My good TV killed any curiosity I had within the subsequent Apple TV

After I first acquired my Apple TV 4K, I used to be in love. It did all the things quicker than my TV, and I used to be capable of navigate between apps in a short time with out having to cope with sluggish speeds or something of the type. I used to be a cheerful camper, and for a few years, issues stayed that approach. As you may know, I am nonetheless utilizing a first-gen Apple TV 4K, and whereas it is nonetheless snappy, it has its share of issues. Apps crash ceaselessly, and there are some slowdowns that do not repair themselves till I force-close the app or restart my gadget.

That is stuff I can nonetheless work round, however there’s one factor my Apple TV 4K cannot try this my TV can. For no matter motive, Apple won’t add audio passthrough. On the floor, it is not an enormous deal for the reason that Apple TV 4K can already deal with Dolby Atmos for you. What is the difficulty if the most effective audio format is already coated? Properly, the issue is that there are many different codecs on the market apart from Atmos. I do not pay for the most costly tier for all my streaming providers, so I solely get to expertise Atmos for a handful of issues.

My good TV, however, can cross alongside DTS:X, Dolby Digital, and any of the widespread codecs I come throughout on to my receiver. One of many huge causes I’ve a receiver within the first place is for issues like this, so it’s totally annoying that my Apple TV 4K cannot do it. Sadly, it is led me to make use of my smart TV for extra issues, one thing I did not wish to do.

My good TV is gaining floor on my Apple TV

Not a really perfect state of affairs

I do not like utilizing my good TV for something, and an enormous motive for that’s the truth that I must have a distant for my Apple TV, my precise TV, and my receiver to do something. It is simply annoying to have all of that round, however that drawback has since been solved by a universal remote.

My distant lets me management all of my units with ease, and meaning it is not a lot of a problem for me to make use of my TV’s Netflix over my Apple TV’s app, for instance. What I have been doing increasingly these days is noticing that my receiver is studying the audio as Multi In, which suggests it is not recognizing the audio format, and switching to my TV’s app. By doing this, my receiver will routinely learn the audio format and provides me the most effective sound that I can have.

It’s totally unusual to seek out myself on this state of affairs, contemplating how a lot I beloved utilizing the Apple TV 4K, however I’ve form of been pressured into this. It looks like a straightforward repair on Apple’s finish to simply enable audio passthrough. What’s worse is that the sound nonetheless sounds good even when it is not the proper format, however with only a few button presses, I can make sure that all the things matches up, so there is not any motive for me to not do it.

I am left feeling like that is simply an outright backwards resolution from Apple, as a result of I went out of my approach to purchase one thing to exchange my good TV UI, solely to seek out myself begrudgingly utilizing it increasingly. This cannot be what Apple supposed when the Apple TV was first launched, however sadly, it is what I discover myself doing.

Apple must launch one other Apple TV

However the wait continues

What might repair this difficulty is the discharge of a brand new Apple TV 4K that comes with audio passthrough. There was a quick second of hope that the function can be coming in a future tvOS replace, however that hope has since come and gone. Rumors have additionally been flying a couple of new Apple TV 4K, however that by no means occurred both. We’re now properly exterior the window that Apple usually launched a brand new technology of {hardware}, so there is not any telling if it will ever occur. It is also onerous to have an interest if Apple does not add audio passtrhough and different primary options.

To be truthful, even the first-gen Apple TV 4K is a powerful performer in 2026, as evidenced by my nonetheless utilizing it, however I might wish to see a {hardware} refresh nonetheless. It is unusual that there have been so many rumors swirling, just for there to by no means be an announcement. There are fairly a couple of modifications that justify an improve, together with Apple Intelligence. The tvOS updates have primarily put the writing on the wall for the first-gen for the reason that main modifications do not come to the gadget.

I haven’t got Liquid Glass, and whereas that is not a large drawback, it reveals that my gadget is sufficiently old to overlook out on nearly all the things. Even the second-gen mannequin does not get all the things, so the third-gen is your greatest guess to maintain your Apple TV 4K fully updated. That is why a fourth-gen makes loads of sense, nevertheless it’s anyone’s guess as to when that can occur.