Best Apple TV remotes in 2024

Apart from the excellent iPhones, versatile iPads, and unrivaled Macs, the Cupertino firm sells Apple TVs. This TV box communicates with your existing TV or display through an HDMI cable, bring your favorite Apple apps to the big screen. And while the Apple TV includes a Siri Remote in its box, some users may be looking for spare or alternative units. To help you with the hunt, we've compiled a list of the best Apple TV remotes currently available.

Our favorite Apple TV remotes

The best overall remote for the Apple TV is — drum roll, please — Apple's own remote! It's an unsurprising answer, I know that. But since we are talking about an Apple product here, if you're looking for unparalleled compatibility, Apple's own lineup of products is the first option you should have in mind.

Also, the second generation remote is a lot better than the first one. It has a sturdier build and better-quality buttons, including a touch-enabled clickpad and a USB Type-C port. That's not to mention the removal of the awful touchpad and Lightning charger. Even if you have an older Apple TV, you can still take advantage of this model. It's one of the best remotes for Apple TV for unparalleled compatibility.

If you're looking for a multipurpose device, then the Apple iPhone 14 acts as a perfect replacement for the Apple TV remote. It includes a dedicated remote interface, allowing you to control the Apple TV without needing to depend on a dedicated, separate remote. As an added bonus, you also get to use the iPhone's keyboard to type into text fields on tvOS, rather than needing to manually pick the letters one by one through the Apple TV's interface.

Another reason people usually get alternative remote controllers is that they're looking for compatibility on multiple devices, so they can have one single controller for everything. The Inteset 4-in-1 Universal is a pretty good cheap choice if that's what you're going for.

It allows for configuring with up to 4 devices, and you can switch between them with the tap of a button. There are even several presets, including one for Apple TV as one of the defaults. If you're on the fence on whether to get a controller for this purpose, the Inteset 4-in-1 is one of the best options you can grab.

The best way to describe the GE Universal Remote is, well, the old reliable. It's probably one that's high up on a lot of feature lists for when they lose their TV controller, and there's nothing bad about it. This is one of the very few "cheap" controllers that are actually fully compatible with the Apple TV. Maybe you lost your Apple TV controller, or you just want something cheap to put in your living room while you keep the good one away? Whatever the case might be, the GE Universal Remote has your back.

The Apple TV also accepts gaming controllers as valid input devices, and a pretty good choice across the board is usually the Xbox Wireless Controller. The Xbox controllers have directly served as the inspiration for a lot of the third-party controllers we've seen on the market, which is the reason why they're generally considered among the upper tier of controllers.

The Xbox Wireless Controller, launched with the Xbox Series X and Series S, takes some things back to their roots, while improving in others. The result? An amazing controller that won't break the bank. Get this if you're planning on doing any gaming on your Apple TV.

I'm more of a PlayStation fan than an Xbox fan (don't get me wrong though, I love both), and the DualSense is an amazing controller for all your gaming needs and more. Adaptive triggers and amazing ergonomics are just two of the improvements over Sony's previous DualShock 4 controller. It works really well even with Apple TV, all things considered.

In the case of Apple TV, it just got support for the Sony DualSense controller starting with tvOS 14.5 and other Apple updates. It still gets an honorable mention because it's superb, even though the Xbox controller wins in terms of general compatibility. It's one of the best remotes for Apple TV because, well, it's the DualSense!

Best Apple TV remotes: Bottom line

The official Siri Remote is the best option you can buy for your Apple TV. That's because the product was specifically designed by the same company to work with the TV box. It offers touch controls, an incredibly slim design, USB Type-C port for charging, and more. That's not to mention that its battery lasts for months on a single charge.

If you want extra spare controllers, Inteset and GE's options are both amazing. They're both bare-bones controllers, so don't expect anything fancy out of them, unlike what you would get from more expensive offerings. If you're looking for multipurpose remotes, then you can pick between the gaming console controllers and the iPhone 14.