There's still hope for new Apple TV 4K and HomePod Mini, as Apple Store staff told to prepare for something new

Apple has just announced the M5 chip, packing it into the new Vision Pro, iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, but while Tim Cook has said there are no more launches planned for the year, there could be a quiet refresh to a couple of existing devices. That might include Apple TV and HomePod Mini.

The last update to Apple TV was in 2022 with the launch of the third-gen Apple TV 4K. And there's long been speculation that Apple would be updating the popular smart TV device, including a nod to a chip update for later in 2025.

But while many are calling for an update, it's hard to see exactly what Apple could to improve the box, which is rated as being one of the best streaming devices on the market.

New details have emerged from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who has provided details via his Power On newsletter and duplicated on X.

The important details focus on Apple Store staff being told to prepare for changes overnight on 11 November. That might see new or updated hardware appearing in store on 12 November. On its own, that doesn't point to a specific device, but Gurman goes on to say that stock inventory for Apple TV and HomePod mini is running low.

That points to new hardware coming in for those devices and it might just be that both get hardware changes to boost performance and to ready themselves for Apple's ongoing efforts to get next-gen Siri off the ground.

What changes might come to Apple TV?

Apple TV is generally praised for its solid performance, resulting in higher quality streaming than some cheaper rivals. The cost and the size of the device remains a barrier for some when the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a third of the price, and is just an HDMI stick.

But to keep that premium position, Apple might move the Apple TV 4K to the A17 Pro chip to boost the power and make sure it can keep pace with increased AI, upscaling, and handling more advanced gaming challenges.

It's also been speculated that Apple might allow for HDMI audio passthrough, for those who want to separate the audio stream for higher quality results. It's also likely that having moved the iPhone 17 line to its own networking chip – the N1 – other devices could follow and the HomePod mini and Apple TV seem ideal for this.

The HomePod mini has been around for some time, adding new colours to the selection, but otherwise the current device launched in 2021 and has seen improvements through software, but not hardware during that time.

We watch and wait. This could all be speculation, but new Apple devices in-store just before Christmas would make many fans happy.