Apple announced a new Apple TV 4K on 13 October, the first refresh of its streaming box in four years, at $299 with hands-free Siri as its centrepiece. Pre-orders opened the same day and the device reaches stores on 13 November, the company said in its announcement.
The box runs on the A19 chip that Apple introduced in the iPhone 17 and adds an Apple-designed N1 wireless chip with Wi-Fi 7, Gizmodo reported. Storage starts at 128GB, the capacity that previously came only with the Ethernet-equipped model. At $299 it costs $100 more than the version it replaces, making it the most expensive Apple TV the company has sold.
Three far-field microphones are built into the unit, so owners can talk to Siri without picking up a remote. Answers from Siri AI appear in a corner of the screen rather than interrupting playback, Engadget reported. The assistant can draw on personal context from a paired iPhone, which Apple demonstrated with a request to play a show a friend had mentioned in a message.
The redesigned Siri Remote has a speaker. Asking Siri where the remote is triggers a chime, and Find My with Precision Finding can steer a phone toward it. Tom's Guide, which was given an early look, reported that the new remote also works with existing Apple TV hardware. Siri AI arrives first in beta and in English, so some features will not be available to every user at launch.
Audio support changes too: the box can now drive four HomePods as a surround setup, up from a stereo pair of two, using second-generation HomePods, HomePod mini 2 units or a combination. Apple also introduced the HomePod mini 2 at $149, with new colors and a lighting feature.
Apple opened its "Welcome home" showcase in New York the same day, where it also announced the HomeView smart home hub that GlobeTV reported on 13 October. The HomePod mini 2 goes on sale on 30 October, with its Siri AI features arriving later, according to Engadget.