

 

[Chungry]

Mixed feelings on this as I just bought an ATV 4k 128Gb just 30 days ago to replace my Nvidia Shield Pro that Nvidia never updates anymore. If it’s a major update over the current high-end 4K model I may bite the bullet and buy it.

120Hz support would be much appreciated!

If it came with an updated Netflix app that was a replica of Android TV’s current version, I’d buy it in a heart beat. The current version feels like working public beta.

I have to believe Netflix does that on purpose out of spite. I didn't realize the interface was so bad until a friend showed me (don't have any media streaming subs)

 

[arc of the universe]

Better yet, put a Time Capsule in it that will offer the ability to backup iPads and iPhones.

that would be a given.

if you have iCloud Drive turned on, and its syncing all your files across all same apple Account ID devices, this synced data should be able to be backed up into Time Machine, to be versionable, allowing iCloud Drive to be able to provide a true backup, not just a syncing.

im daring apple to stop using the word "backup" in its blurb about iCloud Drive. apple, here is your chance to sell us more. do it. give us this !

 

[Chungry]

that would be a given.

if you have iCloud Drive turned on, and its syncing all your files across all same apple Account ID devices, this synced data should be able to be backed up into Time Machine, to be a versionable, allowing iCloud Drive to be able to provide a true backup, not just a syncing.

im daring apple to stop using the word "backup" in its blurb about iCloud Drive. apple, here is your chance to sell us more. do it. give us this !

Thank you. You've hit on one of my huge annoyances with the marketing around iCloud Drive: chiefly that it's not a backup.

 

[masterin]

No full sized HomePod? Lame.
Also, unless they make it gaming focused (M4 class for instance) why on earth would anyone who already owns an AppleTV upgrade? LOL, (lmao even) if they think AI is going to move units.

Wouldn’t M4 class be basically a Mac Mini with a remote? That would be expensive for an Apple TV.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

It's a complete privacy nightmare. All those cameras and sensors and devices are recording tons and tons of data about you and your house and selling them to advertiseres or giving them to gov agencies for surveillance. Not to mention the fact that having the doors to your house unlockable if someone in russia or venezuella gets your account password lol

You have to be truly, truly stupid to have any "smart home" products in your house.

I use the belkin/weymo outlets for lamps and have that integrated into HomeKit. Hopefully the Russians don't turn my lamps on and off.

 

[Chungry]

Wouldn’t M4 class be basically a Mac Mini with a remote? That would be expensive for an Apple TV.

Exactly why it won't happen. Apple TVs take the A-series chip that's a few generations old. I expect whatever was in the 15 PM phone is a likely candidate unless the lousy yield from that TSMC process forces their hand.

 

[tedwill]

Apple plans to refresh both the Apple TV and the HomePod mini in 2025 as part of a major push into refreshing its smart home product offerings, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In a report on an upcoming Apple-designed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip, Gurman says that the chip will be introduced in a new Apple TV and HomePod mini that are "scheduled" for 2025. While there is no exact timeline included, Gurman separately mentions that the chip will be included in iPhones "later next year," which suggests it will come to the HomePod mini and the Apple TV before the September timeframe.

The component will support Wi-Fi 6E, though Apple may not be able to match all of Broadcom's chip capabilities with the first-generation in-house Wi-Fi chip.

Adopting a custom-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip will allow Apple's upcoming smart home devices to work better together and perhaps "synchronize data more quickly."

Apple is also working on a home hub "Command Center" that's set to come out in 2025, but it's not clear if that device will use the custom chip. The Command Center will have a 6-inch display with a built-in speaker and camera, and it will be able to control smart home devices, make video calls, and more.

Article Link: New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Launching in 2025

I anticipate that it will have at least an A17 for AI and Gaming.

I would settle for more than two Bluetooth connections at the same time. Right now using the Zwift bike trainer. I have to use a third-party app to be able to use my bike trainer on the Apple TV with my Apple Watch. I know, first world problem, but it seems unusually shortsighted to have only two Bluetooth connections at a time.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

I'm still using the AppleTV from 2015/HD. Surprisingly it still works and gets updates.

 

[Spokeyourname]

Hi-Res audio support and true passthrough. Also audio and video AI upscaling. - the only 2 features I care about.

 

[Chungry]

I would settle for more than two Bluetooth connections at the same time. Right now using the Zwift bike trainer. I have to use a third-party app to be able to use my bike trainer on the Apple TV with my Apple Watch. I know, first world problem, but it seems unusually shortsighted to have only two Bluetooth connections at a time.

That's all I use my Apple TV for and use the official app because Apple TV Bluetooth sucks like that.. I run zwift companion on a phone for trainer, heart rate, power meters, and cadence. Backup is my Garmin 1040 and Fenix 8.

As an aside, the graphics are so unoptimized for Apple TV and generally suck. I know it could look better but apparently Zwift has zero appetite to put in the work. I do like the set it and go solution the Apple TV provides with those caveats because I'm not hauling my laptop in there

 

[LogicalApex]

It's a complete privacy nightmare. All those cameras and sensors and devices are recording tons and tons of data about you and your house and selling them to advertiseres or giving them to gov agencies for surveillance. Not to mention the fact that having the doors to your house unlockable if someone in russia or venezuella gets your account password lol

You have to be truly, truly stupid to have any "smart home" products in your house.

You can raise privacy concerns around smart home products without resorting to belittling people's intelligence... People using smart home products aren't stupid... Just like people aren’t stupid for carrying iPhones or anything else that "can be hacked"...

 

[CloneBB]

Whatever you do, don't reward Apple with yet another purchase of said product

The only way to get the message to a company like Apple is to hit them in the wallet

My 6 OGs work great.

 

[Cndnmax]

It's a complete privacy nightmare. All those cameras and sensors and devices are recording tons and tons of data about you and your house and selling them to advertiseres or giving them to gov agencies for surveillance. Not to mention the fact that having the doors to your house unlockable if someone in russia or venezuella gets your account password lol

You have to be truly, truly stupid to have any "smart home" products in your house.

Hacker from across the world unlocking your front door. Yep that’s a much bigger risk than a random person with a bump key or a screwdriver… lmao 🤦🏻‍♂️. News flash, door locks are not very secure. A smart lock without a key slot would be miles ahead of any keyed lock as far as security is concerned.

 

[jicon]

Why do we still bring up "gaming"?

For now, suggest getting RetroArch installed on the AppleTV. The ATV could work as an effective platform.