Apple tvOS 26 is a huge letdown — here's why

Tom's Guide

a day ago

Apple used WWDC 2025 to announce several upgrades for tvOS 26, and while the new Liquid Glass interface is gorgeous, it's seems like all flash and not much function.
As a huge fan of the Apple TV 4K, one of the best streaming devices on the market, I wish Apple spent more time on making tvOS smarter instead of sleeker.
Of course, maybe Tim Cook is just waiting for the next generation of Apple TV 4K to be ready before he rolls out a more robust update. Here's what Apple announced and why I think it falls short.
The most prominent evolution across Apple's hardware updates beyond the design changes is the inclusion of Apple Intelligence. The new AI feature is getting its time to shine across Apple's ecosystem, but it's taken a backseat on its streaming hardware.
While this might have something to do with the limited specs on offer with the Apple TV 4K, which originally launched in 2022, the new tvOS 26 features still pale in comparison to major rivals.
Take, for instance, the Google TV Streamer. At the heart of its success is Gemini support, which allows it a host of awesome upgrades, like highlighted overviews for shows and movies. The device also uses AI to learn your preferences and offers personalized content suggestions.
This doesn't seem like it would be a hard implementation for Apple.
The Google TV Streamer also has a killer screensaver function that brings real personalization to your streaming device. Apple could give its own TV 4K a serious upgrade with AI screensavers that take Aerial shots to new heights.
I was really hoping Apple Intelligence could give its TV 4K the boost it deserves. But it's not the only letdown.
Apple's tvOS 26 announcement was a major bummer in this particular category, as I was really hoping Apple Intelligence could give its TV 4K the boost it deserves. But it's not the only letdown.
Another disappointment for me was Apple sidestepping any mention of the gaming app on its tvOS 26 upgrade or Apple TV devices.
macOS and iOS were the big ticket items for Apple when it came to gaming announcements during WWDC, but tvOS was completely ignored. This is an untapped portion of the market, one that's gaining traction thanks to Fire TV supporting Xbox Game Pass.
It's not alone, as even some of the best OLED TVs are now home to a slew of cloud gaming platforms. It's doubtful Apple would ever partner with Xbox or GOG — and Epic Games is most definitely out of the cards — but casting a wider net for its internal games app across devices would make it a killer device.
Just look at the Nvidia Shield TV as yet another example of how Apple lags in comparison to its rivals. There's a Shield TV Pro model that gives huge improvements to cloud gaming using DLSS, and Apple has next to nothing on offer for gamers beyond Arcade.
Apple spent more time focusing on upcoming shows and movies in its tvOS 26 announcement with little time generating actual buzz on the underlying software and hardware that makes its Apple ecosystem so appealing.
Given the incredible privacy and features that already underpin the Apple TV 4K, you'd think Apple would want to give it the improvements it deserves to stand out against the competition, but it didn't get much screen time at this WWDC.
Maybe the minimal focus on Apple TV and tvOS 26 is evidence that future updates are coming with new hardware. It's time to give Apple TV more Apple Intelligence love and a real gaming boost.