Apple TV's New iPhone-Based Color Balance Feature Coming to 2015 and Newer Models - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple TV's New iPhone-Based Color Balance Feature Coming to 2015 and Newer Models

Apple today announced that the Apple TV is getting a new iPhone-based color balance feature to improve a TV's picture quality.

apple tv color balance
Starting with tvOS 14.5 and iOS 14.5, users will be able to hold an iPhone with Face ID near their TV and, after tapping a notification, the iPhone's front-facing camera and ambient light sensor will begin color measurements and automatically tailor the Apple TV's video output to deliver more accurate colors and improved contrast. Apple says this process will result in improved picture quality without adjusting the TV's settings.

While this feature was advertised alongside a new Apple TV 4K, Apple's press release confirms that the color balance process will also be available for the previous-generation Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD running tvOS 14.5, which will be released next week.

The new Apple TV 4K features a faster A12 Bionic chip, support for high frame rate HDR and Dolby Vision video, and a redesigned Siri Remote with a physical clickpad that is also touch-enabled for swipe gestures that Apple TV users are familiar with. The outer ring of the clickpad supports a circular gesture for finding a scene in a movie or show.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 yellow

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for iOS 26.4

Wednesday March 18, 2026 11:56 am PDT by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, which means we're going to see a public launch as soon as next week. The RC versions of the software include Apple's official release notes, giving us final details on what's included in the update. Apple Music - Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your...

Top Rated Comments

ShawnyRHarvey Avatar
64 months ago
Looks like it’s a smart feature. My LG TV doesn’t need color balance

Attachment Image
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProfessionalFan Avatar
64 months ago
Yeah it works on the current 4K box fine, I am running 14.5 RC and just did it. It did make a change to the color balance and seems better.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
64 months ago

If it's anything like the way TCL does there so called "calibration" using the iPhone and calibration app, it will be a joke. If anyone truly thinks they will get an accurate picture using an iPhone to calibrate the ATV, I got some swamp land to sell you. You really need a good meter, calman software and a pattern generator to calibrate the tv, not this to adjust the colors on the ATV.
No one is claiming it to compete with a good meter. 90% of people never calibrate their tv even, this is for them.

And from initial impression it is not using just the camera. If that was the case, they would use the rear camera.

it’s seems to be using the full array of what’s in the notch for Face ID.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
64 months ago
my LG OLED CX won't need this
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
64 months ago
This could be useful on Macs with third party monitors as well. Is it viable that it could come to the Mac as well? After all there is a TV app for macOS...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tubedogg Avatar
64 months ago

Umm...how did you get access to this feature that didn’t exist till this morning?? Untill I see proof or other people saying the same thing I call...

Gee, it's almost like RC versions of 14.5 were released earlier today, and do you imagine that an RC might contain everything that is slated to ship in the update?

(This is, of course, setting aside your assertion that the feature "didn't exist" until this morning, as if features appear out of nowhere completely developed and ready to ship as soon as they appear in an Apple presentation.)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: News | World News | Business | Technology | Mac