Sony

Sony’s Bravia televisions work with Apple, and Bravia televisions are the whole of Sony’s presence in this directory — 40 ranges of them, spanning 2018 to 2023, from the A-series OLEDs through the X-series LED sets to the Z-series 8K models.

Worth being clear about what that means, because two different features share the phrase:

• AirPlay 2 sends pictures and sound from an iPhone, iPad or Mac to the television. This is the one people actually use.
• Apple Home puts the set in the Home app as an accessory, so it can go in a scene or an automation. Power and input selection are the useful parts. Changing channel is not something Apple Home does, on any brand.

Pairing a Bravia

It starts on the television, not in the Home app. On Sony’s sets the setting sits with the network and Apple options rather than in a dashboard of its own.

1. On the TV, find the Apple AirPlay and HomeKit settings.
2. Turn AirPlay on, then choose the HomeKit option and start pairing.
3. The set puts an eight-digit setup code on screen.
4. On the iPhone, open the Home app, add an accessory, and scan or type it.

The code is generated by the television when you begin. There is no universal one and nothing printed on the back. If the set never shows up on the phone, put both on the same network and the same band before looking any further — that is the cause nine times in ten.

Adding the television to the Home app needs a home hub in the house as well, a HomePod or an Apple TV, like every other Apple Home accessory. AirPlay 2 does not.

Which Bravia

The ranges divide roughly three ways, and the letter is the useful part of the model number:

• A-series are the OLED sets — A95L and A80L at the recent end, back through the A9G and A9F.
• X-series are the LED sets and the bulk of the range, from the X75K up to the X95L. The middle of this range is where most people actually buy.
• Z-series are the 8K models — Z9K and the Z9J below it. As on every brand, 8K content barely exists; these are worth their money for the panel, not the resolution.

None of the Sony sets in this directory carries a buy link, because no verified Amazon UK listing has been matched to them. The product pages are there, and the model numbers are what you want to take to a retailer.

Check the model, not the brand

“Sony supports HomeKit” is not a fact about the television in the shop. Support arrived at different points in different ranges, some sets gained it by firmware update rather than shipping with it, the entry-level model in a range often does not have what the flagship does, and the same model number sold in another market can behave differently. The model number, and the menu on the set, are the only things worth trusting.

Also worth reading

• AirPlay-enabled TVs and video accessories — every brand in the directory, and how to add Apple support to a set that has not got it.
• AirPlay-enabled receivers — for the sound the television cannot make.