Summary

Gruber reviews Apple's new Apple TV 4K (4th gen) and HomePod Mini 2, walking through each announced feature with measured skepticism. He finds the far-field microphones redundant for existing HomePod owners, the A19 chip overpowered for simple TV navigation, and gaming still a near-total afterthought on the platform. Find My support for the Siri Remote is his favorite addition, though he notes it should have shipped years earlier given AirTags launched in 2021. His central argument is that while the products are incrementally improved, Apple's dramatic price increases this summer have made the lineup significantly harder to recommend — the same Apple TV plus two HomePod Minis that cost $350 before June now costs $600.

Key Insight

Apple's new living-room hardware is modestly better in nearly every respect, but the summer's sweeping price increases have transformed the lineup from accessible to expensive — the upgrade math no longer adds up for most consumers.

Spicy Quotes (click to share)

• 7

  gaming is such an afterthought on Apple TV that it only garnered the second half of a sentence that started with Fitness+

• 5

  I hate to say it though, but the previous remote should have supported these features.

• 4

  Remote controls are right after keys on the list of things people misplace most frequently, and Apple's remote controls, because they're small and thin, are particularly susceptible to being snatched by couch-cushion gremlins.

• 7

  $99 was a bit of a 'Sure, let's get another one' price; $150 is more of a 'Do we really need another one of these?' price.

• 7

  I still think it's worth it, personally, but the general consumer market thought the old prices were too high and I don't see any of the new features making Joe or Jane Consumer think 'Sure, I was skeptical about the old one at $130, but this new model, which looks exactly the same, this seems worth $300.'

• 6

  That price difference is much more striking than any of the new and improved features in the products.

Tone

critical, analytical, resigned