The new Apple TV 4K costs $299 and listens for Siri AI, while 2021 and 2022 models get Siri AI as a betaThe new Apple TV 4K costs $299 and listens for Siri AI, while 2021 and 2022 models get Siri AI as a beta

Apple announced a fourth-generation Apple TV 4K on 13 October.

The new box runs on an A19 chip, which Apple says is up to 50 per cent faster on the CPU and up to twice as fast on graphics as the previous model, and adds a dedicated AV1 video decoder. It has three far-field microphones, so Siri can be called with the voice alone rather than the remote's button. There is one model only, with 128GB of storage, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, according to The Verge. The case and remote look unchanged. Pre-orders opened on the day, and Apple's US press release gives Friday 13 November for availability.

Most of the hardware matches what Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on 11 October, when he said an A19 Apple TV would ship alongside the HomePod mini 2 on 30 October. The chip, the microphones and a remote that can ring all turned out to be right. The date did not.

How much does the new Apple TV 4K cost?

Prices from Apple's regional newsrooms, 13 October 2026. There are no storage options.

MacRumors notes that the previous model was sold in two versions, most recently at $199 and $249 after an earlier rise this year, and that the starting price has climbed from $129 to $299 over 2026. The Verge puts the new price at more than twice what the last generation cost at launch. The new Siri Remote is also sold on its own for $59, 9to5Mac reports, and works with every Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K.

Apple's UK newsroom page disagrees with the others on one point: it gives availability from Friday 30 October, in 30 other countries rather than 29. Every other Apple page we checked, and every outlet, says 13 November. We use 13 November and expect the UK page to be corrected.

Which Apple TV models get Siri AI?

Siri AI is not limited to the new box. Apple says it arrives as a beta in tvOS 27.2 on the Apple TV 4K second generation, from 2021, and later, in English, in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa. It needs the owner of the home in the Home app to have an Apple Intelligence iPhone or iPad with Siri AI switched on. The first Apple TV 4K from 2017 is left out, having already lost tvOS 27 and been added to Apple's vintage list.

What the older models do not get is the hands-free part. The microphones are only in the new box, and Apple's footnotes say voice wake-up works only when tvOS is set to one of nine languages, including English, French, German and Mandarin Chinese. The Verge saw Siri answer on screen rather than aloud, either full screen for searches or in a small panel over the show for general questions.

Surround sound with four HomePods

The new Apple TV 4K can drive four HomePods as a surround system, up from two. It works with four HomePod second generation speakers, four HomePod mini 2 speakers, or a pair of each, as long as the front and rear pairs match. Apple says the speakers work out their own positions in the room and set timing and levels to suit. It is the feature that code in the audioOS 27.2 beta had pointed to a week earlier, and it is exclusive to the new model.

The remote gains Find My. Any second-generation or later Siri Remote appears in Find My, but only the new one can play a sound, and Precision Finding needs the new remote paired with an iPhone Duo, iPhone Air or iPhone 17 or later, excluding the iPhone 17e.

Our take

The price is the story. At $299 the Apple TV 4K now costs as much as HomeView, a device with its own screen, speakers and camera. Apple has taken the cheaper version away entirely, so there is no longer an entry point for someone who just wants a fast streaming box.

For anyone with a 2021 or 2022 Apple TV 4K, the sensible upgrade costs $59. Siri AI arrives on those models as a free beta, and the new remote brings the ringing sound and Precision Finding. The new box adds three things on top: speaking to Siri without the remote, AV1 decoding, and four-speaker surround. APPDOOK's view is that only the last is worth $299 on its own, and it carries a hidden cost. Four HomePod mini 2 speakers at $149 each add $596, so the full system starts at close to $900 in the US.

Europe is the open question. The EU is not on the Siri AI launch list, and Apple's footnote says Siri AI on Apple TV depends on the home owner's iPhone or iPad having Siri AI turned on. Apple has said Siri AI will not initially be available in the EU on iOS or iPadOS. Apple does not say so directly, but it follows that an EU buyer would get the new box without its headline feature for now. What is still unknown: how well Siri AI runs on the 2021 model, and whether apps will be able to use the microphones.