Apple TV

The Apple TV is Apple's set-top box, meant to be connected to television sets. A new version of the Apple TV 4K was announced in October and it's set to launch on November 13. Apple doesn't refresh the Apple TV often, and now is the best time to buy.

The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K has a faster A19 chip with Siri AI support, microphones with voice isolation for hands-free Siri access, more internal storage, an updated Remote with Precision Finding, and support for using four HomePods for surround sound.

With the fourth-generation update, the Apple TV went up in price. There is a single model priced at $299, with no more affordable option available. If you want a cheaper Apple TV, you may want to look for the 2022 model because it too will get Siri AI.

The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K continues to look like the prior-generation version, with a simple black box design that plugs into a television set over HDMI. It is the same size and shape as the previous model, but the status light is now in the middle of the device's front instead of off to the side.

The Apple TV 4K, as the name suggests, offers 4K resolution with support for high frame rate HDR content, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. To get the complete experience, it must be paired with a 4K TV or better and 4K content is also required.

There's a faster A19 chip inside the Apple TV 4K offering up to 50 percent faster CPU performance and up to 2× faster GPU performance than the A15 in the prior model. The A19 has a dedicated AV1 decoder for high-quality streaming that uses less bandwidth. Apple says the chip brings greater responsiveness, faster navigation, and smoother animations.

Four HomePod mini 2 or second-generation HomePods can be paired with the Apple TV 4K for home theater surround sound. The speakers work together with the Apple TV to recognize their position in the room to calibrate audio timing and levels. Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos makes for an immersive audio experience.

The fourth-generation Apple TV has three built-in far-field microphones that can be used for talking to Siri hands-free. With the microphones, activating Siri does not require the Siri Remote, and echo cancellation isolates a user's voice from background sound for Siri access even when audio is playing.

Siri AI can answer questions about a range of topics, control smart home products, take systemwide app actions, and hold back-and-forth conversations. On Apple TV, Siri AI makes it easier to find entertainment and get suggestions on what to watch. With a connected Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, Siri AI can tap into personal context to answer questions.

The Siri Remote has a one-piece aluminum body, which is a design introduced in 2021, and there were no updates to the look. The remote includes a clickpad control wheel with five-way navigation and support for touch gestures. The clickpad's outer ring supports a circular gesture that lets you move through TV and movie content. There's a dedicated power button, volume buttons, a mute button, an option for pausing and fast-forwarding, a menu button, a Siri side button, and a USB-C port for charging.

Find My support is new to the Siri Remote, allowing it to be found more easily if it's lost. The Remote has a speaker so it can play a sound, and it supports Precision Finding.

Like the prior model, the new Apple TV 4K works as a home hub for controlling connected smart home accessories for everyone. Doorbell notifications appear on the Apple TV, and it supports automations, guest mode, and secure local processing of HomeKit Secure Video.

The Apple TV 4K supports Wi-Fi 7 and can connect to the faster 6GHz Wi-Fi band for streaming, plus it has Thread networking technology, Bluetooth 6, HDMI 2.1, and Gigabit Ethernet.

The Apple TV 4K is priced at $299 for 128GB of storage. Apple used to have two models available, but consolidated to one and raised the price by $50 with the launch of the fourth-generation model. The Siri Remote with Find My is also available separately for $59 and is compatible with the last several generations of Apple TV.

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The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K can be pre-ordered from the online Apple Store for $299, and it will launch on November 13.