The Siri Remote
Okay, we know the original Siri Remote was, shall we say, “controversial?” Some folks actually liked it, and a few tolerated it, but most Apple TV users generally hated it with the passion of a thousand burning suns.
Still, we think Apple had the right idea with the original Siri Remote — it just went way too far in the execution of it. In an era when most TV remotes are over-engineered eyesores, there was a minimalist elegance to Apple’s remote that was a nice breath of fresh air.
Now, the second-generation Siri Remote has corrected all the mistakes of its predecessor while maintaining the design ethos that was its one piece of potential greatness.
The new Siri Remote feels solid in the hand, with just the right number of buttons and controls to provide for an intuitive user experience. With not even a single unnecessary button present, the result is an uncluttered experience that most other remote makers should really take a lesson from. The various gestures available on the clickpad are handy and accessible without getting in the way, and there are distinct power and mute buttons available too.
Of course, some people like more complicated remotes, and the Siri Remote won’t do you much good if you also need to regularly control other devices like your TV or game console, but the good news is that you don’t have to use the Siri Remote with the Apple TV if you don’t want to.
At least some of the newest smart TVs will pass their remote commands over to the Apple TV via HDMI-CEC, so you may be surprised to discover that your TV remote just works with the Apple TV when it’s the active input. However, even if you can’t do that, tvOS still lets you explicitly pair up any infrared remote you may have lying around to use it to control your Apple TV.