New Apple TV Siri Remote has a big weakness — here's why

New Apple Television Siri Remote has a big weakness — hither'due south why

(Prototype credit: Apple)

Apple'south new Apple TV 4K offers more than than just a more than powerful processor and a color balancing feature — it besides includes an all-new Siri Remote. But don't expect that you'll be able to automatically rails downwards that remote should information technology go missing.

Early indications suggest the Sir Remote lacks a U1 chip, like to the one found in iPhones since the iPhone eleven. That bit is what the new AirTag tracker uses to connect to your telephone and allow you to track down valuables through Apple's Notice My app. And that ways you lot won't be able to track downward the remote in a similar fashion.

These are the best streaming devices currently available
New Apple TV 4K vs. old Apple Tv 4K: What's the divergence?
Plus: The best affair nearly the new Apple Boob tube is $59 — and it works with the sometime one

Now to exist clear, Apple never promised that you lot'd exist able to track the Siri Remote, though that does seem like a niggling bit of an omission. The remote of any device is i of the easiest things to lose in your abode. Did y'all become and make a coffee mid-steaming marathon, perhaps you took it to the kitchen. Practise you take kids? Well then it could be literally anywhere then — and being able to use the iPhone to track it to the end of the garden would be a great feature.

Apple AirTags — You'll have to attach ane of these to your Siri Remote (Image credit: Apple)

Apple has confirmed to The Verge that there is no U1 bit to be found in the new remote. That'south disappointed some Apple tree watchers, who've presumably lost a lot of other remotes over the years.

Interestingly, the Apple tree Idiot box 4K 2021 box itself does accept the U1 chip, assuasive information technology to report on where other devices are, likewise as make use of features that may appear in the future.

MacRumors suggests that the U1 flake is missing from the all-new iPad Pro too. That means that the flake is currently bachelor in the iPhone 11 and 12 models equally well as Apple tree's HomePod Mini. The strategy here seems maybe a little random, although presumably Apple feels that the U1 chip is best placed in devices like phones, rather than tablets and remotes.

One workaround would be to attach an AirTag to the remote, which would permit you go along tabs on the whereabouts of your Siri Remote. Peradventure someone could fifty-fifty make a little example for the controller that will allow owners to pair the two devices together.

All-time streaming devices

Ian has been involved in technology journalism since 2007, originally writing nearly AV hardware back when LCDs and plasma TVs were merely gaining popularity. Nearly 15 years on, he remains equally excited as ever about how tech can make your life meliorate. Ian is the editor of T3.com but has besides regularly contributed to Tom's Guide.