Apple’s Spring Loaded event brought a fast and furious pace of announcements, including a new iMac, AirTags, and Podcasts Subscription service, even a new iPhone color. But Apple still found time to fix one of the biggest gripes we have in any of Apple products: Apple TV’s Siri remote.
The Apple TV 4K itself isn’t a huge upgrade over the prior model. It brings an A12 Bionic processor (versus the A10X), high-frame-rate HDR, and Dolby Vision video to enable smooth 60fps viewing. iPhone users can also use their handset’s light sensor to compare color balance to “industry-standard specifications used by cinematographers worldwide” and automatically adjust their TV’s video output without needing to fiddle with menus and settings. This feature is coming to the prior-generation Apple TV 4K as well in iOS 14.5.
But the real reason to upgrade is the all-new Siri remote. Somewhat ironically, the Apple TV remote looks a lot like the pre-Siri remote, with a black-and-silver aluminum design sporting large buttons that are easy to see. The trackpad has been replaced with a new circular clickpad that offers five-way navigation for more accurate selection and control, but if you liked the old way, it’s still touch-enabled.
The outer ring doubles as a jog dial for quickly scrubbing through movies and TV shows, while the Siri button has been moved to the side to prevent accidental presses. And you also get a power button and a mute button like, you know, an actual remote.
The Apple TV 4K starts at the same $179 for 32GB of storage and $199 for 64GB of storage. The Apple TV HD, which hasn’t been updated, also comes with the new Siri remote and is $149 for 32GB of storage. The all-new Siri remote is also available separately for $59. Preorders begin Friday and will ship in the second half of May.