Apple TV 4K 2022 vs. 2026: What’s New and Is It Worth the $100 Jump?
The 2026 model is faster and can hear you from afar, but the 2022 case also benefits from Siri AI.
It took Apple four years to bring us a new version of the Apple TV 4K, and it came with a now all-too-familiar price hike. The fourth-generation case Apple announced today costs $299, a $100 jump from the cheapest previous generation model. The sticker price is actually more than double what the 2022 version cost at the start of the year, before the summer price increase. It’s due out on November 13 with a faster A19 chip and built-in mics for talking to Siri without the remote.
If you already own the 2022 model or the short-lived 2021, there’s good news: Siri AI, the chattier assistant Apple built this launch around, is coming to your box in an update. And the new remote, the one that’s much harder to lose, supports older devices and is sold on its own.
What’s new for 2026?
Apple replaced the A15 Bionic chip in the 2022 model with the A19, saying it is up to 50% faster for CPU tasks and twice as fast for graphics. In iPhone terms, it’s like moving from an iPhone 13 to an iPhone 17. The A19 also comes with double the RAM and a dedicated decoder for AV1, a newer video compression format that allows services to stream in high quality on less bandwidth. Wireless networks have also seen a boost, with the upgrade from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 and from Bluetooth 5 to Bluetooth 6. Support for threads remains unchanged.
Along with the chip upgrades, three new mics are built into the box and can hear a Siri request on whatever is playing. On the other hand, the 2022 case has no microphones and using the Siri features requires holding down a button on the remote and talking to it. The fourth generation remote also adds Precision Finding, which lets an iPhone guide you to where you lost it and play a sound. This feature, however, requires an iPhone 17 or later, an iPhone Air or an iPhone Duo. It doesn’t work on the 17th. The new Siri Remote costs $59 when purchased separately and supports all Apple TV 4K models as well as the 2015 Apple TV HD.
For the first time, you can connect four HomePods to work as a surround sound system, two in the front and two in the back. To do this, you’ll need the fourth generation case and HomePod mini 2 or second generation HomePod speakers in matched pairs. Previously, you could only connect HomePods to an Apple TV 4K in a stereo pair.
What the extra $100 gets you
Apple has updated the Apple TV 4K for Siri AI, but the fine print says the assistant is available on all Apple TV 4Ks from the second generation onwards. Old box or new, whoever is set as the home owner needs an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, and at launch it only works in English in eight countries. The new Siri Remote also works with the 2022 box, but neither generation exceeds 4K and both support Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos. The lack of hardware AV1 decoding has been an issue for some Apple TV 4K users, especially when using platforms like YouTube, so this addition is welcome.
The 2022 Apple TV 4K was available in two flavors: a $129 64GB Wi-Fi model and a $149 128GB model with Ethernet, until Apple increased them to $199 and $249 in June, of course blaming AI data centers for increased demand for memory and storage components. This increase alone made us wonder if the Apple TV 4K was still worth buying after the price hike. The 2026 model is offered one-way, with 128 GB and Ethernet, for $299.
Essentially, you get double the storage, an Ethernet port, the A19, the new remote, and those built-in mics for an extra $100 over the model it replaces. If you compare it to the 2022 Ethernet version, you pay $50 more for the new chip, remote, and mics.
Is it worth upgrading?
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The 2022 and 2026 boxes are limited to 4K and 60fps, so the A19 in the 2026 model won’t do much for you if you’re just streaming. Sure, hands-free Siri is convenient, but, at least on paper, there’s nothing great about pulling out your wallet. You’d typically pay $299 for a box with a faster chip and the convenience of talking to it.
If you regularly play games on Apple TV or plan to use Siri AI a lot, the equation may be different: we’ll need to test how much better the new hardware is for more complex tasks. The value proposition also changes if you’re using the older Apple TV 4K or an Apple TV HD, as Apple’s Siri AI isn’t supported on those models.
We’ll have a full review of the latest Apple TV 4K soon, which will answer the upgrade question with more than just first impressions.
