It’s widely expected that Apple is working on a new Remote for their next-gen Apple TV which can only be good news because, hey, the Apple TV’s bundled remote can’t get any worse!
Filipe Espósito reports for 9to5Mac:
9to5Mac has learned that Apple is developing a new Remote for Apple TV, which corroborates some previous rumors about Apple updating the Siri Remote.
Details about this new Apple TV Remote are still unknown, but 9to5Mac’s sources have told us that this model is being developed under the code name “B519,” which is quite different from the code name of the current Siri Remote — internally identified as “B439.”
With a new Apple TV model on the way, this could be the perfect opportunity for Apple to create an improved Remote.
MacDailyNews Take: We’d love to see Apple sell the next-gen remote on its own for those of us who’d like to upgrade our many Apple TV units over time, but replace those damn Siri Remotes ASAP!
With the Siri Remote, users can’t tell which end is up in a darkened room due to uniform rectangular shape. The remote is still too small, so it gets lost easily. All buttons are the same size and similarly smooth (the raised white ring around the menu button helps, but so barely it’s astounding that Apple even bothered; it’s a bandaid on a turd). The tactile difference between the bottom of the remote vs. the upper Glass Touch surface is too subtle as well; this also leads to not being able to tell which end is up. A larger remote, designed for hands larger than a 2-year-old’s with a simple wedge shape (slightly thicker in depth at the bottom vs. the top), as opposed to a uniform slab, would have instantly communicated the proper orientation to the user. — MacDailyNews, September 25, 2017