Updated July 4 with details on other upcoming Apple TV and home device news.
This is how you know Apple is doing it right: when it introduces a feature you never thought about, but as soon as it’s here, you think of course it’s brilliant. That’s a good description of what’s coming soon for the iPhone 16, earlier iPhones, and Apple TV. This is a subtle update to the mute button. And hot on the heels of that news comes a leak that the Apple TV lineup is changing in other ways, too.
iPhone 16 will have the best video playback feature yet.
MacRumors has identified code “discovered in Apple’s backend” that says Apple is working on a new home accessory to sit alongside the HomePod and Apple TV.
The report says: “The code references a device with ID ‘HomeAccessory17,1’, which is a new ID category. The name is similar to the ‘AudioAccessory’ ID of the HomePod.”
This ID is particularly intriguing because it suggests, by mentioning 17.1, that it could include the same processor expected in the Apple iPhone 16, the A18 chip. Which means the new device will have advanced features, perhaps related to AI.
What’s more, the code applies to two models that have not been released to the market and are Apple TV devices. This fuels earlier rumors that a new Apple TV (or two) could be released this year, perhaps in September, when the iPhone 16 series is expected to debut.
But the big news here is the assumption that a new device will be so powerful that it needs an A18 chip in it, whatever that turns out to be. Could it be the rumored Apple TV hybrid with a display? That would be innovative.
Apple has a history of intriguing innovation with the Apple TV. Years ago, it improved video playback in a way that no other company before or since has.
If you miss what someone said on TV, you can pick up your Siri remote and say, “What did he/she/they say?” Whichever pronoun you use, the result will be the same. The video will fast-forward 10 seconds, then play the part you didn’t hear again, with subtitles front and center, and only for those few seconds. If you haven’t tried it, it’s fantastic.
Now, with the next-generation software for iPhone and Apple TV, iOS 18 and tvOS 18, respectively, there will be another key innovation.
It will work on the upcoming iPhone 16 series, but also on iPhones all the way up to the iPhone XS once the software is installed. The software is currently in its second developer beta. It will go into public beta later this month and reach general release in September.
So how can someone improve the mute button? It just works, right? Apple’s change is brilliant: when you mute video playback on the iPhone, or by pressing the mute button on the Apple TV remote during silence, the subtitles automatically appear on the screen. Tap the button again and as the sound fades, the subtitles disappear. How cool is that?
See that mute button? It’s about to get a lot better.
The feature will also be available, with a satisfying sense of completion, on iPad and Mac when watching a video using the default video player.
Now I can see some downsides to this: if you’ve muted the TV, iPhone or whatever, so you can take a call or listen to your significant other in the living room, say, and still focus on the screen as you can still see words, instead of listening to your interlocutor, you may end up in a crapper, be warned.
All in all, though, it’s one of the cleanest video viewing enhancements to come along in ages. Apple only.
