Apple’s new Apple TV 4K costs $299 in the United States, goes on sale in stores on Friday, Nov. 13, and carries a beta of an entirely new version of Siri. Pre-orders opened Oct. 13 in the United States and 29 other countries and regions. The box is the fourth-generation model, and the Siri software is the part Apple most wants buyers to try in the living room.
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Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, called it the company’s most immersive home theater experience yet. The pitch combines a faster chip, an assistant with a full-screen interface and a role as a hub for smart home accessories, though the assistant is labeled beta and comes with conditions on the phone or tablet that must sit beside it.
A19 chip and the AV1 decoder
Apple’s announcement of the new Apple TV 4K puts the A19 chip at the center, with up to 50 percent faster CPU performance and up to twice the GPU performance of the previous generation. Apple’s Apple TV 4K product page ties the CPU claim to testing in September 2026 on preproduction units. A new dedicated AV1 decoder is meant to make streaming more efficient at lower bandwidth, and three far-field microphones allow hands-free “Hey Siri” or “Siri” requests, including during playback.
Apple lists the voice trigger as supported when the primary tvOS language is Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Norwegian or Swedish, so hands-free support is wider than the beta assistant itself. The release does not mention storage options or an Ethernet port. It does describe, for buyers who prefer to spread the cost, an Apple Card Monthly Installments option of $49.83 a month for six months, a zero-percent offer available only at U.S. checkout and subject to credit approval.
Siri AI in beta: what it needs and where it works
The Siri software is described by Apple as an entirely new version of Siri powered by the next generation of Apple Intelligence, with a full-screen interface. It is a beta, it needs tvOS 27.2, and it also works on Apple TV 4K models of the second generation or later, so owners of older boxes do not have to buy new hardware to try it. The home owner needs an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad running the latest software, and requests that draw on personal context require that paired device.
Launch is limited to English in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Apple says Siri AI is not initially available in the European Union on iOS or iPadOS. Some server-side features have daily usage limits, and Apple says expanded access will cost a fee in the future. Details of the requirements are collected on Apple’s Apple Intelligence requirements page, which cautions that features may not be available in every language, country or on every device.
The same assistant is being spread across Apple’s home products. The second-generation HomePod mini announcement says Siri AI arrives there in a later software update, while the HomeView announcement describes the same assistant in beta in HomeView software version 27.2 for that new $299 home display.
Home theater, Thread and the Find My remote
For audio, Apple says four-speaker surround sound works with the fourth-generation box when two HomePod mini 2 or second-generation HomePod speakers form each front and rear pair, and the pairs must match. Built-in Wi-Fi and Thread let the box act as a home hub, which matters because Apple’s product page says Matter accessories need a home hub and lists the Apple TV 4K as one of the devices that can fill that role. Smart home accessories themselves are sold separately, while AI camera descriptions and summarized notifications require an eligible iCloud+ plan plus an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad.
The Siri Remote gains Find My support with Precision Finding and an option to play a sound, and the sound feature is exclusive to the newest remote. Precision Finding requires the fourth-generation remote paired with an iPhone Duo, iPhone Air or iPhone 17 or later, excluding the iPhone 17e. Privacy claims follow Apple’s pattern: Secure Exclaves process microphone data separately from the rest of the system, Siri requests can run on-device or in Private Cloud Compute, and HomeKit Secure Video footage is end-to-end encrypted.
Entertainment features carry over from earlier models. The Apple TV app brings live sports such as Formula 1 in the United States, Major League Soccer and Friday Night Baseball, and the box also runs Apple Fitness+, Apple Arcade and the App Store games library. FaceTime works through Continuity Camera with a compatible iPhone or iPad, and iCloud photo options include Memories and Slideshows, Portraits and a new screen saver shuffle feature. The release also lists recycled materials, including 100 percent recycled gold plating and tin solder in the circuit boards, 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, 80 percent recycled aluminum in the thermal module and a Siri Remote enclosure made of 100 percent recycled aluminum.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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