Apple’s Next TV 4K Just Leaked (With a Siri Brain Transplant)
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While a leaked video of AirPods with cameras was the biggest gaffe in this week’s beta software update cycle, it seems there’s a lot more tucked away here, including hints on the next Apple TV and other home products that Apple could release in a few weeks.
It seems we’ve been waiting for a new Apple TV 4K forever — and for a new HomePod mini for even longer. The current third-generation Apple TV 4K was released in November 2022, and the HomePod mini hasn’t been updated since its initial release in 2020 (unless you consider new colors to be meaningful updates).
The consensus among the usual crew of leakers and analysts is that Apple has a whole new lineup of home products ready to go for this fall: a fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, a second-generation HomePod mini, and the much-rumored home hub (the so-called “HomePad”).
The scuttlebutt is that many of these products have been ready to go for at least a year in terms of the hardware; they’ve just been waiting on Siri to grow a new brain.
However, with Siri AI debuting in iOS 27 and the gang, that wait should finally be over, and now it looks like we already have a clue that the next Apple TV set-top box will be gaining Siri support.
The folks at 9to5Mac recently found code in the tvOS 27 beta that points to Siri integration. Specifically, a “com.apple.campo” string that reflects Apple’s internal codename for Siri AI (Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman initially referred to this as “Campos” but later dropped the “s”).
I’ve confirmed this can easily be found by connecting to an Apple TV running the tvOS 27 beta via the Xcode Device Hub and scrolling through the list of apps. The Siri app appears there, but there’s no icon, and it can’t be launched, suggesting it’s either not yet fully baked, or it’s simply not compatible with any current Apple TV 4K hardware.
While it’s impossible to know for sure, it’s a safe bet that this is a hardware limitation. Apple Intelligence requires an A17 Pro or later or an M-series chip. The current Apple TV 4K has an iPhone 13-era A15 Bionic chip. While Apple could theoretically tie it into cloud-based AI, it’s more likely to promote this as a selling point for the next set-top box, which will undoubtedly use at least an A17 Pro chip.
Of course, the Apple TV already supports standard Siri features, and in some ways it’s a better implementation of Siri, since it’s far more focused on just doing the things that TV users need: searching for TV shows and controlling playback and subtitles.
Meanwhile, macOS 26.7 (of all things) includes a mention of a new Siri Remote — “ATVRemote1,5.” There have been reports of work on a new Siri Remote going back to 2022, and Gurman recently reported that Apple may include a new Siri Remote with this year’s model. However, it’s unclear if that will be a major refresh.
Apple has long had a habit of minor remote updates, with the only significant change being the evolution from the 2015–2021 black touchpad remote to the now-standard aluminum one. Both remotes had two versions, but the main difference between the two first-generation models was one had a white circle around the Menu button. The second-generation Siri Remote was swapped from Lightning to USB-C between the second- and third-generation Apple TV 4K, but it remained otherwise unchanged.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
