Where was tvOS 27 at WWDC?

Every year, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference gives america a first look astatine what’s coming adjacent to the company’s galore operating systems. But missing from today’s keynote, isolated from a azygous schematic listing each existent Apple OSes adjacent to a large “27,” was immoderate mention of tvOS.

The full building of this year’s WWDC was different, pinch features delineating the position building alternatively of sections for each OS update. But location were still awesome mentions for macOS 27, iOS 27, and iPadOS 27. They’re getting Siri AI, customizable transparency options for Liquid Glass, and immoderate caller kid information features. Even visionOS was included pinch caller Siri AI features. tvOS was conspicuously absent, including from Apple’s website.

In a recent announcement of upcoming accessibility features, Apple mentioned larger matter support is coming to tvOS, allowing those pinch debased imagination to summation onscreen matter size (Amazon announced its type of this for the Fire TV Stick HD successful April). But I was expecting that to beryllium a precursor to much reveals during WWDC arsenic opposed to an utter absence.

My dream was a much integrated Apple Home acquisition pinch the Apple TV 4K, wherever it could enactment arsenic the hub for your full smart home. Right now it’s imaginable to position camera feeds aliases activate different scenes that are group up, but it’s much constricted than the relationship you tin get connected an iPad aliases iPhone. And it’s acold down the TV integration from Amazon Alexa aliases Google Home.

The main limitation is the hardware. A caller Apple TV has been rumored for a mates of years, since the astir caller Apple TV 4K came retired successful 2022. And according to Mark Gurman, the caller Apple TV is basically fresh to go, which could beryllium bully news. To support Siri AI, aliases moreover Apple Intelligence, the Apple TV needs to beryllium much powerful (the A15 Bionic spot successful the Apple TV primitively came retired astir 5 years ago). The effect is being felt crossed Apple’s lineup, pinch older Watches, iPads, and moreover immoderate Macs being aged out. So a caller instrumentality that tin tally the features highlighted during WWDC and bring Apple TV up to the aforesaid level arsenic Amazon and Google is sorely needed.

There’s a chance thing absorbing will show up erstwhile a tvOS 27 nationalist beta update becomes available. As I constitute this, different OS 27 nationalist betas are becoming available, including iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 (and a waitlist for Siri AI). So far, though, my Apple TV 4K’s package updates page sits dormant. And without a existent Apple TV that is really tin of moving the caller Siri, we’ll apt beryllium waiting until the extremity of the twelvemonth for thing important to travel for tvOS.