The New Apple TV Siri Remote: An Instant Upgrade

The new Apple TV Siri Remote

Today was a big day for us Apple nerds as a slew of new products started making their way to early adopters: The M1 iMac, M1 iPads Pro, and the refreshed Apple TV 4K. They’re all pretty exciting in their own right, but while a regular consumer would need a pretty good reason to purchase any of them, there’s one new product that makes for an easy no-brainer upgrade for a lot of Apple customers: the redesigned Apple TV Siri Remote.

The new Apple TV Siri Remote now comes bundled with all current Apple TV models, but it can also be purchased separately for $59. It’s compatible with any of the “taller” Apple TV models that have the previous Siri Remote (Apple TV HD and 4K). Basically if you can download apps to your Apple TV, you can use this remote.

I ordered the new Siri Remote the day it went up for presale, and while the shipping estimate was set for May 26-June 2, mine ended up arriving way ahead of schedule on launch day. I love how Apple consistently under-promises and over-delivers on their shipping estimates

Let it be known, I didn’t hate the old Siri Remote the way most people did. Did I love it? No. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was perfectly usable as far as I was concerned. That said, it was obvious that the redesigned version would be a nice quality of life improvement.

As soon as you hold this remote, it’s clear that it’s a major upgrade from the previous model. While the original Siri Remote was made of aluminum and glass, it feels incredibly light and...kinda cheap. The new remote has a thicker, more premium-feeling aluminum case and feels much more substantial. It’s more similar to the old aluminum Apple TV remote from a few generations back.

Pairing the new remote was simple. Just hold the remote close to the Apple TV, then press and hold the Back and Volume Up buttons for a few seconds. Done.

The biggest complaint of the old remote was its all-black design. For a device that will inevitably be used in the dark, black might not have been the best choice, especially when the flat glass trackpad above the buttons was indistinguishable from the flat glass beneath the buttons. Apple attempted to rectify the issue by including a white circle around the menu button on the version that shipped with the first Apple TV 4K. The thought was that the white circle would be easier to see in order to orient it properly in the dark. This didn’t satisfy most people.

Every Apple TV Remote

Apple clearly heard the complaints, because the new Siri Remote is all silver with black buttons, making it much easier to find and orient in the dark. Instead of a flat glass trackpad, it has a new circular array of buttons at the top that are reminiscent of the old iPod clickwheel. In fact, it can behave like an iPod clickwheel too. The entire surface of the button array is touch-sensitive, letting you swipe across it just like the trackpad of the previous model. You can also scrub through content by rotating around the circle, just like the iPod. It’s fun to think that Apple conceived of this interface design 20 years ago and it’s still just as effective today.

The best part is that you don’t have to use swipes if you don’t want to. There are now clearly defined up, down, left, and right buttons for those who prefer to click their way around the interface. The previous Sir Remote had “ghost” buttons on the trackpad, but most people didn’t realize they existed. If you tapped on the edges of the trackpad (tap, not press), it acted like a single button press in that direction. I used it constantly and it made the whole thing easier to use, but it wasn’t easily discoverable. Dedicated buttons are a much better choice.

Other new additions include a dedicated power button, a mute button(!!), and a “back” button instead of a “Menu” button.

Previously, in order to power down, you’d have to hold the “TV” button until a menu popped in from the side, then select the Sleep option. Now you can just hold the Power button to shut down. Go figure. Mute does just what it says it does, and it’s a great addition. And while the “Menu” button was also a classic iPod interface element that most Apple users understood, a back button (labeled with a < symbol) makes a lot more sense. All of these are welcome additions/changes, but the back button does present a bit of an issue. One of my favorite Apple YouTubers, Rene Ritchie, explained it better than I could:

...it’s more like a random action button. If you’re watching a video in the TV app, and you press it, you get an option bar on the bottom of the screen. Then you have to press it again to exit. But if you press it in, say Netflix or Disney+, you’re insta-dumped out of the video. On YouTube, back will dismiss the overlay. In Prime Video, it’ll insta-dump you.

When you can’t predict something, you get frustrated. That’s why consistency is a massive user benefit and why I hope Apple wields the power of the HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) to force some basic standardization on this most basic of controls.

And of course, the Siri Remote wouldn’t be the Siri Remote without...Siri. The microphone button has been relocated to the side, making it much less prone to accidental presses.

The new Siri Remote has a rechargeable battery and comes with a USB-A to Lightning cable for charging. No word on anticipated battery life, but if it’s anything like the previous one, it should last months without needing to be recharged.

One important thing to note: the new Siri Remote lacks the accelerometer and gyroscope of the previous remote, meaning it can’t be used as a game controller. This shouldn’t affect most people since using the old Siri Remote as a game controller wasn’t a great experience. The good news is that the Apple TV is now compatible with Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 controllers. If you really want to play games on your Apple TV, you’ll want to get a real controller.

Overall, this new remote rectifies all of the design mistakes of the previous model. If you have an Apple TV HD or 4K and you haven’t already ditched the Siri Remote for something else, you’ll definitely want to upgrade to the new Apple TV Siri Remote.