Home Theatre Audio
If you already own one or two full-sized HomePods — or are willing to invest in a pair before they’re gone — the new 2021 Apple TV 4K can use those to replace your AV receiver or soundbar entirely, giving you full Dolby Atmos surround sound audio from your entire home theatre system.
While the older 2017 Apple TV 4K gained Home Theatre Audio support in tvOS 14.2 last fall for all content played directly from the set-top box, the new 2021 Apple TV 4K takes it a giant step further with support for eARC.
This means you can plug your Apple TV 4K into any TV with an ARC or eARC port and use your HomePods as the destination for all the audio that travels through your TV, whether that’s from the smart TV itself, a Blu-ray player, or PS5.
Of course, the price of entry is pretty steep if you’re not already a HomePod owner — to get the best sound you’ll need a pair of $299 HomePods plus the $179 Apple TV 4K, which works out to almost $800. However, if you shop around you can probably find some good deals on the now-discontinued smart speaker, and a pair of HomePods will definitely give you better quality than all but the most expensive soundbars.