New Apple TV 4K & HomePod mini coming soon with new chipsets

AppleInsider

The Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini are expected to get minor revisions at any point, with each possibly sporting Apple's new in-house wireless chip.

Apple TV 4K to finally get an update

The Apple TV 4K was last updated in 2022, and the HomePod mini debuted in 2020. The new Apple TV 4K will likely have minor upgrades alongside the upcoming HomePod mini.

According to a code leak discovered by MacRumors, Apple will use the A17 Pro in the next Apple TV 4K and a minor chipset upgrade in HomePod mini. That would be a big performance leap for Apple TV 4K, going from the A15 Bionic and enabling features like Apple Intelligence.

It isn't clear how Apple will utilize the improved performance of the A17 Pro. The Liquid Glass redesign introduced in tvOS 26 requires the A15 Bionic, and the games available on Apple TV don't push any boundaries.

The A17 Pro could enable more AAA games to arrive on Apple's set-top box. Apple has heavily promoted titles like Resident Evil and Death Stranding since it improved graphics performance in Apple Silicon.

The HomePod mini upgrade is similar in scope, though it will likely net much less gains in raw performance due to it being an Apple Watch processor. The new S-series chip will have the same T8310 architecture found in the S9, S10, and upcoming S11, codenamed B525, up from B520 used for the original Homepod mini.

Some rumors indicate that Apple would introduce its in-house wireless chip to its new Apple TV and HomePods. The chip would offer Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

These protocols, along with Thread, are more than enough for modern smart homes. The more expensive Apple TV 4K model will likely also have Ethernet for those that need it.

Apple doesn't have a release cadence for the Apple TV hardware, so it and the updated HomePod mini could be announced at any time. Some speculation places them at the iPhone 17 event being held in September.

Rumor Score: Likely

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charlesn

How do you introduce a new WiFi chip iin late 2025 that doesn't support WiFi 7? I know Apple is never first in line when it comes to supporting the latest protocols, but do they have to be last? Seriously, the continuing lack of WiFi 7 support, except for iPhone, is getting ridiculous. It's a main reason I passed on upgrading to an M4 iMac. Why buy a computer that I'm going to keep for 5, 6, maybe 7 years that doesn't support the latest WiFi standard of today? 

escargot

charlesn said:

How do you introduce a new WiFi chip iin late 2025 that doesn't support WiFi 7? I know Apple is never first in line when it comes to supporting the latest protocols, but do they have to be last? Seriously, the continuing lack of WiFi 7 support, except for iPhone, is getting ridiculous. It's a main reason I passed on upgrading to an M4 iMac. Why buy a computer that I'm going to keep for 5, 6, maybe 7 years that doesn't support the latest WiFi standard of today? 

What is the benefit or use case of Wifi 7 that wifi 6E lacks that is holding you back from being able to upgrade?

saarek

charlesn said:

How do you introduce a new WiFi chip iin late 2025 that doesn't support WiFi 7? I know Apple is never first in line when it comes to supporting the latest protocols, but do they have to be last? Seriously, the continuing lack of WiFi 7 support, except for iPhone, is getting ridiculous. It's a main reason I passed on upgrading to an M4 iMac. Why buy a computer that I'm going to keep for 5, 6, maybe 7 years that doesn't support the latest WiFi standard of today? 

I get wanting WiFi 7 on a Mac. But, on an Apple TV? Good old WiFi 4 (802.11n) can easily support a standard 25MB 4K Stream and WiFi 5 will have no problems with an even higher stream rate with lower latency. On that basis WiFi 6e would be complete overkill for the requirements, let alone WiFi 7.