Want to Experience the Best of tvOS 26? You May Need to Upgrade Your Apple TV
Toggle Dark Mode
The Apple TV is a remarkable device in more ways than one. Not only is it the most privacy-focused streaming device on the market, but it’s also become what’s possibly the longest-supported piece of hardware in Apple’s history.
As much as we’ve all been impressed with the iPhone’s longevity when it comes to software updates, the iPhone doesn’t hold a candle to the Apple TV. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the first tvOS-based Apple TV, and yet that 2015 set-top box will still be able to be updated to tvOS 26 when it’s released later this year.
While the very first Apple TV debuted in 2007, the same year as the original iPhone, Apple’s foray into the big screen experience was quite different from the Apple TV devices we know today. The original Apple TV looked more like a short Mac mini. It also contained a 40 GB hard drive (a 160 GB version came a few months later) and had no streaming apps. After all, Netflix was just getting started in those days.
Instead, the original Apple TV worked more like an iPod for your television set. You could stream content from iTunes running on a Mac or PC, or sync it to the internal hard drive for offline viewing. Apple eventually dropped the internal hard drive and introduced built-in streaming apps for services like Netflix, adopting the smaller black box form factor similar to the one we know today. However, we wouldn’t see a full app ecosystem until 2015 when it introduced an entirely revamped version of the set-top box alongside a new tvOS operating system and companion App Store.
Even before Apple moved the dial to 26 with this year’s software updates, tvOS remained aligned with iOS simply because Apple chose to start it with the same number: tvOS 9. There was never a “tvOS 8,” as the software that ran on the older Apple TV hardware was a more monolithic operating system.
The 2015 Apple TV was a 1080p HD affair, but it was simply called the “Apple TV” until March 25, 2019, when Apple quietly rebranded it to the “Apple TV HD” to avoid confusion with the new 4K models. Interestingly, this was 18 months after Apple released its first Apple TV 4K — and the same day it announced Apple TV+.
Still, the Apple TV HD lived on until October 2022 before Apple finally discontinued it, a few days before it released the third-generation Apple TV 4K. Today, that’s the only model Apple sells, nearly three years later, and it surprisingly still isn’t leaving the 2015 Apple TV HD out of the tvOS party — at least not entirely.
What tvOS 26 Features Will Run on My Apple TV?
While the Apple TV HD technically supports tvOS 26, it’s going to be left out of many of the most exciting tvOS features that are coming this year, including Apple’s new Liquid Glass design.
In fact, Liquid Glass will require a second-generation Apple TV 4K or newer. That means even owners of the original 4K model won’t be able to enjoy Apple’s sleek new user interface. They’ll presumably use the same design as tvOS 18.
The other big tentpole feature of tvOS 26 is an enhancement of something already limited to the third-generation Apple TV 4K — the latest model, released in 2022. The karaoke-like Apple Music Sing launched around the same time as that model and has never come to older devices. So, it’s not a big surprise that the ability to use your iPhone mic with Apple Music Sing won’t come to older Apple TV models either.
You’ll still be able to display lyrics in Apple Music on every tvOS-based Apple TV, but they won’t be highlighted in the same way, and you won’t be able to duck out the vocals so you can sing along. That feature likely requires more power than the A12 chip in the 2021 second-generation Apple TV is capable of. For iPhone users, Apple Music Sing is also only available on an A13-equipped iPhone 11 or later.
It’s not the first time older Apple TV models have been left behind when new features come to tvOS. Last year’s new Snoopy and Portraits screen savers and Enhance Dialogue feature also required at least a 2021 Apple TV 4K, as did FaceTime when it arrived in tvOS 17. Cinematic 21:9 playback in tvOS 18 is also limited to the 2022 third-generation Apple TV 4K.
So, while it’s fantastic to see that Apple is still giving its ten-year-old set-top box some love with tvOS 26, the new features are also a huge incentive to upgrade to the latest model, especially for an Apple TV you’re using as your primary device.
