Your Apple TV Is About to Get an Exciting New Ability

When Apple rolls out tvOS 26 in September, your Apple TV is going to get a fresh look, thanks to a Liquid Glass makeover and some gorgeous new screen savers, along with several neat new features.

This includes an Apple Music feature that lets you turn your iPhone into a karaoke microphone, as well as a new ability that will let you quickly switch between display profiles when your Apple TV wakes up.

That said, there’s one new feature that stands out among the rest — and it’s going to enable you to create a wireless home theater system around your Apple TV in new ways.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

More wireless TV speakers

Specifically, when your Apple TV is running tvOS 26, you can designate any wireless speaker that supports AirPlay as the permanent speaker for your Apple TV. So when you turn your TV on, its sound will automatically play out of that AirPlay-enabled speaker.

To date, you’ve only been able to do this with two specific wireless speakers: Apple’s HomePod or HomePod mini. You’ve been able to use AirPlay speakers as “temporary” TV speakers, but you have to re-establish the connection every time you turned your TV back on.

This new software is going to open up a lot of new possibilities.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

That’s because most of today’s wireless speakers that stream audio over Wi-Fi also support AirPlay. This includes pretty much any powered wireless speaker by mainstream brands like Sonos and Bose, as well as higher-end audio makers like Naim and KEF.

With the update, you’ll be able to use any of those AirPlay-enabled speakers as your TV speakers. So long as you also have an Apple TV, of course.

Why do this? Well, the main advantage of using an AirPlay speaker as your TV’s default speakers is the wireless setup. There’s no wired connection to your TV required.

However, it also provides an easy (and potentially affordable) new way to upgrade your TV’s sound. Soundbars and AV systems are expensive, after all.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

How will it work?

When running tvOS 26, there will be an option in Settings that allows you to set any AirPlay speaker as your TV’s permanent audio output.

At the time of writing, it’s unknown if you’ll be able to stereo pair two of these AirPlay-enabled speakers to create a more immersive setup. (Note: you can do this with two HomePods or two HomePod minis, which Apple calls “home theater audio.”)

Apple’s tvOS 26 will be released this fall, likely at the same time the brand announces its newest iPhones and Apple Watches. To learn more about the update, check out Apple’s preview page of tvOS 26.

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