LG says that the company plans to add Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support to some of its older 2018 smart TVs by October 2020.
With HomeKit support, LG TV users can easily control power, volume, source, and more using Siri or the Home app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. AirPlay 2 support will allow users to stream videos, music, podcasts, and more directly from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to a compatible LG smart TV, with no Apple TV necessary.
In a support document, LG has indicated that it plans to add AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support to some of its 2018 smart TVs by October 2020, including LCD models with “SK” or “UK” in the name and OLED models with “B8” through “Z8” in the name.
LG initially said that AirPlay 2 and HomeKit would be limited to its 2019 and newer TV models since it could not “guarantee” a “seamless user experience” on older models, resulting in over 20,000 people petitioning the company to reconsider.
MacDailyNews Take: Congrats, owners of older LG TVs! LG’s support document with all of the supported models is here. LG Notes that, as per Apple’s policy, both AirPlay 2 and HomeKit applications will not be supported on LG Smart TV in the following countries: China, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela.
Got an LG OLED E8, the “8” means the 2018 models, so mine will get updated. I mean it has the same processing chip, alpha9, that the 2019 and 2020 models have, so there’s no technical reason why it couldn’t be updated.That’s one of the reasons why I was willing to buy the 2018 model back in January. Having said that, it will be nice to have more features, but I’ve already got an AppleTV 4k attached.
Honestly, I’ve got a C9 with it and I use the TV all the time. WebOS is OK, but there’s been no reason for me to not use the TV so far…but yes, you should have that ability if you want it.
Yeah… but you’re going to be working through LG’s inept, hair-pulling, wonky and intrusive interface with what must be a google-inspired and onerous disregard for privacy whose terms of use you have to agree to in order to download apps and updates.
Not doing that.
I declined all those. Most are for the AI stuff, which I don’t need. I use my AppleTV 4k. It controls the TV and Atmos soundbar perfectly well. Not even sure where I put the LG magic remote.
I don’t recall needing to accept their TOS for software updates.