132 MACWORLD AUGUST 2021
PLAYLIST REVIEW: 2021 SIRI REMOTEexisting Apple TV HD and 4K units. That
price tag inspires a bit of sticker shock for a
fairly simple remote, but it really improves
the usability of Apple’s streaming hardware.
BIGGER, BUT STILL LITTLE
The old Siri Remote was absolutely tiny.
At 4.8 inches tall and a quarter-inch thick,
it sort of got lost in your hand. Worse, it
was so symmetrical, with all the buttons
right in the middle of two flat areas, that
you’d often accidentally hold it upside
down. The upper area was an edge-to-
edge clickable touchpad that felt just like
the blank lower area, seemingly designed
to encourage as many accidental taps
and swipes as possible.
The new design takes some design
cues from the old 2nd-generation Apple
Remote. Just a half-inch taller and a little
narrower, it’s still quite small. But that half
inch makes all the difference. Together
with the asymmetrical controls on the face,
it’s now easy to use without looking—a
critical feature of any remote.
NAVIGATION MADE EASY
Gone are the accidental taps and swipes
of the old click pad. The new Siri Remote
has a circular, touch-sensitive D-pad with a
clickable touchpad in the center. You can
still swipe around as needed, but
streaming apps often have interfaces that
are built around discrete up/down/left/right
commands because that’s what every
other platform in the world uses. Those
apps were a chore to use with the old Siri
Remote, and now they just feel right.
Apple’s also got a new scrub feature
that’s sort of hit-and-miss. If you pause a
video, and then touch the navigation circle
and hold for a second, you’ll notice the
seek bar will get a round “jog dial” icon.
Now you can run your finger around the
circle to scrub through the video. It feels
like using the old iPod click wheel and is a
great way to get where you want to be
quickly and precisely. There’s a good
reason professional editing stations oftenThe new Siri Remote is just a half-inch taller
than the old one, but the bigger size makes a
huge difference in manageability.