New Apple TV 4K Has Built-In Microphones for Talking to Siri AI

Apple today unveils an updated Apple TV 4K with two notable new hardware features: far-field microphones for hands-free conversations with Siri, and Find My functionality built into the remote. The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, introduced at Apple’s Welcome Home event in New York City, is the first model to offer Siri AI […]

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The fourth-generation streaming box also has improved surround sound and the ability to find your Siri remote.

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The Apple TV 4K (4th generation) looks similar to the previous model, but with some internal improvements. Image: Apple

All news from Apple's "Welcome home" event

He is a senior referee with more than twenty years of experience. He covers smart homes, IoT and connected technologies and has previously written for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC and US News.

Apple today is introducing an updated Apple TV 4K with a pair of cool new hardware features: far-field microphones for hands-free Siri conversations and Find My built into the remote. The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, unveiled at Apple's Welcome Home event in New York City, is the first model to support the Siri AI voice assistant and has a new home theater feature that lets you pair up to four second-generation HomePods or HomePod Mini 2 for surround sound.

The new Apple TV 4K is priced at $299, more than double the price of the previous-generation Apple TV 4K it was introduced with, and $50 more than the current top-of-the-line model (which has been discontinued). The fourth-generation model matches that version's specs with 128GB of storage, an Ethernet port, and support for Thread and Matter, but adds Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. It will be available on November 13th, with pre-orders starting today, October 13th.

Apple introduced the device as part of a new push into the smart home that includes the new HomeView smart display ($299), the HomePod Mini 2 ($149) and a suite of smart home devices developed in collaboration with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric.

The new Apple TV comes with an A19 chip, first seen in last year's iPhone 17, which adds support for Siri AI. The beta version will be launched and will be available in English in eight countries - US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and India. Apple says Siri AI lets you use natural language to speak to the voice assistant via the remote or new microphones and ask for recommendations like "What are the best nature docs on Apple TV right now?" use

Apple TV 4K and new remote control. Image: Apple

Unlike HomePod or HomeView, Siri doesn't speak its responses out loud on Apple TV. They appear full-screen when searching for content or in a text bubble when you ask general knowledge questions. In the demo I saw, someone asked if the football team we were watching in an episode of Ted Lasso was real, and Siri displayed a few sentences in response to the question (no, it's fictional) covering the top-right corner of the screen.

We've already seen AI-powered search features on Google's TV streamer iMovie and Amazon's Fire TV with Alexa Plus, but Apple is taking its streaming box's AI capabilities even further by adding personalized context. Personal Context uses information from your Intel Intelligence-enabled iPhone, so you can say "play show my friend texted me" and it will pull out of your text messages and find what was sent to you.

Apple TV 4K can be paired with up to four compatible HomePod speakers for surround sound. The group of four consists of two pairs, and each pair must use comparable speakers. Image: Apple

The design of the set-top box and remote control have not changed, but the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K now supports expanded surround sound settings. You can use four compatible HomePod speakers in pairs, up from the two you can use on current Apple TV models. Compatible speakers include the second-generation HomePod and the HomePod Mini 2, which were announced today for $149.

There are three configurations available: four second-generation HomePods, four HomePod mini 2s, or a pair of second-generation HomePods and a pair of HomePod minis 2. This feature is exclusive to the new Apple TV 4K, and Apple says the speakers automatically calibrate with the device to understand where they are in the room and relative to each other, then adjust sound levels to suit the space.

I'm so excited to be able to say "Hey Siri, can you find the remote?" Apple has finally added Find My to Siri Remote. It can now play that familiar chime so you can tell which pillow has fallen.If for some reason you can't hear it, you can now use the Find My app on your iPhone to track its exact location, thanks to Apple adding support for Bluetooth channel audio, a tracking technology similar to Superband, but without the need for a UWB chip.

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