The Apple TV is a exceptional machine in additional methods than one. Not solely is it essentially the most privacy-focused streaming machine available on the market, nevertheless it’s additionally turn into what’s probably the longest-supported piece of {hardware} in Apple’s historical past.
As a lot as we’ve all been impressed with the iPhone’s longevity with regards to software program updates, the iPhone doesn’t maintain a candle to the Apple TV. This 12 months will mark the tenth anniversary of the primary tvOS-based Apple TV, and but that 2015 set-top field will nonetheless be capable of be up to date to tvOS 26 when it’s launched later this 12 months.
Whereas the very first Apple TV debuted in 2007, the identical 12 months as the unique iPhone, Apple’s foray into the massive display expertise was fairly completely different from the Apple TV gadgets we all know right now. The unique Apple TV seemed extra like a brief Mac mini. It additionally contained a 40 GB arduous drive (a 160 GB model got here a number of months later) and had no streaming apps. In spite of everything, Netflix was simply getting began in these days.
As an alternative, the unique Apple TV labored extra like an iPod on your tv set. You may stream content material from iTunes operating on a Mac or PC, or sync it to the interior arduous drive for offline viewing. Apple ultimately dropped the interior arduous drive and launched built-in streaming apps for companies like Netflix, adopting the smaller black field type issue just like the one we all know right now. Nonetheless, we wouldn’t see a full app ecosystem till 2015 when it launched a completely revamped model of the set-top field alongside a brand new tvOS working system and companion App Retailer.
Even earlier than Apple moved the dial to 26 with this 12 months’s software program updates, tvOS remained aligned with iOS just because Apple selected to start out it with the identical quantity: tvOS 9. There was by no means a “tvOS 8,” because the software program that ran on the older Apple TV {hardware} was a extra monolithic working system.
The 2015 Apple TV was a 1080p HD affair, nevertheless it was merely referred to as the “Apple TV” till March 25, 2019, when Apple quietly rebranded it to the “Apple TV HD” to keep away from confusion with the brand new 4K fashions. Apparently, this was 18 months after Apple launched its first Apple TV 4K — and the identical day it introduced Apple TV+.
Nonetheless, the Apple TV HD lived on till October 2022 earlier than Apple lastly discontinued it, a number of days earlier than it launched the third-generation Apple TV 4K. At the moment, that’s the one mannequin Apple sells, practically three years later, and it surprisingly nonetheless isn’t leaving the 2015 Apple TV HD out of the tvOS celebration — not less than not completely.
What tvOS 26 Options Will Run on My Apple TV?
Whereas the Apple TV HD technically helps tvOS 26, it’s going to be neglected of most of the most fun tvOS options which can be coming this 12 months, together with Apple’s new Liquid Glass design.
The truth is, Liquid Glass would require a second-generation Apple TV 4K or newer. Meaning even homeowners of the unique 4K mannequin gained’t be capable of get pleasure from Apple’s smooth new person interface. They’ll presumably use the identical design as tvOS 18.
The opposite massive tentpole characteristic of tvOS 26 is an enhancement of one thing already restricted to the third-generation Apple TV 4K — the most recent mannequin, launched in 2022. The karaoke-like Apple Music Sing launched across the identical time as that mannequin and has by no means come to older gadgets. So, it’s not a giant shock that the power to make use of your iPhone mic with Apple Music Sing gained’t come to older Apple TV fashions both.
You’ll nonetheless be capable of show lyrics in Apple Music on each tvOS-based Apple TV, however they gained’t be highlighted in the identical manner, and also you gained’t be capable of duck out the vocals so you’ll be able to sing alongside. That characteristic seemingly requires extra energy than the A12 chip within the 2021 second-generation Apple TV is able to. For iPhone customers, Apple Music Sing can also be solely accessible on an A13-equipped iPhone 11 or later.
It’s not the primary time older Apple TV fashions have been left behind when new options come to tvOS. Final 12 months’s new Snoopy and Portraits display savers and Improve Dialogue characteristic additionally required not less than a 2021 Apple TV 4K, as did FaceTime when it arrived in tvOS 17. Cinematic 21:9 playback in tvOS 18 can also be restricted to the 2022 third-generation Apple TV 4K.
So, whereas it’s improbable to see that Apple remains to be giving its ten-year-old set-top field some love with tvOS 26, the brand new options are additionally an enormous incentive to improve to the most recent mannequin, particularly for an Apple TV you’re utilizing as your main machine.