Apple was already more expensive than most rival streaming models, but not terrifyingly so — and fairly, given that the price wasn't subsidized by ads.

Now, though, it's way more pricey than its best competitors. Yes, there's a component shortage that's putting prices up. But that's affecting rivals too, and they're yet to up their prices so dramatically.

That raised price makes it a much tougher sell to newcomers, as the cost of entry has more than doubled. And it's a tough sell to existing owners because while the price has more than doubled, the spec and feature list… hasn't.

There are two key improvements here: four-speaker surround via HomePods (but not the first-gen models) and integrated Siri AI. There are also some other changes including hardware AV1 video decoding, and the ability for the remote to make a noise so you can find it if it's misplaced (and precision location tracking using UWB tech), which is welcome.

But if you're not doing the HomePods thing (my HomePods are elsewhere; I have wired speakers and an AV receiver for my TV) then this is pretty disappointing for three hundred bucks.

I'm not sold on the need for AI assistants in TVs, and Siri isn't impressing me much on any platform. I've been using the latest Siri since the iOS/tvOS 27 developer betas, and for me at least it's hopeless: simple tasks take forever to complete if they complete at all, and it's far and away my most sworn-at tech product.

The new built-in microphones might make Siri less cloth-eared than in the Apple Remote, but my problems are with what Siri does, or doesn't do, after it's finally listened to me. Most of the time using or trying to use Siri makes my TV experience worse, not better.

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