LG Renews Pledge to Bring AirPlay 2 and HomeKit Support to Select 2018 TV Models

After LG disappointed swathes of customers by saying it had "no plans" to bring promised AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support to select 2018 TVs, the company has now renewed its pledge to do so by the end of the year.

lgtvsairplay2
Today's announcement was made by LG UK's official Twitter account, the very same account that last month told its customers that ‌AirPlay‌ 2 and ‌HomeKit‌ would not be coming to its pre-2019 TVs, despite previously giving customers assurances that they would do so this year.

The original tweet has since been deleted, and it's not clear whether this latest u-turn is the result of poor communication within the company or a reaction to the outpouring of negative customer comments that its earlier statement elicited. Either way, owners of 2018 LG smart TVs that have LCD models with "SK" or "UK" in the name or OLED models with "B8" through "Z8" in the name are likely to welcome the development.


‌AirPlay‌‌ 2 support will enable users of the above TV models to stream videos, music, podcasts, and more directly from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to their LG smart TV, with no Apple TV necessary. With ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ support, they will be able to control their TV's power, volume, source, and more using Siri or the Home app on ‌‌iPhone‌‌, ‌‌iPad‌‌, and Mac.

LG today also officially announced worldwide support for Apple's TV app on select LG 2018 OLED and Super UHD TVs, with support for UHD TV models to follow. The announcement follows scattered reports last month that the ‌Apple TV‌ app had begun showing up for some users.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...

Top Rated Comments

m11rphy Avatar
51 months ago
I was one of the original signatures on the petition that was set up, it feels like this battle has been going on forever. I really hope LG stick to this, I have a C8 OLED and I would like to get the new GX OLED but I want to see LG follow through with their promise before I spend anymore money with LG
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Madonepro Avatar
51 months ago
Surely a win for Mac Rumors ?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
51 months ago
for now until they cancel it again.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
richard779 Avatar
51 months ago
I will wait until I see it
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
m11rphy Avatar
51 months ago

At what point does it no longer matter for you?

I had an LG tv and it had verticals bars. LG took my TV for 7 weeks only to return it un-fixed claiming it was working as normal. Even the repair person who picked it up and saw it clearly had an issue.

Of course after that long I couldn’t return it. So for me, it doesn’t matter if LG offered to fix it because I would t buy another.
Its a good question, I have homebridge set up so I have full HomeKit control anyway so I guess its more about the principals. 1.Vizo did an update to their old sets and so quickly. 2. If apple can release updated OSs for all their products (some as cheap as the $200 Apple TV box) for a good 6 years then why cant LG offer the same support to a $3K for than 2 years?

When I get a new OLED TV LG only ticks the boxes of features I want, their lack of support is what worries me. the other options are all lacking something

Sony - Runs android and that doesn't sit right with me, no HDMI 2.1
Panasonic - No homekit, No NDMI 2.1
Philips - Android and no homekit , No HDMI 2.1

I wish Apple would just release a proper OLED TV I would happily pay a hefty Apple Premium (Tax)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr Fusion Avatar
51 months ago
I've used AirPlay 2 on my 2019 LG OLED, and also AirPlay via the Apple TV 4K.

AirPlay thru the TV directly was terrible. 4K videos practically don't stream with extremely choppy audio & video, as if the processing power of the TV can't handle it. The AppleTV displayed the same videos smoothly.

I can't imagine the situation on older TV models would be any better.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)