By Jason Snell
October 14, 2025 10:52 AM PT
Maybe it’s time to rename the Apple TV 4K
So on Monday, Apple whispered a name change in a press release, and now Apple TV+ is just Apple TV.
I’m okay with the decision. When everyone calls your service one thing, it’s probably best to just go with it and simplify. Everyone calls it “Apple TV.”
I would argue that the existence of the TV app (which everyone calls Apple TV), and the Apple TV 4K (which anyone who knows it exists calls Apple TV), adds a little complexity for people in the know, but contextually, it all kind of makes sense. While it’s not clean, and it’s a little silly, we all can survive with the current state of the Apple TV brand.
However, I will suggest that the mystery of the Apple TV 4K hardware box could be simplified if it were just given a new name. Apple is reportedly investing a lot in future home products, including a smart screen, likely arriving next year. The HomePod is still out there. And in the living room, it’s Apple TV.
It gets me thinking: maybe it’s time to just rename the Apple TV 4K.
“HomePod” is actually a pretty great name. The speaker products, eh, they’re fine, but the name is good. It’s got “home” right in there, it references the iPod, and the phrase “pod” is so flexible that you can affix it to just about anything.
So maybe Apple should just appropriate the HomePod brand and use it for all its smart-home products. The Apple TV 4K can be the HomePod TV. The speakers become HomePod Speakers. And that new display thing can be called HomePod Display or Control or something.
Chances of Apple actually doing this: Pretty low. Like I said, inertia and context probably solve this problem just fine. But I do like the idea of grabbing the lapels of the Apple TV 4K and yanking it out of the street before it’s run over by Apple’s streaming ambitions.
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