Introduction

The nature of television is changing fast. More and more people are cutting the cord—a colloquial phrase for going without a cable or satellite TV subscription. Meanwhile, cable operators and entertainment networks are vying to stay relevant. It’s impossible to say what the TV landscape will look like in a decade, or whether it’ll even exist at all, at least as we know it.

Apple thinks apps are the future of television. The fourth-generation Apple TV, introduced in 2015, features a new voice-control remote, a faster processor, and more storage, but most importantly, it opens the door to app developers, bringing the App Store to the little big screen. The software in the Apple TV has been accordingly updated with a new operating system, dubbed tvOS. The Apple TV is no longer just a standalone device, but a platform.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. If you’re used to the second- or third-generation Apple TV, the fourth-generation won’t feel alien. The Home screen and many of the built-in apps are as you remember them, only a bit shinier.

What is different is how you control the Apple TV. The new Siri Remote replaces the directional ring with a touchpad, adds volume control buttons, and, most notably, lets you talk to your Apple TV with Siri to find shows, play music, check the weather, and more.

AirPlay, an Apple feature that can stream content from computers and mobile devices to your Apple TV, is still around and still one of the best reasons to own an Apple TV.

Does the fourth-generation Apple TV represent the future of TV? No one can say for sure, but what it does represent is possibility. tvOS is the most flexible and full-featured TV platform ever conceived—for both content providers and end users—and it’s still getting started.