Following today's news that Samsung and Apple have worked together to bring an iTunes Movies & TV app and AirPlay 2 support to 2018 and 2019 Samsung smart TVs, Apple has updated its AirPlay page with additional info on how that feature will be implemented on TVs. Among the details described as coming soon:
- Apple says "leading TV manufacturers" will be including AirPlay 2 support in their TVs, indicating that this initiative will not be a Samsung exclusive. Apple has not, however, announced additional TV partners or a timeline for when AirPlay 2 will come to these other brands. Samsung's support is rolling out in a firmware update for 2018 TVs and built into 2019 models "beginning this spring."
- AirPlay 2-enabled TVs will act just like any other AirPlay 2 speaker, meaning you can send many different types of audio from an iOS device or your Mac to your TV. Music being sent to your TV via AirPlay 2 can also be synced with other AirPlay 2 speakers.
- You can already control AirPlay content such as play/pause, fast forward, and rewind via a Lock screen widget or Control Center on your iOS device, and Apple has confirmed that AirPlay content on smart TVs can be controlled the same way, including control of the TV volume.
- Smart TVs with AirPlay 2 will also integrate with Siri and HomeKit, meaning you can use your voice to request that a specific show be played on a specific TV, for example.
It's unknown whether we can expect to hear more announcements about Apple's smart TV partnerships this week at CES, but we'll certainly be looking forward to more details about which TVs will support greater integration with Apple's services and when.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too.
2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3
Apple didn't update the...
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iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design
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While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device.
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While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
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Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
This pretty much rules out needing an Apple TV. Just AirPlay from an iOS or MacOS device. That is assuming you are in the market for a new fancy TV. Our old 2008 720p Panasonic Plasma still works just fine. The 4K quality is impressive though.
It makes sense. To me this is just the modern-day equivalent of when they announced iPods and iTunes would be on Windows and not exclusively for Macs anymore.
