First-gen Apple TV 4K marked vintage, repairs now limited

Apple sorts older products into two groups. A vintage product is one Apple stopped selling more than five years ago. Apple can still repair it, but only while parts last, so a fix is no longer guaranteed.

An obsolete product is one Apple stopped selling more than seven years ago. At that point Apple offers no repairs at all.

The first-gen Apple TV 4K went on sale in 2017, and Apple stopped selling it in the fall of 2021 when the second-generation model arrived. Five years on, it qualifies as vintage right on schedule. Under the same rules, it becomes obsolete once it has been off sale for seven years.

The vintage label is mostly a formality, because the first-gen box already stopped getting new software this year. Apple’s latest system update, tvOS 27, supports only the second-generation Apple TV 4K from 2021 and the third-generation model from 2022.

Your first-gen box will keep working. Apps you already use should keep streaming for now. But it will not get new features, and over time some apps may stop updating for it as developers build for newer tvOS versions.

On October 13, Apple announced the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, its first new model in four years. It announced the box through press releases and videos rather than a keynote, alongside a new smart display called HomeView and the HomePod mini 2.

Here is what the new model brings:

• An A19 chip with up to 50% faster CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the previous model.
• Siri AI, Apple’s rebuilt, more conversational Siri, which fills the screen when you ask for something to watch and can answer follow-up questions while a show plays.
• Hands-free voice control through three far-field microphones, so you can just say “Siri” without picking up the remote.
• A new Siri Remote that works with Find My and Precision Finding, and can play a sound when it slips down the couch.
• A dedicated AV1 decoder, a chip feature that handles a modern video format more efficiently when streaming.
• Better surround sound, with support for four matching HomePod mini 2 or second-generation HomePod speakers.

It also works as a home hub, the device that runs your Apple smart home accessories, with AI summaries of camera activity in the Home app.

The new box is part of a bigger push into the home. HomeView, a $299 smart display with a 7-inch screen, ships alongside it, while the $149 HomePod mini 2 arrives first, on October 30. A range of Apple Home Collection cameras, thermostats and a smart lock, made with partners, begins rolling out in December.

The new Apple TV 4K costs $299 in the US, or $49.83 a month for six months on Apple Card Monthly Installments. Pre-orders opened on October 13, and it ships on November 13.

That is a big step up in cost for a streaming box. Apple has not detailed UK and Canadian pricing in the announcement material we have seen, so check Apple’s store in your country.

If your 2017 box still works and you are happy with it, there is no rush. It will keep streaming your usual apps for now. What changes is the safety net. If it breaks, Apple may not have the parts to fix it, and a repair on a nine-year-old box is rarely worth the money anyway.

The bigger question is whether you want the new features. Siri AI runs, as a beta, on the second-generation Apple TV 4K or later. First-gen owners get none of it. If you want the new Siri, hands-free voice control or tvOS 27 features, you need a newer box.

You have a few options:

• Keep it until it dies, if it does everything you need.
• Buy the new $299 model if you want Siri AI, the faster chip and the home hub features.
• Look for a discounted second- or third-gen Apple TV 4K. Both still get tvOS 27 and can run the Siri AI beta, so they may be cheaper ways to stay current.

Whichever you pick, sign out of your apps and reset the old box before you sell or give it away.