The first Apple TV 4K was announced back in 2017, but the company also kept the fourth-generation Apple TV, also known as Apple TV HD, in its lineup. However, with the announcement of the new generation Apple TV 4K on Tuesday, Apple has discontinued the Apple TV HD, which is no longer sold in the company’s official store.
Apple TV HD is finally gone
Introduced in 2015, the fourth-generation Apple TV was the first model to run tvOS, an entirely iOS-based operating system that was also the first to bring the App Store with third-party apps to Apple TV. The device is equipped with the A8 chip and 2GB of RAM.
In addition to tvOS, one of the highlights of the fourth-generation Apple TV compared to older Apple TV models was the Siri Remote, which came with a touchpad and motion sensors. This Apple TV model was launched with prices starting at $149 for the 32GB version. Even with the release of two new generations of Apple TV, Apple TV HD remained in the lineup at the same $149 price.
In 2017, Apple announced the first Apple TV with support for 4K HDR content powered by the A10X Fusion chip. Then, in 2021, that model was replaced by the Apple TV 4K with the A12 Bionic chip and the redesigned Siri Remote. Interestingly, Apple TV HD was updated with the new Siri Remote last year.
The new 2022 Apple TV 4K, on the other hand, comes with the A15 Bionic chip, which is up to 50% faster than the A12 chip. It also has a Siri Remote with a USB-C charging port instead of Lightning. Apple has doubled the storage capacities to 64GB and 128GB and reduced the starting price to $129. As a result, the company discontinued every other Apple TV model.
For now, Apple is still providing software updates for Apple TV fourth generation and later, as all models released since then run tvOS 16. It’s unclear, however, how much longer Apple will keep releasing new versions of tvOS for Apple TV HD.
