New Apple TV 4K remote’s best feature requires a newer iPhone model

A new Apple TV 4K releases this Friday (pre-order here), with an upgraded Siri Remote. But the new remote’s best feature might not work on your iPhone. Precision Finding for new Siri Remote requires iPhone 17 or newer If you’re interested in the new Apple TV 4K launching this week, or perhaps you just want to buy the upgraded Siri Remote separately (available here), there’s a key limitation you should know. Precision Finding on the new Siri Remote requires an iPhone 17 or newer. The most common problem with the current Siri Remote is that it’s easy to lose. And once you lose it, Apple doesn’t offer many options for finding it. But that’s changing with the 4th gen Siri Remote. You can use the new Siri Remote with any previous Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD model. And if you do, you’ll benefit from the remote’s new built-in speaker that can be triggered from the Find My app. Joining the new speaker, the other main change with this latest Siri Remote is Precision Finding. If you’ve ever used the Find My app to track down a lost AirTag, you’ll probably be familiar with the feature. Precision Finding lets you get step-by-step, guided directions that take you directly to the lost Siri Remote. It’s a huge upgrade from the old tool for finding the remote—which mostly just told you that it’s in your house somewhere. But Precision Finding relies on the second-gen Ultra Wideband chip found in iPhone 17 and 17 Pro models (excluding iPhone 17e), iPhone Air, iPhone Duo, and iPhone 18 Pro models. So if you don’t have one of those iPhones, you’ll still benefit from the built-in speaker that lets you play a sound to find the lost remote, but Precision Finding won’t be available. You can buy the new Siri Remote for $59 on Amazon. Will this limitation impact your Siri Remote purchase decision? Let us know in the comments. Best Apple TV 4K accessories AirPods Pro 3 (now only $199, down from $249) Anti-slip silicone case for Siri Remote, AirTag compatible TotalMount for mounting Apple TV iPhone Continuity Camera mount for Apple TV FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.