Apple today added the first-generation Apple TV 4K, released in 2017, to the vintage products list on its website, four days before a new model is expected to debut.
The listing, spotted by MacRumors, covers the original 4K set-top box (model A1842), which Apple introduced on September 12, 2017, with an A10X Fusion chip, support for 4K HDR and Dolby Vision, and the original glass-top Siri Remote. Apple stopped selling the model on April 20, 2021, when the second-generation Apple TV 4K arrived.
Under Apple’s definitions, a product becomes vintage once more than five years have passed since it was discontinued, and obsolete after seven years. Vintage status does not end support outright. Apple and authorized providers can still service the hardware, but only while parts remain available. Once a product is marked obsolete, Apple no longer offers hardware service.
The timing is pointed. A fourth-generation Apple TV 4K is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday, October 13th, as part of Apple’s “Welcome home” launch, which the company confirmed yesterday with a teaser from marketing chief Greg Joswiak and invites to a hands-on experience in New York. Reporting from various sources points to a refreshed set-top box alongside a new smart home hub and an updated HomePod mini. The new Apple TV 4K is widely expected to keep the current box design while moving to a much newer chip, an N-series networking component, and a revised Siri Remote, with Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features for the living room among the rumored additions.
Owners of the 2017 model have already been left behind on software. The box is not eligible for tvOS 27, which Apple limited to the 2021 and 2022 Apple TV 4K models. Streaming apps continue to run on the older software, but the vintage designation is a further signal that the first 4K Apple TV is entering the late stage of its support life just as a replacement is about to be announced.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve been waiting for what feels like forever to order a bunch of new Apple TV units!
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