Apple Releases tvOS 12.1 Update for Fourth and Fifth-Generation Apple TV

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:07 AM PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released tvOS 12.1, the second update to the tvOS 12 operating system designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. tvOS 12.1 comes just over a month after the release of tvOS 12.0.1 and six weeks after the September launch of tvOS 12.

tvOS 12.1 can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System -> Software Update. Apple TV owners who have automatic software updates turned on will be upgraded to tvOS 12.1 automatically.


It's not clear what new features or bug fixes are included in the tvOS 12.1 update. We didn't find any major new changes during the tvOS 12.1 beta testing period, and Apple doesn't provide release notes for tvOS releases, so there's not often a lot to go on.

If we discover what's new in tvOS 12.1, we'll update this post with additional information.

tvOS 12.1 follows the tvOS 12 update, which introduced support for higher-quality Dolby Atmos sound, zero sign-on, and new aerial screensavers created in collaboration with the International Space Station.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
19 comments


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smithrh
11 weeks ago
The problem is not with the article/MacRumors, but rather with Apple who discloses almost nothing, next to nothing, and many times nothing at all.
Rating: 6 Votes
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GIZBUG
11 weeks ago
“It's not clear what new features or bug fixes are included in the tvOS 12.1 update.”

I wish the articles on here, like this, gave readers relevant information....
Rating: 4 Votes
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NM Bound
11 weeks ago
Dear Apple,
Thanks for nothing. I've invested a lot of money over 3 decades in your products and ecosystem including several Apple TV's. I'm pretty sure I don't understand or utilize many of the outstanding features you engineer into your consumer infrastructure which includes the latest and greatest TV OS upgrade. I might buy an Apple Watch now that I can see the value of monitoring personal health reports I can forward to my physician; I'm getting old and there could be life-extending benefit from understanding issues and events linked to my heart and/or falling down which the watch will record.

But every few months when your firm has an opportunity to reveal 'THE NEXT BIG THING' in the Apple universe, it quickly disappoints, underwhelms and serves one more marketing opportunity to hawk products like so many seasonal runway model events in the personal lifestyle clothing world. And of course, when I really need to make a fashion statement, I end of buying a shirt at Walmart because it's cheap and functional.

But I digress...
NM Bound
Las Cruces, NM
Rating: 2 Votes
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Beyo
11 weeks ago

The problem is not with the article/MacRumors, but rather with Apple who discloses almost nothing, next to nothing, and many times nothing at all.


So what the point MacRumors have in writing articles that literally means nothing? Each owner of Apple TV sees when it's update available anyway.
Rating: 1 Votes
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M.Rizk
11 weeks ago

A very much doubt it's a feature that the phone wants me to start typing while watching a show on Netflix, for example. Or just scrolling though the home screen. Or just launching an app, any app. Or wanting me to type something in the middle of the night while I'm asleep in the other room.

But maybe I've misunderstood the feature.

edit: Damnit, it happened again. While watching TV on another input than the one the aTV is on.


I have had the Apple TV 4k for a month and never got such a notification unless there was a text field on screen. Weird.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Mefisto
11 weeks ago
Let's see if this, in combination with iOS 12.1 stops the constant notifications for keyboard entry on my phone! It would be nice if that's the case.
Rating: 1 Votes
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BuffaloTF
11 weeks ago
12.0 didn't introduce Zero Sign On. We're still waiting for that.

Let's see if this, in combination with iOS 12.1 stops the constant notifications for keyboard entry on my phone! It would be nice if that's the case.


That's a feature, not a bug.
Rating: 1 Votes
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