It’s been years since Apple updated the Apple TV 4K, but the leaked code from yesterday suggests that Apple has been working on the next-generation Apple TV 4K, and it will be powered by the A17 Pro chip. That is the same chip that powers the iPhone 15 Pro and the current iPad mini. When Apple introduced the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro, it had the 6-core GPU, but when Apple discontinued the iPhone 15 Pro and updated the iPad mini shortly after, Apple currently uses the binned variant with the 5-core GPU instead.
The current-generation Apple TV 4K was introduced on October 2022, and it packs in the A15 Bionic chip, which is the same chip that is used in the iPhone 13 lineup, iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, and the previous iPad mini (6th generation). While there have been several variants of the A15 chip used across those devices, the variant in the current Apple TV 4K has 5-core GPU and 5-core CPU (with one efficiency core disabled). It’s a binned variant, but still provides enough performance for streaming and gaming. Additionally, the bundled Siri Remote adopted USB-C for charging, and the new Siri Remote can be purchased separately as well.
This upcoming Apple TV will certainly take performance to the next level as the A17 Pro boasts dramatically improved graphics capabilities, including hardware-accelerated mesh-shading and ray-tracing, so this Apple TV will definitely be a game-changer, especially with playing hundreds on games that Apple Arcade provides. Other features remain to be seen, but we could see Apple’s in-house Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip make its way to this product.
The next Apple TV could make its debut alongside the iPhone 17 lineup and new Apple Watch models, but Apple can opt to release this product later in the fall to spread out its product releases a bit.
