Apple TV

Everybody’s favorite gaming service, Apple Arcade, expanded its library Thursday as four new exclusive games joined. We knew they were coming — and now you can play them. That brings the subscription service’s catalog to over 200 ad-free games, Apple said.

Here are the latest additions: Play-Doh World, a creative digital playground; Worms Across Worlds, the newest entry in the beloved strategy series; Let’s Go Mightycat!, a whimsical puzzle adventure; and Everybody Shogi, a colorful take on the traditional Japanese board game.

Apple is gearing up for a blockbuster year, with a packed product roadmap that spans nearly every category in its lineup. From an iPhone redesign to upgrades for the Mac, iPad and Apple Watch families, the next twelve months promise a steady stream of hardware refreshes, software milestones and perhaps a few surprises.

Whether you’re a casual user or a die-hard fan, here’s a look at every major Apple product expected between now and next summer.

March 21, 2007: Apple launches the Apple TV, a gleaming-white set-top box with a remote control, for bringing iTunes media to the living room.

Unfortunately, the device lacks key features needed to make it a killer entertainment system. It’s something of a missed opportunity for Apple.

For many Apple TV owners, there’s still one kink to be worked out: the remote. The Siri Remote is all about being skinny and putting Apple’s AI assistant front and center. But some people prefer an alternative Apple TV remote with lots of buttons, like the recently upgraded Button Remote from Function101 (see our hands-on review).

Upgraded with Bluetooth connectivity in addition to infrared, it works with Apple TVs and more than a hundred other television brands. And you can get one for only $24.97. That’s just two-thirds the price of a replacement sixth-gen Siri Remote from Apple.

Netflix content started showing up for the first time in the Apple TV application. Until now, the streaming behemoth refused to cooperate with Apple’s app that displays content from a variety of services.

Netflix’s new integration with Apple TV appears to be still rolling out, so it’s not yet available to all users.

Update: A Netflix spokesperson now says integration between the streaming service and the Apple TV was just a mistake.

You can use your iPhone (or even your Apple Watch!) as a remote for your Apple TV. It’s a convenient feature when you’ve lost the remote in the couch cushions. (You can use your iPhone to help find it as well.)

Even if your remote’s not gone missing, sometimes it’s sitting on the table way over there and you don’t want to interrupt a show by asking for someone to pass it to you. Or maybe, someone is intentionally hogging the remote and you want to pause the video yourself. Either way, it’s really easy to do from an iPhone or an Apple Watch.

You’ve got to love a computer, gaming and TV setup with a big external display that’s so efficiently arranged it barely even takes up any desk space. Today’s featured MacBook Pro workstation manages the feat by mounting a big smart TV as a display on the wall, along with a pegboard for peripherals storage. But the MacBook setup with wall-mounted display took some pretty serious DIY skills, described below.

iPhone and Mac get all the attention — and the annual upgrades — but you can expect a trio of Apple products that haven’t been improved in years to get some love from Cupertino in 2025.

Fans of some of Apple’s secondary devices rejoice: Rumors point to new versions of Apple TV, AirTag and HomePod in the coming months. If you’re an AirTag user, it’s important to stay updated with the latest AirTag firmware update to ensure optimal performance.

Apple’s significant expansion of its smart home lineup in 2025 should include new HomePod and HomePod mini models. The company plans to introduce both a display-equipped HomePod and a refreshed HomePod mini amid a renewed focus on the smart home market.

As usual, you can expect Apple to emphasize quality audio as well as airtight security. Here’s what to expect from HomePod and HomePod mini in 2025.

December 27, 2010: Almost four months after the second-gen Apple TV’s debut, Cupertino says it has sold 1 million of the streaming video devices.

The news shows that Apple’s set-top box is gaining momentum. However, Apple’s PR move — which included a preemptive press release issued on December 21 that said Apple “expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week” — is also a low-blow shot at competitor Roku, which recently said it planned to hit the 1 million unit mark by the end of 2010.

Apple will switch to its in-house “Proxima” WI-Fi and Bluetooth chip on its devices starting next year. The chip will debut on the Apple TV and HomePod mini next year.

By 2026, Apple will bring its in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module to the iPad and Mac.

iOS 18.2 will make searching on Apple Music and Apple TV much easier with natural language support. This means you can use natural language to describe and search for TV shows or music you are looking for.

The revamped Photos app gained support for similar search capabilities with the iOS 18.1 update.

The culmination of a Major League Soccer postseason filled with upsets and comebacks, the MLS Cup championship unfolds Saturday as LA Galaxy hosts the New York Red Bulls. And you can watch the MLS Cup final for free on various Apple TV platforms via MLS Season Pass, the streamer said Thursday.

There are plenty of great Apple deals this Cyber Monday 2024—but not from Apple directly. As usual, Apple keeps its discounts minimal (Tim Cook loves his big fat profits!). This year, you can get up to a $200 gift card with select purchases, but the newest products, like the iPhone 16, M4 MacBook Pros, iMac, and Apple Watch Ultra 2, aren’t included.

That said, third-party retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and B&H Photo are offering significant discounts on a ton of Apple gear. From AirPods to iPhones, Apple Watches, and iPads, you’ll find some fantastic deals. Here’s a roundup of the best offers we’ve come across.

Apple is reportedly considering making a television set, but don’t get your hopes up. There are simply too many reasons why Apple won’t make a TV. Like so many things, it all comes down to profits (and the lack thereof).

You need look no further than Apple’s set-top box and monitors to see why an Apple-branded television isn’t going to happen.

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi will take the field in his first MLS Cup playoff match on Friday, and it’ll be available free for anyone to watch via the Apple TV app.

He’ll lead Inter Miami CF against Atlanta United FC.

You can set up your Apple TV to control volume on a separate sound system, like a sound bar. It may not work out of the box, but poking around in Settings, you can use the convenient volume buttons built into the Siri Remote.

If you have a separate sound system or an older television, the volume buttons on your Apple TV remote may not work directly. You don’t have to keep two or three remotes sitting around — you can make it all work from just one. It just takes a little setup. 

Apple released watchOS 10.6.1 and tvOS 17.6.1 on Monday, a pair of “bug fix” patches for Apple Watch and Apple TV that offer no new features.

New versions of iOS 17.6.1 and iPadOS 17.6.1 from two weeks ago went out at the same time, but don’t appear to be available for most models.

You can turn off those annoying Apple TV sports notifications to stop the constant interruptions while you’re watching your shows and movies. Considering I have no interest in sports, I never watched live sports on Apple TV, and I never agreed to be shown these notifications, every time they come up, I’m intensely irritated.

Apple did a fairly good job of hiding the setting that lets you turn off those irritating sports notifications. However, you can do it — if you know where to look. In this how-to, I’ll show you how to shut them down, along with some of the other Apple TV settings you should change while you’re at it. Keep reading or watch our video.

Whether it’s wedged between the cushions or kicked far under the couch, a handy-dandy feature in iOS 17 and tvOS 17 lets you find your lost Apple TV remote using your iPhone.

Sure, you can take the L and simply use your iPhone or Apple Watch to control your Apple TV. But I like having the physical remote on hand, too.

The mind races when one imagines how many hours of human life might have been saved if everyone had this feature 30 years ago. Let me show you how to find your AWOL Apple TV remote with your iPhone.

The Netflix streaming service will soon stop working on second- and third-generation Apple TV models. It’s not a shocking development as both are over a decade old.

If you’ve been looking for a reason to buy a newer tvOS device, it may have just arrived. (By coincidence, Verizon currently offers the Apple TV 4K for just $89.99.)

You can change the name of your Apple devices, whether you have an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, AirPods or Apple TV. By default, it’s just “[your name]’s iPhone.” But you can give your iPhone its own unique name, like Kit-Kat or Magic Rectangle.

Also by default, when you set up a new iPhone, the name is transferred. This can get confusing if you keep old phones around because you’ll see “John’s iPhone,” “John’s iPhone (2),” maybe even “John’s iPhone (3)” and more. The same is true for Apple Watch, Mac, iPad and AirPods.

The name of your device shows up among a bunch of Apple features like AirDrop, Find My, Personal Hotspot, AirPlay and more. If you use these features often, giving it a unique name will make it easier to identify.

Here’s how to fix this mess on all your Apple devices. Keep reading or watch our video.

Comparing the Apple TV vs. Roku vs. other smart TV products, there are a lot of good reasons to stick with Apple’s offering — even though it’s more expensive.

Roku is the more popular product, selling plug-in devices for as little as $30. And if you buy a new TV today, it’s probably running Roku or Google TV software. Although the latest Apple TV 4K is a pricey $129, it offers better privacy protection, it’s easily controlled with your iPhone and Apple Watch, makes FaceTime calls, plays better games and runs faster.

Check out our latest video or keep reading.

The just-launched Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K makes it easy to hold FaceTime calls with Apple’s set-top box. It magnetically holds an iPhone so its cameras point toward the user.

Video-chat capability is built into Apple’s set-top box — the mount just makes it simpler.

Amazon bargain site Woot! is offering deep discounts, anywhere from 13% to 83% off, on dozens of Apple accessories and a few choice items like Apple Watch Ultra and AirPods Pro — but only until Wednesday at 9:59 p.m. PT.

As of Tuesday morning, one item had sold out and 52 remained, including accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch, AirTag, AirPods and more. See some highlights below.