Roger Fingas
Following up on third-party announcements at CES 2019, Apple has posted a list of the initial TVs slated to get AirPlay 2 — containing good news for recent Vizio and Samsung buyers, but not for LG or Sony owners.
All Vizio D-, E-, M-, and P-Series sets shipped since 2017 should be ready after a software update, Apple indicated, along with 2018 and 2019 P-Series Quantum models. Samsung is meanwhile promising support on 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and QLED-Series sets made in 2018 and 2019.
Only 2019 models of LG's OLED, UHD UM7X, and NanoCell SM8X and SM9X TVs will have compatibility. Likewise, the first Sony sets will be this year's Z9G, A9G, X950G and X850G — in the case of the X850G, versions 55 inches or bigger.
Samsung surprised the tech industry on Sunday by revealing it would be adding both AirPlay 2 and an iTunes app to TVs. Until this week third-party AirPlay 2 support was mostly constrained to speakers and receivers, and iTunes was limited to Apple devices and Windows PCs.
Announcements from Vizio, LG, and Sony followed suit, though none of those mentioned a native iTunes app.
AirPlay 2 will let people with Apple products push photos, video, and audio to TVs, including through Siri commands like "Play 'Blade Runner 2049' in the Living Room." It also means HomeKit integration for purposes like automation, and controlling some TV functions through the Apple Home app.
Where to buy an AirPlay 2-enabled TV right now
Retailers, such as B&H Photo and Amazon.com, carry a variety of 2017 and 2018 models found on the list of televisions that will support AirPlay 2. Below is a sampling of buying options available right now.
Available now
- Samsung QLED Series (2018): From $897.99* @B&H
- Samsung QLED Series (2018): From $897.99 @Amazon
- VIZIO P-Series 65"-Class HDR UHD Smart LED TV: $1,199.99* @B&H
- VIZIO M-Series (2017, 2018, 2019): From $628* @B&H
- VIZIO E-Series (2017, 2018, 2019): From $329.99* @B&H
- VIZIO D-Series (2017, 2018, 2019): From $119.99* @B&H
Coming soon
- VIZIO P Series Quantum 65" LED TV (2019): $2,198* @B&H *B&H Photo will not collect sales tax on orders shipped outside these states.
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Charles Martin
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13 Comments
Does all these TVs announced with AirPlay2 undermine the market for AppleTV?
Usually you can install a large number of applications (many Android based) on these TVs that mirror the most popular apps on ATV. With the addition of the ability to stream both video and audio from Apple devices to them, an ATV suddenly may seem like a product in search for a solution.
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To a certain extent, but many people will still want to upgrade older TVs, or improve their experience on recent ones. AirPlay is less convenient than picking up a Siri remote and whipping through apps.
I personally don’t like smart TVs. I’d prefer a dumb tv and I’ll bring my own set top and/or receiver. If I ever get a “smart” tv, I’ll disable whatever I can and keep it off the network. I just don’t trust the software on these race to the bottom devices.