AI News Feed
Market watch
Mini DisplayPort Fades From New Computers, but DisplayPort Standard EnduresPulse Local Launches as Mac Budgeting App With On-Device AIIntel pitches right-sized inference systems with D-series GPU and Xeon racks at OCP SummitFormer Ukrainian Officer on Trial in Germany Over Nord Stream Sabotage; Saudi Employee Arrested Over Alleged Bugging of OpenAI OfficeMeta Launches Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full; Rebalancer Tutorial Details Solver Trade-offsEngadget guide outlines Chrome privacy and security settings users can change
Mini DisplayPort Fades From New Computers, but DisplayPort Standard EnduresPulse Local Launches as Mac Budgeting App With On-Device AIIntel pitches right-sized inference systems with D-series GPU and Xeon racks at OCP SummitFormer Ukrainian Officer on Trial in Germany Over Nord Stream Sabotage; Saudi Employee Arrested Over Alleged Bugging of OpenAI OfficeMeta Launches Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full; Rebalancer Tutorial Details Solver Trade-offsEngadget guide outlines Chrome privacy and security settings users can change
Products & Applications

Apple's New Apple TV 4K Lands Nov. 13 at $299 With A19 Chip and Hands-Free Siri

Apple's fourth-generation Apple TV 4K arrives Nov. 13 at $299, $100 above its cheapest predecessor, adding an A19 chip, built-in mics and a new remote.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-14 09:30

The price is more than double what the 2022 version cost at the start of the year. That model launched with a 64GB Wi-Fi version at $129 and a 128GB Ethernet version at $149, before Apple raised them to $199 and $249 in June, attributing the increase to surging memory and storage component demand from AI data centers. The 2026 model comes in a single configuration, 128GB with Ethernet, at $299.

Apple replaced the A15 Bionic in the 2022 box with the A19, saying it is up to 50 percent faster at CPU tasks and twice as fast at graphics. RAM is doubled and a dedicated AV1 decoder is added, a format that lets services stream at high quality over less bandwidth. Networking moves from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5 to Bluetooth 6, while Thread support is unchanged.

The three microphones built into the new box can pick up a Siri request over whatever is playing. The 2022 model has no microphones and requires holding a button on the remote to use Siri. The new remote, sold separately for $59, adds Precision Finding, which lets an iPhone lead the owner to it and play a sound, though that requires an iPhone 17 or later, an iPhone Air or an iPhone Duo, and does not work on the 17e. It supports all Apple TV 4K models plus the 2015 Apple TV HD.

For the first time, four HomePods can be connected as a surround sound system, two in front and two behind, but only with the fourth-generation box and matched pairs of HomePod mini 2 or second-generation HomePod speakers. Earlier models supported only a stereo pair of HomePods.

Siri AI, the chattier assistant Apple built this launch around, will also reach every Apple TV 4K from the second generation onward through an update. The fine print requires the person set as the home's owner to have an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, and at launch the feature works only in English across eight countries. Neither generation goes past 4K, and both handle Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos.

Buyers of the 2026 model get double the storage, an Ethernet port, the A19, the new remote and the microphones for $100 more than the 64GB 2022 box, or $50 more than the 2022 Ethernet version. The AV1 hardware decoder addresses a long-running complaint among some Apple TV 4K users, particularly on platforms such as YouTube.

Because both boxes are capped at 4K at 60 frames per second, the A19 offers little to households that only stream. Hands-free Siri is convenient, but on paper nothing in the new hardware stands out as a reason to spend $299. Households that play games on Apple TV or expect to lean on Siri AI may weigh the upgrade differently, and a full review is needed to judge how much better the hardware handles complex tasks. Owners of older Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD models face a clearer case, since Apple's Siri AI is not supported on those devices.