Apple TV 4K to gain four-HomePod Dolby Atmos support and A19 chip, leaks suggest
Code leaks suggest Apple TV 4K will support four HomePods for Dolby Atmos and feature an A19 or A19 Pro chip.
MacRumors reports that the beta code contains references to front-left, front-right, rear-left and rear-right speakers, along with automatic room calibration, speaker position mapping, timing adjustments, bass management, EQ, dialog enhancement and separate processing modes for movies and music. The code also mentions the ability to spatialize stereo content and an unspecified piece of hardware used in what TechRadar described as a new “forklift” tuning system, which could be a next-generation HomePod.
Using four second-generation HomePods with an Apple TV 4K would cost $1,396 / £1,396 for the speakers, plus $199 / £199 for the set-top box, according to TechRadar. That is substantially less than Sony’s Bravia Theater Quad, a similar quad-speaker Dolby Atmos system with a launch price of $2,499 / £2,499 and a street price around $2,000 / £2,000. TechRadar noted that the quad HomePod setup could be a serious rival to Sony’s system in both price and performance.
On the chip front, 9to5Mac reports that a code reference to an upcoming Apple TV model identified as “AppleTV18,1” was uncovered by Aaron Perris. The numbering scheme matches identifiers used by Apple’s iPhone 17 line last year, which used A19 chips in some models and A19 Pro in others. The leak implies the new Apple TV 4K could run either an A19 or A19 Pro. That is a significant step up from the A17 Pro that was widely expected, and even more so from the current A15 Bionic.
The more powerful chip would enable Apple Intelligence features, and 9to5Mac suggests the A19 Pro might be more likely because it exclusively supports Siri AI’s most advanced features. Siri AI is expected to be a major addition to the new Apple TV 4K, which 9to5Mac notes has seen a longer wait between hardware updates than at any other point in its history. The timeline for software availability remains unclear, but the audioOS beta is still in testing; TechRadar said more may be revealed during Apple’s iPhone event this week, where future audio and home entertainment hardware could be announced or hinted at.