Apple has finally excised its much-maligned Apple TV remote with a new iteration that ditches the confusing touchpad for some good old-fashioned buttons. But you won’t need to shell out for Apple’s updated Apple TV 4K to get one. Apple is selling the new remote separately for $59, and customers will be able to use it with any tvOS-based Apple TV.
That means even if you own the first-generation Apple TV 4K or the original fourth-generation Apple TV from 2015 that debuted the Siri remote, you’ll be able to upgrade to the new and improved clicker.
This is great news for anyone who still has an older model since the original Siri remote is terrible, and Apple’s newly refreshed Apple TV 4K models are still on the extremely high end of the spectrum for a new set-top box — especially if you already have the first-generation Apple TV 4K.
The new Siri remote is also replacing the old (bad) model in all new Apple TVs sold going forward, which includes both the 32GB and 64GB versions of the new Apple TV 4K and the inexplicably still-on-sale Apple TV HD (which, at $149 for the six-year-old set-top box, is an extremely hard sell compared to the $179 just-refreshed Apple TV 4K).
Preorders for the new Siri remote will open on April 30th and will start to ship sometime in the second half of May.
By the way, Apple confirms the new Siri Remote does not have a U1 locator chip inside, so it’s still on you to find it when it gets buried in your couch cushions.
