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Where's the New Apple TV?

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Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now.



Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would update both the HomePod mini and the Apple TV 4K toward the end of the year, and we also heard the same information from other sources. No announcement happened in September alongside the iPhone launch, and when Apple updated the Vision Pro, iPad Pro, and MacBook Pro in October, there was no sign of the Apple TV.

It's not clear what happened, but it's possible Apple decided to hold all home-related product announcements until spring 2026, when the smarter, more capable version of Siri will be ready in iOS 26.4.

That's right around the time when Apple is rumored to be launching its new home hub device, so we could see the Apple TV, home hub, and HomePod mini sometime in late March or April.

Rumored Features

The Apple TV isn't going to get a major design overhaul, but there are some useful updates in store. It's long overdue for a new chip, and Apple's newer chip options will bring gaming improvements.
A-Series Chip

The next-generation Apple TV is expected to get an updated A-series chip, and Apple backend code we found suggests that it'll use the A17 Pro. The A17 Pro is the chip that Apple first used in the iPhone 15 Pro models, and it would bring Apple Intelligence support to the Apple TV for the first time. The A17 Pro is built on 3-nanometer technology and it would also bring support for console-quality games thanks to much improved CPU and GPU performance. It'll be a significant improvement over the current A15 Bionic chip.
N1 Chip

Apple debuted its custom N1 networking chip in the iPhone 17 models, and rumors suggest that the N1 will also be used in the upcoming Apple TV. It adds support for Wi-Fi 7, which is not a current Apple TV feature. With Wi-Fi 7 support, the Apple TV will be able to connect to Wi-Fi networks that support the faster and less crowded 6GHz band. Users can expect faster Wi-Fi speeds and lower latency.
New Siri Features

With a faster chip that supports Apple Intelligence, the next-generation Apple TV will support the LLM version of Siri coming in 2026. Siri will be more like Claude or ChatGPT, which could lead to better Apple TV recommendations, the option to use voice commands to do more than before, better support for questions about actors and music in movies and shows, and much more.
Pricing

There's a possibility that Apple will cut costs for the next Apple TV, and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested that Apple is targeting a price point around $100. With the A17 Pro chip and the N1 chip, Apple might not be able to hit that price with the flagship model, but there could be a lower-end entry-level option that's more affordable. Pricing right now starts at $129.
New Launch Date

In early November, Gurman said that an Apple TV and HomePod mini "shouldn't be too far off" based on dwindling supplies of the devices at Apple retail stores. At the time, he said a post-2025 debut was a possibility, but he confirmed the products are ready to go and could launch at any time.

The HomePod mini and Apple TV will "help showcase the new Siri and Apple Intelligence features" that Apple has coming, which makes the spring timing sound even more likely.

Article Link: Where's the New Apple TV?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/22/where-is-the-new-apple-tv/
Not everything needs to be updated frequently. The current generation AppleTV is still the best streaming box on the market, with the added bonus of some games. There really is no need to push for an update. Are there some quality of life improvements needed? Yes. But do we need to update the thing every year or two? Not at all.

TEG
 
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Reactions: Ruftzooi, twanj, knuta and 28 others
A microphone on my speaker and a camera watching my living room?!
Sign me up! I’ll provide some riveting material.

LAND_16_9
 
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Apple TV has so much potential but everytime something is not a hit Apple neglects it. This is not how to make something successful. How about do one for 99 which is just a streaming device and one for 199 which can be used as a console to play real console games and not that junk from the App Store.

Its good now but too overpriced for its use case which is streaming. A chip upgrade won’t make it suddenly successful. Its already overpowered for what it does. Its a glorified streaming machine. People won’t buy a device to stream Netflix if its already in the TV build in. Its not the 00s anymore. The new one needs to offer more than a smart TV does and needs to be 99.
 
Last edited:
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SkippyThorson said:
A microphone on my speaker and a camera watching my living room?!
Sign me up! I’ll provide some riveting material.
Click to expand...
And people put all that voluntarily in their homes. Tell that to people from the past and they will not believe it. I don’t get it. Why does the TV need a camera? Yes there are TVs out there with cameras. Why does every room needs a spyware speaker. I thought we are already over the "smart" home and left stupid assistants and screens with ads in the 2010s.
 
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