CES 2019: Sony's Upcoming 4K and 8K TVs to Support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit

Monday January 7, 2019 5:35 pm PST by Juli Clover
Starting later this year, Sony's new 2019 Z9G Series 8K LCDs, A9G Series OLED 4K TVs, and X950G 4K LCD TVs will support Airplay 2 and HomeKit protocols from Apple.

Other TV manufacturers, including Samsung, Vizio, and LG have also announced support for HomeKit and AirPlay 2 for their 2019 smart TV lineups. All of the major TV brands will support both, with the exception of Samsung. Samsung TVs support AirPlay 2 and will have an exclusive app for accessing iTunes content, but won't work with HomeKit.


With AirPlay 2 support, compatible Sony television sets will be able to stream videos, music, photos, and more right from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and multi-room audio across multiple AirPlay 2 devices will also be available.

Content AirPlayed on Sony television sets will be able to be controlled using the Lock screen widget or the Control Center of an iOS device. Users will be able to play, pause, fast-forward, rewind, and adjust volume on the TV when AirPlaying TVs, movies, and music.

With HomeKit and Siri integration, users will be able to control their TVs via Siri voice commands, using voice requests to do things like play specific TV shows on a specific television. The TVs will be present in the Home app, so Siri controls will also be available for doing things like turning on the TV or including the TV in a HomeKit scene.

Sony's television sets run an Android-based operating system with built-in Cast support from Google, which means users will be able to choose between using Google and Apple services.

AirPlay-compatible Sony television sets include the newly announced Z9G 8K TVs available in 98 and 85 inch sizes, the new A9G 4K OLED TVs available in 77, 65, and 55 inch options, and the new X950G 4K LCD TVs available in 55, 65, 75 and 85 inch sizes, all of which are set to launch in spring 2019. Sony says that AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support will launch for these TV sets "later this year."

Apple has added new details about the upcoming smart television integrations on its AirPlay website for those who want more information about its upcoming partnerships with TV manufacturers.

Tags: HomeKit Guide, AirPlay, Sony, CES 2019
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x-evil-x
14 months ago

Home kit and Siri are so far behind Amazon Alexa it’s a joke. So far, that I feel like Tony Stark walking around my Malibu mansion. Apple completely dropped the ball on both. Sincerely, an Apple fanboy.

But why? Homekit is instant. All my hue lights and lifx lights turn on instantly and remember the correct colors. My Alexa sucks. It’s slow as hell. The hue stuff should be instant but compared to homekit Alexa lags. You can’t create quick scenes with colors that are currently in use for Alexa either. The amazon integration isn’t that great. I barely use my Alexa spot anymore. Sometimes for alarms and other things homekit doesn’t do through my wink hub.
What does the Alexa do better honestly? Because with my setup it’s laggy and the app sucks ass compared to homekit
Rating: 14 Votes
Avatar
philmore13
14 months ago
Home kit and Siri are so far behind Amazon Alexa it’s a joke. So far, that I feel like Tony Stark walking around my Malibu mansion. Apple completely dropped the ball on both. Sincerely, an Apple fanboy.
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
Kaibelf
14 months ago

Is Apple not concerned about these new features cannibalizing Apple TV sales? I am all for these additions and I know the Apple TV offers a different experience but for most people having air play streaming from their iPhone to their tv would be enough to pass on buying the Apple TV instead. I’m sure Apple isn’t making these TV manufacturers pay licensing fees equivalent to the price of an Apple TV.


Would you prefer a 15% slice of a huge watermelon or 100% of a grape?
Rating: 8 Votes
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Donar
14 months ago
Ok SONY, now please ditch AndroidTV software on your TV sets and bring out an updated AV Receiver with Airplay 2 support.
Rating: 7 Votes
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iSayuSay
14 months ago
Even better, Apple could've just licensed tvOS to everyone LOL. I mean make a stripped down version of it for everyone else just so anyone can enjoy Apple TV interface. That'd be a great idea to throw TV market in Apple's ecosystem
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
cuencap
14 months ago

Home kit and Siri are so far behind Amazon Alexa it’s a joke. So far, that I feel like Tony Stark walking around my Malibu mansion. Apple completely dropped the ball on both. Sincerely, an Apple fanboy.


I spent the last week in a house with an Alexa. I was somewhat impressed with its ability to play music from different sources for the most part. However, it still screwed up a number of playlists and albums with multiple discs. Didn't use it for anything other than easy questions that Siri always gets right though.

On a sidenote, you gotta admit this Airplay 2 + Homekit rollout to top TV manufacturers caught everyone by surprise. Haven't had a true Apple surprise in a while!
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
havenyoung
14 months ago

Is Apple not concerned about these new features cannibalizing Apple TV sales? I am all for these additions and I know the Apple TV offers a different experience but for most people having air play streaming from their iPhone to their tv would be enough to pass on buying the Apple TV instead. I’m sure Apple isn’t making these TV manufacturers pay licensing fees equivalent to the price of an Apple TV.

I would still choose Apple TV 4k because of the native Dolby Vison and Dolby Atmos support. Airplay 2 doesn't support 4k or HDR I believe.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
MarkIII
14 months ago
Is Apple not concerned about these new features cannibalizing Apple TV sales? I am all for these additions and I know the Apple TV offers a different experience but for most people having air play streaming from their iPhone to their tv would be enough to pass on buying the Apple TV instead. I’m sure Apple isn’t making these TV manufacturers pay licensing fees equivalent to the price of an Apple TV.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
cardfan
14 months ago
I buy for screen. Not audio. And definitely not ui or smart features that I will NEVER use. I’ll keep my tv for as long as it breaks down. In a few years I’d rather just get the latest streamer again and hopefully that’s an Apple TV.

An 85 900f is on my list when it goes on sale soon for super bowl.
Rating: 2 Votes
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dan110
14 months ago
Apple, under Tim, has again ceded an area of the home that Apple had a major lead in. There WAS so much potential for Apple TV as an appliance, services gateway, and ecosystem pillar. Now, it's essentially being deprecated into an app for competitors.
Rating: 2 Votes

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